The VAR Guy

In the unified communications space, everyone is falling over each other trying to support as many UC endpoints as possible, in as many ways as possible with as little interoperability problems as possible and as cheap as possible. But is there one uniting system that can make ringing up an individual for a video call as simple as dialing an number? Telesphere has endeavored to do just that by working with BroadSoft, CounterPath and Polycom to launch VideoConnect. Here’s the scoop…

Turn the way-back machine to 2008. At the time, The VAR Guy was skeptical about the future of Alcatel-Lucent. Yes indeed, the networking giant has hit some bumps. But now, with the unified communications scene picking up speed in the enterprise, Alcatel-Lucent is hoping to capitalize on that momentum. Enter Alcatel-Lucent’s Visual Collaboration Suite, a unique package of video-based tools that can help individuals connect and visually collaborate in real-time.

Polycom knows the next big market for video collaboration — and unified communications in general — is the almighty SMB. The consumerization of IT, coupled with a plethora of cloud and premise-based offerings designed to bring collaboration capabilities to companies of any size, are creating a perfect storm of opportunity for the channel to equip their SMB customers with UCC offerings previously only available to the big boys.

In its never-ending quest to provide a super-interconnected unified communications network, Polycom has launched the Polycom CX7000, its first full-room telepresence solution that integrates with Microsoft Lync. Read on for the  high-definition details …

Logitech is a name well-known in the consumer space for its PC peripherals including webcams, mice and keyboards. Now the company hopes to delve deeper into the business market through its recently acquired videoconferencing technology and a partnership with Jabra to provide UC-enabled headsets and speakerphones.

VoIP-based conferencing upstart Vu TelePresence has been selling the SMB market on its UC and VoIP devices for a while now, but the company recently hit a milestone, claiming a customer base totaling 4 percent of the U.S. telepresence market. In a technology space dominated by the likes of Polycom and Cisco Systems, what’s so special about Vu and its channel program? Read on for a little flavor …

Polycom has enhanced its UC Intelligent Core technology once again, beefing up the platform to support 75,000 devices or up to 25,000 concurrent calls and native integration with Microsoft Lync, putting it squarely in the sights of service providers looking for large-scale UC offerings.

In the data center space, virtualization is the name of the game. The VAR Guy knows that, and he also knows how much end users can benefit from a little upfront collaboration on vendors’ part. That’s the idea behind VMware’s latest solution set that will enable customers using SAP to migrate to virtualized infrastructure powered by VMware and HP. Read on for the details and The VAR Guy’s take …

Communications and collaboration vendor Polycom has grabbed a few headlines of late, especially with its acquisition of HP’s Visual Collaboration Business.  of equal import is the launching of its Open Visual Communication Consortium (OVCC), designed to fulfill its “UC Everywhere” ethos. The purpose of the OVCC is to provide an interconnected network specifically designed for delivering video across a range of devices with multiple use cases, with almost no configuration needed. Sound too good to be true? Read on for more details …

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That’s apparently the tack HP is taking by selling its Visual Collaboration business to conferencing and collaboration powerhouse Polycom. The deal, which is expected to close in the third-quarter of 2011, will shift all of HP’s visual collaboration technology, including its Halo products and managed services business, over to Polycom’s side of the fence.

In an effort to advance its standing in the UC playing field and further bolster its solutions footprint, Polycom has appointed new leaders to its sales and marketing teams. The company recently announced stellar Q1 numbers, so why the appointments and why now? It’s part of Polycom’s plan to turbocharge its growth and better deliver its Polycom UC Everywhere vision. Read on for the details:

Polycom is one of those companies whose offerings seemed ahead of their time — a few years ago, who’d have considered desktop telepresence? But rather than force the industry to adopt its solutions — and possibly experience utter failure as a result — Polycom kept a low profile, waiting for the marketplace to catch up. Now that unified communications technology is gaining in popularity, Polycom’s strategy has paid off well — Polycom’s first-quarter net income increased almost sevenfold to $34 million, compared with a paltry $5 million in net income a year ago. Wall Street is impressed with its earnings, customers are impressed with its technology and partners are impressed with its recently reworked channel program and its emphasis on video solutions.

A little more than a year after Polycom launched its Choice partner program for VARs, solution providers and distributors, the company is reworking Choice to reward those partners who focus on video solutions.

You may have heard of Skype, the videoconferencing platform that’s free, ubiquitous and much-loved by the team here at Nine Lives Media Inc. There are also quite a few Mac users behind the scenes here, so when Skype announced its contest for end users to redesign the GUI of the Skype for Mac Experience, that’s news for us. But is it news for you, and more importantly, what are the implications for videoconferencing designs in general? It may not be directly channel-related, but there are always channel implications …

Polycom is keeping up its momentum with UC news as of late, and its most recent newsworthy announcement is the company’s acquisition of Accordent Technologies. Polycom is scooping up Accordent for its video content management expertise and its video-delivery solutions. What’s the deal behind the strategic buy? Here’s what Polycom is looking to get of this $50 million cash transaction …

In February 2011, we wrote that Fuze Meeting was slated to be the first video collaboration software to debut on the Motorola Xoom Android-based tablet. Now, Polycom and Motorola are joining forces to expand the Xoom’s use in the business world with Telepresence integration. Read on for the details …

Polycom is making news again, this time with an expanded partnership to deliver integrated business communication systems along with ShoreTel. ShoreTel, known for its “Brilliantly Simple” IP phone systems, plans on working with Polycom to help deliver Polycom’s UC Everywhere and help businesses invest in best-of-breed communication technologies. Here are the details …

The VAR Guy is no stranger to unified communications, so it piqued his interested when Polycom appointed Ari Bose to CIO. Polycom is putting its faith in Bose, a former telecom executive, to further its global and strategic transformation beyond its current boundaries. Here are the details …

UC guru Polycom has expanded its UC Intelligent Core Platform in an effort to tap Cisco’s Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP). TIP, which Cisco developed originally for multi-screen telepresence interoperability, was gifted in Summer 2010 to the International Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium (IMTC) to be managed as an industry standard. Polycom is taking it a step further by using TIP to enable its systems to interact with Cisco technology. Here’s the deal…

Avaya is bolstering its audio collaboration technology portfolio with its acquisition of Umeå, Sweden-based audioconferencing system vendor Konftel. The move is a potential positive for both Avaya and its channel partners. Here’s why:

Those who monitor the unified communications and collaboration space saw a lot of action in 2010. Advances in technologies, a shift in standards and myriad partnerships have morphed UCC into a technology that many now consider a must-have rather than a nice-to-have, and the channel can bet there’s more to come in 2011. What did we see in 2010 and what can we expect to see in the next year? Read on …

ADTRAN Connect 2010 attendees received a candid company update by key executives including CEO Tom Stanton, VP of Carrier Networks Jay Wilson and Senior VP of Enterprise Networks Rick Schansman. No surprises here: ADTRAN had a stellar year, and the company is looking to continue the momentum. Read on for the deep-dive…

Polycom has planted its flag firmly in the UC space through its myriad new technologies and partnerships over the last 12 or so months. Now the communications vendor has shown it plans to grab more market share by backing up its actions with some key executive appointments. Two examples involve Cisco and Motorola veterans joining Polycom. Here are the details.