Poly

 

DANA POINT and SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jan. 29, 2013 - SimpleSignal, a leading cloud-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) provider for business, and Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced a strategic agreement to provide Video-as-a-Service (VaaS) offerings by combining the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform software infrastructure with SimpleSignal's cloud-based unified communications platform. By powering its new SimpleMeetup Video service with the RealPresence Platform - the most comprehensive and interoperable software infrastructure for universal video collaboration - SimpleSignal is taking advantage of Polycom's broad open standards-based inoperability to make it possible for employees, partners, and customers to collaborate face-to-face across multiple platforms and devices without worrying about whether the service and systems will work together.

 

"We believe video is the new voice when it comes to effective communication and collaboration," said Dave Gilbert, CEO of SimpleSignal. "Face-to-face communication is natural, while blind phone conversations are not. Video communication changes everything whether it's a one-on-one conversation or a video conference with a large team. The combination of Polycom's RealPresence Platform software infrastructure and SimpleSignal's cloud can now make this experience simple, practical and affordable for companies of all sizes."

 

"Collaboration is becoming one of the most common services in the cloud, and the Polycom RealPresence Platform is the software infrastructure of choice for a growing number of service providers offering Video-as-a-Service," said Gary Testa, Global Vice President, Cloud and Service Providers at Polycom. "Combining Polycom's secure, reliable, and highly scalable software infrastructure with SimpleSignal's service offers low operating costs, reliable access, and ease-of-use. With the Polycom RealPresence Platform, SimpleSignal can connect virtually any device, whether standards-based or proprietary, resulting in powerful ROI for customers."

 

SimpleMeetup Video, powered by Polycom, is SimpleSignal's anytime, on-demand, HD-quality video as a service offering for two to 100 participants. The cloud-delivered video service complements SimpleSignal's existing phone service and can be used on its own or in conjunction with the phone service. Service plans start at $199 per month per virtual meeting room, with no per-minute or per-user charges and no on-premises MCU required. Users simply dial into their own video conference bridge to begin a meeting.

 

Because of Polycom's support for open standards and interoperability, the service not only works on Polycom solutions but with a wide variety of video equipment and devices using TIP, SIP, SVC or H.323 protocols (including devices from vendors such as Lifesize, Tandberg, Cisco, and more). The service supports multi-purpose room-based systems (such as the Polycom® HDX® series or Polycom Group series), video desk phones (including the Polycom® VVX® 1500 business media phone), soft clients used on laptops and desktops (such as the Polycom® RealPresence® Desktop 2.0 software), and mobile solutions on smartphones and tablets (including the Polycom® RealPresence® Mobile 2.0 software, available as a free download for iOS and Android devices).

 

SimpleSignal also offers free point-to-point video calling to all of its hosted PBX customers. Users can make and receive secure video calls and video voicemails from their supported video desk phones or mobile devices.

 

The RealPresence Platform software infrastructure provides carrier-grade reliability, security and industry-leading scalability and interoperates with the broadest range of communications applications. The RealPresence Platform software was recently enhanced to include the industry's first open standards-based SVC (Scalable Video Coding), with 3X HD multipoint video call capacity for greater scalability, dramatically lower TCO, superior performance, and backwards- and forwards-compatibility.

 

SimpleSignal's VaaS offering rounds out a comprehensive suite of cloud hosted unified communications services that has exclusively featured Polycom IP phone equipment (the Polycom® SoundPoint® IP series of phones) since SimpleSignal's launch in 2004. Services include enterprise-grade hosted PBX with "one number" mobility and integration with a wide range of CRM solutions, Internet services, SIP trunks, HD audio conferencing, desktop collaboration, call recording, SMS texting, voicemail to text, fax to email, backup and storage, plus a growing number of voice apps and tools that make communications more efficient.