Video Conferencing news & articles

Polycom celebrates UK National Work from Home Day (15th May 2008)

Polycom celebrates UK National Work from Home Day (15 May 2008) with Smart SOHO Technology including Polycom’s Video Border Proxy and 10 Tips for Smarter Working in General.

As 15 May 2008 is UK National Work from Home Day, Polycom has released some interesting results from their UK ‘congested lives’ survey:

  • 67% of office professionals travel at least once a week for work-related meetings but
  • 82% of them thought they are unnecessary
  • 38% of people in the UK spends two hours or more commuting each day and nearly half find commuting more stressful today
  • 52% of people feel they would be happier if they could spend less time travelling to work
  • 57% would be happier if their employer gave them the flexibility and equipment to work from home

Polycom offers a portfolio of visual communications solutions that deliver enterprise-class level communications to small office and home office environments (SoHo). Polycom recommends this Smart technology for working from home:

  • Broadband connection with firewall for secure voice, video and data traffic
  • Polycom VoiceStation 500, small office conference phone enables great hands free, echo free, calling and Bluetooth connection to your mobile phone and PC
  • Polycom PVX Video Conferencing software and webcam for face to face calling and PC content datasharing
  • Polycom’s Video Border Proxy (VBP) with combined NAT/Firewall traversal, wired and wireless routing and bandwidth capability to dramatically improve the quality of your collaborative visual/voice communications between different organisations and networks

Here are some of Polycom’s 10 Tips for Smarter Working in General:

New communication and collaboration technologies allow the development of new working practices. Polycom technology has enabled thousands of organisations to work smarter, but the real benefits arise when the organisation fosters a culture of collaboration and takes proactive steps to help employees benefit from more flexible working practices.

2. Don’t waste time travelling unnecessarily to meetings you can do from your desk
Many meetings don’t need to happen face-to-face. Instead, join the meeting by audio or video conference and save the dead time caused by travelling.

6. Meet NOW! – don’t wait until the moment is past
Progressive companies are nudging employees away from the pattern of sending emails or leaving voicemails and awaiting a response. This pattern often turns interactions that could be completed in minutes into dialogues that may last a week or more ... So rather than arrange a meeting next week, enable employees to connect with each other in real-time so that ideas can fly and team members can concurrently make better, quicker decisions.

9. Give your boss ‘The Culture of Collaboration’ – a book to make your life easier!
Not every company experiences the benefits of smarter communication immediately. So learn from the likes of Boeing, Toyota, Proctor and Gamble, The Dow Chemical Company and others. These are forward looking organizations that have created a strategy around collaboration and many are Polycom customers. Polycom has 10 copies of Evan Rosen’s book (published January 2007) to give away - just email enquiries@polycom.com for your chance to win.

10. Reduce your impact on the environment – and work smarter at the same time
Eliminate one long haul flight from your schedule; it is equivalent to taking the average car off the road for a year in eliminated carbon emissions. The latest High Definition Video Conferencing solutions enable virtually any meeting to be conducted remotely without loss of communication clarity and quality. It’s worth taking a look.

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Glossary

Video conferencing on a personal computer using a webcam and software. Ideal for individual use.
Video conferencing on a small-integrated unit designed to sit on your desktop. Ideal for individual use or very small groups.
A video conferencing system that is built into your room. There are many integrated furniture options and plasma screens can be wall mounted.
High Definition is the newest set of standards for high quality video conferencing. High Definition standards have been defined by the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) as picture resolutions of 720p and 1080i/1080p. High Definition has a refresh rate of 24,25,30,50, 60 frames per second and a resolution image of 1280x720 pixels or 1920x1080 pixels. The higher number of pixels translates into sharper and clearer pictures. The higher refresh rate results in less flickering to the human eye. High Definition uses the progressive scan format rather than interlacing, treating the entire video image as one frame and does not suffer from jagged edges in the picture.
Polycom HD Voice delivers over twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls for life-like, vibrant conversations. Polycom HD Voice products have wideband technology for over twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls. Polycom's patented Acoustic Clarity Technology 2 combines next generation industry leading full duplex, echo cancellation, and noise reduction with advanced voice processing.
Polycom, Inc. is the worldwide leader in unified collaborative communications that maximize the efficiency and productivity of people and organizations by integrating the broadest array of video, voice, data and Web solutions to deliver the ultimate communications experience. Polycom's high quality, standards-based conferencing and collaboration solutions are easy to deploy and manage, as well as intuitive to use.
Certified Polycom Service Partners have been specially and extensively trained to support Polycom video conferencing systems.
Certified Polycom Service Resellers have been specially and extensively trained to support Polycom video conferencing systems.
Polycom Gold Certified Partners have demonstrated their extensive knowledge in Collaborative Communication technologies through rigorous testing in their selected product categories and the associated service requirements. They have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to implement technology solutions that match your exact business needs. They are highly skilled in providing the appropriate solution for your company's need. Gold Partners must also maintain a higher service standard to ensure that you receive the necessary support for your Polycom products.
Certified Tandberg Partners are trained to consult on, supply and support the full range of Tandberg's video conferencing solutions.
Videoconferencing is a live communication between people in separate locations. It usually involves audio and text as well as video. Videoconferencing in its simplest form transmits static images and text between two locations. Sophisticated video systems today can transmit full-motion video images and high-quality audio between multiple locations.
Video conferencing solutions comprise of everything you need to enable video communication between people in separate locations. Video conferencing systems can range from simple desk top systems for one-to-one video calls through to a sophisticated system, fully integrated into the design of your room for a video call between many people at a number of different locations.