Polycom Announces Support for Microsoft Teams, Launch of RealConnect Hybrid and Availability of MSR

Dubai, UAE – October 22, 2017:  For nearly 15 years, customers using powerful collaboration platforms from Microsoft have also enjoyed Polycom HD voice and video quality.  Today, Polycom is announcing an extension of our partnership by working to bring these experiences to a broader audience.  Polycom solutions create a high-performance communications hub by integrating with Skype for Business, Office 365, and now, Microsoft Teams.  

 

Polycom today announced it will offer its portfolio of high definition voice and video technology for Microsoft’s newly announced Teams collaboration platform, providing customers with a rich communications experience. Microsoft presented Teams at its annual Microsoft Ignite conference this week in Orlando, Florida.  

 

“As we have done for nearly 15 years, Polycom will support Microsoft customers in all stages of their collaboration journey, whether it’s Skype for Business, Office 365, or now Microsoft Teams.  Polycom solutions will continue to work as they have, delivering the highest quality voice and video solutions to complete the Microsoft collaboration experience,” said Mary McDowell, Chief Executive Officer, Polycom.  

 

“We are pleased to partner with Polycom to integrate their core voice and video devices with the Microsoft Teams platform.  Microsoft Teams and solutions like Polycom MSR and Polycom RealPresence Group Series will be a powerful combination for customers that need high quality collaboration experiences,” said Bob Davis, CVP, Skype Business Services & Office Product Group Customer Experience at Microsoft. 

 

Polycom® RealConnect™ provides video interoperability between Skype for Business online users in Office 365 and non-Skype for Business standards-based endpoints. Migration to the cloud and Office 365 looks different for all organisations and often happens in stages. To bridge that gap, Polycom is introducing the new Polycom RealConnect Hybrid solution, which seamlessly connects Skype for Business on-premises users with existing video devices through Polycom video interoperability service in Microsoft Azure.  When customers are ready to migrate to Office 365 and Skype for Business Online, they can simply switch to RealConnect for Office 365 subscription.  RealConnect Hybrid will be available in October.

 

Polycom is also announcing the pre-orderability of its next-generation Skype Room System, the Polycom® MSR Series. The familiar Skype for Business interface makes joining a meeting as easy as one click. Polycom’s powerful and rich audio and video quality will give meeting participants the look and feel of being across the table from each other.  The Polycom MSR provides the latest in Polycom innovations built for any-sized conference room. Options include the Polycom® EagleEye™, Polycom Trio™ 8800, Polycom® CX5100 video technology, Polycom® RealPresence® Medialign™ and the newly announced Polycom Trio™ 8500 and Polycom® VoxBox™. The Polycom MSR will be available worldwide in Q4, 2017.