Polycom and Tandberg both made big announcements last week at the Wainhouse Summit. (It’s eerie how they both seem to make news on the same day…) The common element in both is integration with Microsoft’s Live Communication Server 2005 and Office Communicator messenger application. Both Polycom and Tandberg are providing device presence information to LCS and Office Communicator users so they can see who is online and whether they have a video device available for conferencing. In the case of Polycom, a user can start a conference between two users, but the conference itself is conducted between two traditional endpoints – be it a desktop or group system. Tandberg is taking this a bit further with the ability for a Tandberg endpoint to conneect directly with an Office Communicator client (which is SIP-based) over video and vice versa. In away, this gives Tandberg a software-based endpoint in its arsenal, something Polycom already has with PVX. Of course, neither company can just rollout one piece of the news, they like to make big splashes. Here is a quick roundup of all the news from the week:
Polycom:
The good news is the company is simplifying their lineup of video endpoints to a ice cream cone-like model: Small, medium and large. Before, there were system all over the place with overlapping features and functions. What this means is the iPower PC-based systems and older ViewStation systems are being dropped from general production by the end of the year, essentially leaving the VSX family of appliances/settop boxes and the PVX software system. To accomplish the transformation Polycom is releasing:
New VSX 8.0 software – for the entire VSX line. The new software update, free to anyone with a maintenance contract or who bought their system in the last 12 months, features improved video quality, more datra sharing capabilities and better administrator support.
