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Increased Demand For Video Communications Drives Polycom's Continued Expansion In Australia

  • Senator Kate Lundy opens Polycom office, telepresence centre in Canberra
  • Demonstrates potential of NBN to deliver improved services to all Australians

SYDNEY, Australia - 05 Jun 2009 : Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, has further expanded its Australian operations with the launch of its Canberra office and telepresence demonstration centre, which was officially opened by Senator Kate Lundy today. The Canberra office opening follows the launch of Polycom’s new Perth facility in March.

Senator Lundy officially opened the new office in the Hotel Realm complex in Canberra with a demonstration of the potential educational benefits that the National Broadband Network could deliver to all Australians, wherever they are based.

During the demonstration, Senator Lundy was linked by high definition video from Polycom's Canberra office to Jan North, Manager Children's Services and Jocelyn Ho, teacher at the Royal Institute of Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) in North Rocks, N.S.W, and her three-year-old student, Jesse Watson and family using an award-winning video-based learning program from RIDBC's Teleschool.

Teleschool provides a high-quality service to families living in rural and regional areas of Australia that have a child diagnosed with hearing and/or vision loss. The service is available for families from the time their baby or toddler is diagnosed with a hearing or vision loss, until school-entry age. Services are also provided to school-age children with a hearing impairment.

Commenting on the occasion, Senator Lundy said "High definition video communications and telepresence has a part to play in bridging the divide between regional and rural communications on the one hand, and those of urban Australians on the other. The lifelike quality of the experience can support key healthcare applications, increase the learning outcomes of students, be part of an emergency services plan during disasters, and support Australian business competing in global markets.

"With a national high-speed broadband network as the backbone, and the convergence of desktop and internet based applications with real-time video collaboration, Australia will be better-equipped as a competitive, efficient and productive knowledge-based economy."

According to a recent forecast from Gartner, telepresence will replace 2.1 million airline seats per year by 20101, whilst a 2008 IDC study estimated that Federal Government could save approximately 37 per cent in travel costs over one year by moving to conduct meetings virtually2.

"We are seeing many organisations reviewing the need for business travel in the current economic climate and adopting video as a replacement," said Michael Chetner, Country Manager for Australia & New Zealand at Polycom. "In addition to realising immediate ROI through travel cost savings, these organisations are able to make significant productivity and efficiency gains."

Chetner added: "Polycom estimates that by electing to replace just two out of four trips from Canberra to Perth per year with HD telepresence meetings, an organisation would save approximately $2,549 in costs, 36 hours of time and 1,490kg of carbon emissions3."

The Polycom® Telepresence Experience™ (TPX™) Suite in Canberra links to a worldwide network of telepresence suites and is available for hire by government and business teams alike. For example, a government minister could speak to their staff and advisers around the world for the cost of a domestic economy flight – saving valuable time, money and carbon emissions.

The new Canberra office is part of an ongoing expansion plan for Polycom in Australia, which now has experience centres located in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne to support customers and partners; as well as a partner network of demonstration centres across the country. The demonstration centres showcase Polycom desktop, room and immersive telepresence suites; and mobility, small business and integrated unified communications solutions, including Microsoft, Cisco and Avaya.

Note to Editors:
1 Robin Simpson, "Gartner Predicts 2009" event, Singapore, 21 January 2009
2 David Cannon, Jean Marc Annonier, "Collaboration is Key to Our Future", IDC, July 2008
3 Carbon calculated via Polycom is available at – www.polycom.com/roi
Polycom images from the event are available on request.

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Please visit www.polycom.com.au for more information.

Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and/or related specifications referenced in this press release are not guaranteed, and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

Polycom and the Polycom logo are registered trademarks of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2009, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts

www.polycom.com.au provides product specific information for telepresence, voice and video conferencing customers in Australia and New Zealand.

Level 15, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia l Sales enquiries +612 9978 8000