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| Source: Plantronics. The Polycom Studio in action beneath the screen. |
Plantronics, an audio pioneer and unified communications technology company, has announced its first entry into the huddle room video market with its new plug-and-play video bar, Polycom Studio. Available as a portable USB device, the video bar immerses small meeting groups in an upgraded collaboration experience with Polycom’s HD audio and video quality, and is compatible with PCs or Macs for video collaboration on popular video-as-a-service (VaaS) platforms.
According to Plantronics, today’s open office spaces have resulted in an explosion of smaller meeting spaces, or “huddle rooms,” where groups of two to six can escape the noise to collaborate, often with coworkers in other locations. But of an estimated 32 million huddle rooms globally, only 2% of those spaces include equipment for videoconferencing*, which is becoming increasingly important for the mobile workforce.
In the Asia Pacific region, a recent Growing Big Ideas from Small Spaces study by Polycom found 96% of workers in the region (including Singapore) agreed that collaboration technologies such as videoconferencing help them to be more productive and to work smarter, but only 41% of huddle rooms in Singapore are video-enabled. This adoption lags behind India and China.
“With an increasingly mobile workforce, workers are no longer bound by physical limitations when it comes to having meetings and collaborating. There is a growing need for companies to equip their workspaces to enable workers to work smarter, collaborate more and achieve greater productivity. With the HD audio and video clarity that Polycom Studio provides, even the smallest of spaces can have boardroom capability,” said Low Mei Lin, Director, APAC solutions marketing at Polycom.
With a USB connection, any PC or Mac can leverage the power of Polycom Studio to elevate audio and video meeting experiences. Its patented NoiseBlock and Acoustic Fence technologies reduce or eliminate distracting noise from office environments for professional-sounding communications. Automatic speaker tracking focuses on whoever is speaking within an ultra-wide 120-degree field of view. With 4K resolution and 5x electronic zoom, Polycom Studio provides TV studio-like quality and experiences in a meeting.
“Enterprises around the world have come to understand the strategic importance of their smaller meeting spaces. In fact, we expect the number of AV-enabled huddle rooms to increase by 15% in the next 12-24 months,” explains Ira M. Weinstein, Managing Partner at analyst firm Recon Research.
“With the release of Polycom Studio, Polycom can finally bring its decades of experience in high quality video and audio to smaller rooms with lower budgets. And based on our initial testing, we think Polycom Studio will meet the expectations of even the most discerning huddle room users.”
Unlike most USB devices that give IT little or no visibility into what is being used or any means for management and updating, Polycom Studio wirelessly connects to a corporate network to allow IT professionals a “no touch” means to manage Polycom Studio units installed anywhere in the world. Customers can easily manage their Polycom Studio video bars along with their other Polycom devices through the cloud with the Polycom Device Management Service for Enterprise or on premises with Polycom RealPresence Resource Manager.
Details:
Polycom Studio will be available in Singapore from February 28, 2019 through channel partners and distributors at a recommended retail price of US$949. VaaS platforms supported include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, Google Meet, Cisco Webex, and Amazon Chime.
*Research and Markets, Global Video Conferencing in Huddle Rooms Market 2018-2022 – Looking Beyond the Hype
