H.264 High Profile on Polycom telepresence and infrastructure cuts bandwidth use up to 50 percent for lower network costs and faster ROI than competing solutions. Polycom, Inc., the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice communications solutions, today announced expanded support for its industry-first implementation of H.264 High Profile, a powerful, standards-based video compression technology that reduces bandwidth requirements for high-definition (HD) telepresence and video conferencing up to 50 percent. Lowering bandwidth requirements and associated network costs, Polycom is helping customers extend the benefits of visual communications more cost-effectively across their organization for a faster return on investment.

Currently available on Polycom HDX series room telepresence systems, Polycom is extending H.264 High Profile support to the Polycom RMX 4000 and 2000 series, the highest performing multipoint conferencing platforms for HD visual communications. It is also extending support to the industry's broadest line of immersive telepresence products, which include the most immersive telepresence offering available today, the Polycom RealPresence Experience (RPX) series, the customizable Polycom Architected Telepresence Experience (ATX) 300, the Polycom Telepresence Experience (TPX) for collaborative meetings, and the new, future-focused Polycom Open Telepresence Experience (OTX) 300, also announced today (see additional press release issued today).

"We are excited to deliver the first end-to-end solution supporting H.264 High Profile, which will help our customers lower network bandwidth costs and cost-effectively expand their deployments," said Andrew Miller, president and CEO, Polycom. "We estimate a mid-sized enterprise will spend up to $2.1M less in the first year on a typical Polycom telepresence deployment including - equipment, bandwidth, services and maintenance costs - versus a comparable Cisco TelePresence deployment."

Polycom Telepresence vs. Cisco Telepresence Estimated Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Savings

Customer Profile

Equipment

OPEX Savings: Bandwidth

Equipment CAPEX Savings:

Estimated TCO Savings (12 months)

5,000 Employees

Telepresence Units:

* 8 Immersive Systems
* 150 Room Systems

1 Bridge (MCU)

$.166M

$1.945M

$2.1M

3,000 Employees

Telepresence Units:

* 6 Immersive Systems
* 80 Room Systems

1 Bridge (MCU)

$.062M

$1.057M

$1.1M

1,500 Employees

Telepresence Units:

* 4 Immersive Systems
* 40 Room Systems

1 Bridge (MCU)

$.059M

$.544M

$.603M

Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile delivers breakthrough video performance at any bandwidth, including full-motion HD video quality starting at just 512 kbps, and full-motion DVD-quality standard definition (SD) video starting as low as 128 kbps.

"We have implemented H.264 High Profile on our Polycom HDX systems and the results are impressive," said John Vitrano, vice president of service support, CA Technologies. "We can run our systems at reduced bandwidth without impacting quality. We are encouraged that Polycom is implementing it on their bridges and immersive telepresence products, as this will allow us to get the benefit of H.264 High Profile in more applications."

Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile will play a key role in its initiatives with Polycom Open Collaboration Network partners to integrate visual communications into leading unified communications (UC) environments. It is also strategic in Polycom's initiative with Juniper Networks to improve the quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of video networks.

"Juniper and Polycom are creating the first scalable, ‘conferencing-aware' network solution which will enable carriers to maximize the value of their existing networks to deliver the highest quality video services," said Gerri Elliott, executive vice president for strategic alliances, Juniper Networks. "Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile complements these efforts by enabling customers to run significantly more video connections over their existing network. Our combined solution will help carriers move away from overlay networks for video services toward more intelligent and efficient converged networks, which are inherently more sustainable and profitable in the long-term."

Benefits for Remote Workers

Higher video quality at lower bandwidth will drive greater quality of experience among mobile and home office workers, and increased adoption overall will drive greater intercompany collaboration. These applications often involve calling across less-than-perfect networks or between corporate networks across the public internet. To ensure a more consistent, high-quality experience, the new H.264 High Profile video technology is complemented by Polycom's innovative Lost Packet RecoveryTM quality of experience technology. With LPR, Polycom is the only company that protects voice, video and content quality during packet loss and network congestion.

Polycom will demonstrate the benefits of H.264 High Profile at the InfoComm 2010 Conference and Expo, June 9 -11 in Las Vegas (booth N1806).

Availability:

H.264 High Profile is currently available on Polycom HDX series room telepresence systems (6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000). General availability for Polycom RMX 4000 and 2000 products and Polycom immersive telepresence solutions (Polycom RPX, OTX and ATX) is scheduled for Q3 2010.

Supporting information:

H.264 High Profile Whitepaper, Application Brief, Savings Calculators