Plantronics + Polycom Merger Relaunched as Poly

March 18 2019, 07:10
Following the acquisition of Polycom, confirmed in July 2018, Plantronics, announced that the company will transform into Poly, a technology company focused on the human experience of communications and collaboration, aiming to make communication as rich and natural as in-person. Poly aims to be the solution of choice whenever and wherever collaboration clouds reach people. To connect people, not things, the company motto says.

Poly, which means “many,” leverages the audio and video expertise of Plantronics and Polycom and its breadth of smart endpoints that connect across and between unified communications platforms to reduce the distractions, complexity, and distance in the modern workspace.   

“Today feels like my first day as CEO of a new company,” says Joe Burton, president and chief executive officer, Poly. “We see limitless opportunity for how people communicate and collaborate today. With advancements in AI, machine learning and new technologies, we see a future where Poly makes the connection, then quietly steps out of the way to become the one thing you don’t notice in the meeting.”  

According to the company's announcement, Poly will focus on four distinct areas of innovation. Starting with an area pioneered by Plantronics in its Habitat Soundscaping solution, aiming at making workspaces intuitively work for everyone. The modern open office has introduced distraction and noise into the work place, leading to lower productivity and employee satisfaction. Poly offers solutions today to address audible distraction in open spaces as well as technologies that make huddle rooms as powerful as traditional board rooms.

Secondly, Poly aims to help people collaborate, their way. Something which is directly linked to Polycom's former strategy, but also shared by many of Plantronics' key market segments. People are now using three or more collaboration solutions in a given day and need endpoints that work with and across those solutions. Poly offers a wide range of solutions to meet this growing need, the announcement says.

Third, by designing solutions that are mobile-first for the modern workforce. Whether it is using a personal smart phone as a “business phone” or navigating through a day where personal and business blend, workers need voice and video capabilities that move with them. Poly’s recently announced Elara 60 Mobile phone station with wireless charging that enhances smartphone integration recognizes this is the new normal and joins Poly’s award-winning mobile headsets to give people high quality tools to be productive from anywhere.

Finally, advancing cloud services that help IT pros and users get more out of their devices. As the macro trend of end user empowerment continues, IT pros are more challenged to know what is being used, and where. Poly is focused on making easy-to-use solutions also easy to manage.

The Poly logo honors the company’s new path forward as well as its legacy: its lava red color and angle of letters form a propeller to reflect Plantronics 60-year aviation lineage while its three legs are inspired by the design of Polycom’s iconic conference phone.

“Our new brand represents the many elements of our history that we bring together to enable people to work the way we all work now, which is anywhere and across multiple collaboration tools,” says Amy Barzdukas, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Poly. “No other company has as many communications devices and services that we offer across any platform of choice, and the true power will be in how we bring them together so people can do more.”
 

New Poly Solutions
Starting March 18 at Enterprise Connect 2019, Poly is unveiling new products and services to realize the company vision, which include:
Polycom Studio, an easy-to-use video USB bar for huddle rooms that works with services like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Skype for Business, Google Meet, Cisco Webex, or Amazon Chime.
Plantronics Elara 60 Series, the mobile phone station designed for the increasingly mobile-first worker.
Eagle Eye Cube, a video conference camera with 4k sensors and rich sound to upgrade meetings in small to mid-sized rooms.
Blackwire 7225, an intuitive UC headset designed with a boomless design and featuring active noise cancellation.
The Plantronics Status Indicator, a wired presence indicator that sits on the desktop and connects with any communication platform to let others know if users are available, on a call or away from the desk. Visual and audio alerts sound for messages and calls.
www.poly.com
related items