New Interactive Video Communications Appliance for Desktop and Laptop PCs Improves
Productivity and Teamwork 

                  

    MILPITAS, Calif., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Steve Wallace sits behind a
large oak desk in his Austin, Texas, home early on a Monday evening thinking
about where he's appeared in the past 12 hours.
    There was the quick meeting with some of his staff in Boston. Then he
spent valuable face time with an old friend and business associate in
San Francisco. And as he often does, he started the day at dawn by greeting
his parents in Switzerland.
    Amazingly, Wallace was everywhere he needed to be, without ever leaving
Austin.
    Wallace, the 40-year-old president and CEO of DSS Group, an Austin-based
custom software and development firm with offices in Boston and the
San Francisco Bay Area, is the beneficiary of new technology that allows him
to conduct business-quality, interactive video calls through his desktop or
laptop computer with a high-speed broadband connection such as a Digital
Subscriber Line (DSL), cable modem or Local Area Network (LAN).
    The product he uses is called ViaVideo, designed by Polycom, a
Silicon Valley-based company that makes video, voice and network access
products that help businesses communicate over high-speed networks. To view
ViaVideo photos and a recent video news release, click here
http://www.polycom.com/pressroom/viavideo.htm.
    Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, ViaVideo is the world's first
desktop video appliance that combines a high-performance multimedia processor
and a camera into a compact, single unit. That's an important distinction
between ViaVideo and grainy, toy-like web cams. Since ViaVideo's processor
offloads the majority of processing from the PC, it provides video images at
up to 30 frames per second while allowing a PC's other applications to
continue operating at normal capacity.
    Another distinction:  ViaVideo includes a built-in microphone and patented
technology that provides clear voice quality to video calls made over PCs.
Plus, since it simply plugs into a computer's universal serial bus (USB) port,
it's easy to use.
    "Pictures are worth more than a thousand words -- I'm a big believer in
that," Wallace said. "We've been able to put ViaVideo in our offices and our
customer sites. And regardless of where our employees and customers may be,
it's just like having those folks in the same room."
    There has long been a fascination with interactive video communications,
from science fiction flicks to episodes of The Jetsons. High costs and
limitations of the public phone network have kept the concept from reaching
the mainstream. But that's changing with the development of the Internet, an
ever-increasing number of people with high-speed Internet connections and new
product technology like ViaVideo.
    "We've reached the point where we can give people high-quality,
interactive video at an affordable price, either in a conference room or right
from a person's desktop or laptop computer," said Craig Malloy, a vice
president and general manager for Polycom. "Once people see the quality of a
product like ViaVideo, and understand how it can improve productivity and save
time and money, interactive video will gain widespread acceptance."
    ViaVideo, available worldwide through resellers and Polycom's web site
(http://www.polycom.com), sells for a manufacturers' suggested resale price of $599.
It is targeted, initially, at small to large businesses, as well as
telecommuters and workers in remote offices, looking for an affordable product
that delivers high-quality, interactive video to desktop or laptop PCs.
    That combination of quality and price sold Steve Wallace, who can't say
enough about the benefits of video communications, especially when it can be
done right from a desktop or laptop computer.
    "Making calls with ViaVideo makes my employees and me much more
productive," Wallace said. "We spend less time traveling and more time
interacting, which allows us to do more business. For me personally, I feel
like I know my employees better, get to see them more often without the time
and inconvenience that traveling can present. And I'm not 100 percent sure,
but I believe my wife is happier I'm at home more."



SOURCE Polycom, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.polycom.com