Randel Maestre (Global Director for Industry Solutions) explained that, at the heart of this initiative, they intend to not only connect people but to essentially "affect real lives." Sure, it sounds cheesy but it does aptly describe what the strategy can ultimately achieve. Polycom is taking its video communications technologies and putting these on applications and devices for large enterprises, SMBs, and consumers. It is building on its UC Intelligent Core™ infrastructure platform, which has “'universal bridging' capabilities to connect existing and emerging video applications." Polycom is pushing these technological advancements as collaborative tools that can potentially affect how we do business, communicate, and render services when the barrier of distance is removed.
To better appreciate Polycom's groundbreaking SVC technology, consider the primary barrier to our having better internet connection in the Philippines: our old and unstable telco infrastructure. We already have problems getting our text messages sent, so a steady video communication feed is but a dream. But Polycom intends to change our minds with its H.264 SVC device, which can deliver high-profile HD video calls using only half of the available bandwidth.
Polycom's mobile solution is aimed at integrating its UC technology into smartphones and other mobile devices, starting with Samsung's Galaxy Android Tablet. On the drawing board are plans to integrate it into Blackberry, Windows Smartphones, and Apple devices. Imagine making a video call from your smartphone that is so clear, it's like you're actually there. Moreover, imagine "Can you hear me?" becoming obsolete!
IMHO, it looks like Polycom's proposed mobile and "cloud" strategies still seem largely conceptual at this point. It sounds doable and sensible, but we all know that things are seldom that simple. There are OEMs, telco providers, and many other service providers that need to be convinced about how the vision could be supported. It's gonna cost a lot to get that infra up and running constantly. But then again, that's why it's important to keep going back to the vision and really believing that it is an investment. And if there's anything we also know by now is that Polycom's products are for keeps.
Going back to the strategy's potential to affect real lives: think about it -- if implemented in services like medicine, customer service, or education, we can definitely be affected in a significant way. Polycom has actually developed solutions like telemedicine (for which they partnered with ATI), customer service kiosks, and mobile / operational videos. It wasn't surprising to see that telemedicine and mobile classrooms were the most popular topics in the post-presentation Q&A. After all, we are an archipelago and a third-world country where basic healthcare and education are most lacking in several remote areas. Polycom's UC Everywhere is the perfect solution for us. Maestre showed me images of mobile video classrooms in the US that streamed educational footage from a content database in another country. Clearly it's been done before, and successfully at that, so we know that it is possible.
However, for Polycom's UC strategy to truly take flight in PH, our communications infra has to be updated first. Otherwise, it'd be just like placing a shiny new LCD TV in a creaky, old house. Unable to fully enjoy its benefits, our current experience will simply become more tolerable.
Still, the fact remains that Polycom is bent on connecting us all in a new way, so that means we're on the right track. These are indeed exciting times.
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