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In an effort to offer telepresence services at more competitive prices, a European video communications distributor today announced it has attained certification with Polycom, Inc. to provide audio/visual integration for customized experiences with the technology.

 

Officials at Imago Group plc said they achieved the status as a provider of audio/visual integration for customized immersive telepresence solutions. The certification helps the company tap a new line of adaptable, immersive telepresence solutions, the so-called “Polycom (News - Alert) Architected Telepresence Experience,” to help firms create immersive telepresence for their specific needs.

 

Imago, one of Polycom’s  newly promoted channel development distributors, will be the first distributor of the Polycom ATX 300 in the U.K., company officials said. The company will also provide its channel of specialist resellers with a range of furniture and display technologies within the Polycom blueprint.

Polycom ATX solutions interoperate with Polycom’s line of immersive, room and personal telepresence solutions, as well as the estimated 2 million standards-based video conferencing systems in use today, officials said.

 

Customers previously had to buy a whole immersive experience, including hardware and software as an all-in-one solution. The services worked for many applications, but not all, Ian Vickerage, managing director of Imago, said.

 

 “The beauty of the Polycom ATX 300 is that customers will get all the power and interaction quality of the Polycom immersive telepresence solution, but they can customize the whole build around their own needs at a very competitive price,” Vickerage said in a statement. “This is a fantastic business opportunity for AV integrators and resellers. It brings the world of immersive telepresence to a much wider audience and offers huge flexibility without any compromise on quality and performance.”

 

Bob Farahar, vice president of channels EMEA at Polycom, said the certification will help boost Imago’s image within the industry and help it stay competitive.

 

“Customers are often looking for flexibility to tailor telepresence for very specific requirements,” Farahar said in a statement. “With expertise in visual communication deployments and certification for the new Polycom ATX solutions, Imago offers customers a comprehensive range of Polycom telepresence offerings and services, including the ability to develop specialized solutions for very specific business requirements.”

 

In other news, Polycom announced that AVI-SPL, a Tampa, Fla.-based audio and video communications solution provider, achieved the status as a provider of audio/visual integration for customized immersive telepresence solutions. The certification helps AVI-SPL leverage a new line of immersive telepresence solutions, "Polycom Architected Telepresence (News - Alert) Experience," to help organizations personalize the solution for their specific needs.

 

The Pleasanton, Calif-based company also announced its DECT voice systems are now interoperable with Cisco Unified Communications Manager by tekVizion, an independent third-party lab. The solutions that can now be used with Cisco UCM include the Polycom KIRK Wireless Servers 6000 and 300 and the KIRK handset.

 

Polycom’s partnership with Cisco (News - Alert) is part of the company’s ongoing effort to increase its telepresence and video conferencing solutions for organizations. Under it, Polycom hopes to reach targeted groups with live video broadcasts and on-demand video and multimedia content.