Today, Polycom marked a 25th anniversary in the industry by announcing Innovative Solutions that will Transform Collaboration Experiences along with being the First to Put People at the Center of Collaboration. They conducted a pre-launch day yesterday for press and analysts (which I was invited to but unfortunately was not able to attend), followed by an […]

Last week my fellow consultants and I were invited to an event at conferencing stalwart Polycom’s New York City experience center. It’s a pretty and shiny new spot at One Penn Plaza, with a nice river view outside and their technological toys inside. For me the more interesting part isn’t the specifics of a single […]

Extron is launching into a completely new market category with their new MediaPort 200, an HDMI (and audio) to USB bridge for integrating pro AV sources or systems with software codec conferencing applications. The cool thing about this product is it will give integrators a way to make money integrating consumer videoconferencing products and apps […]

Biamp Systems today announced new Lync Enterprise Voice integration and a new hardware dialer for its flagship Tesira platform. VoIP integration support coupled with the new HD-1 hardware dialer provides an easy-to-install, streamlined conferencing solution. By adding support for Lync Enterprise Voice to the Tesira platform, teleconferencing applications that utilize a Lync Server as their […]

Crestron’s RL 2 is the company’s second generation Microsoft Lync and Skype for Business collaboration system. The RL 2 codec claims a number of new features including a fully integrated DigitalMedia receiver, native Crestron Fusion connectivity for room monitoring, multiple audio input configurations, and versatile mounting options. Crestron RL 2 includes a TSW-style touch screen […]

Crestron is using ISE to launch its new Crestron RL 2, the enhanced second-generation version of Crestron RL. The Crestron RL 2 is designed to for unified communications and group collaboration in a the conference room. It brings Crestron DigitalMedia and Microsoft Lync software into a single device that enables video, voice, interactive content sharing, […]

Although SMART Technologies invented the interactive whiteboard market, and therefore indirectly invented the interactive display market, companies like InFocus — with Mondopad — and Clary Icon as well as Sharp have developed it into more of a mainstream product category in recent years. So much so that Microsoft has now, well, copied it — but, […]

For quite some time now, Microsoft Lync has grown as a unified communications and collaboration platform for the enterprise, and certain video conferencing and collaboration companies have put together major strategy for Lync interoperability, as well as creating a path for their partners to expand on their collaboration-focused capabilities.. The intro article of this series, The […]

In a recent Twitter conversation, the Microsoft Lync handle @msftLync was tagged, and after a few back and forth messages with others, I received this: @Cbmoss We recommend reading our blog for additional information. Stay tuned for #Skype4B updates. And with this, I decided to write an article about Skype for business. When Skype entered the […]

So you’re telling me hardware is dead… Every time a new software video conferencing product hits the market, I hear the cries that hardware is dead in our industry. Cloud (Internet) services are all the rage, but the continual cry of hardware being dead from software vendors is stale and has run its course. Maybe […]

This is the third blog in the series Disruptive Forces: The Leaders Speak. Profile: Dr. Mark Blake is one of the founders of Acano. Mark brings extensive technology expertise to the team and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Mark’s backstory: Mark Blake is an expert in high performance computing and distributed media processing architectures and has created media […]

Pexip today announced the version 4 release of Pexip Infinity, which adds native interoperability with Microsoft Lync 2010, 2013 and Lync Online/Office 365. Pexip Infinity naturally extends Lync’s capabilities by adding Virtual Meeting Rooms for everyone in the organization. Participants joining via WebRTC can connect without any browser plugins. In technical terms, Pexip Infinity version […]

SMART Technologies has announced several new additions to the SMART Room System for Microsoft Lync, including capability for interactive sharing that enables touch and inking into any software application, integration with SMART Meeting Pro PE (Personal Edition) software and the introduction of unbound workspace. With the introduction of interactive sharing, users can now work with […]

Before the doors closed on the 2014 edition of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) last week in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, nearly every exhibitor already knew it was a record show. NEC reported to us on Day 2 of the show that they’d seen a 40 percent increase on leads on Day 1 over 2013’s totals. […]

By Monica Heck Special to InfoComm International Whether you call it simply unified communications (UC) or you also throw collaboration into the mix (UCC), it’s clear that this years-old-yet-bleeding-edge technology has finally gained its footing. Even if you struggle to define the collection of videoconferencing, chat, email and other solutions that fall under the UC […]

The SMART Room System, the integrated hardware and software solution that supports Microsoft Lync in the meeting room, is now shipping. SMART claims it already has hundreds on back order. SMART says the conferencing solution simplifies the collaboration experience for both virtual and face-to-face meeting participants and provides a seamless online experience through sharing of […]

By Darcy Harrell CEO, Total Marketing The palatable excitement from June’s InfoComm is slowly starting to wane. The thrill of new technology and product introductions, as well as the entrance of new market players, has been replaced as the doldrums of the everyday demo, quote, close rhythm takes over. In North Texas, it’s hot… and […]

If you’ve ever met someone on Facebook who you’ve wanted to carry on an extended friendship with, the possibility of a “Skype” chat is likely to arise in conversation. Upon agreement, each party simply downloads the application on their PC or mobile device, one sends a connect request to the other, and in minutes they’re […]

LifeSize is working with Microsoft to deliver a video and collaboration solution that brings the popular Microsoft Lync unified communication experience to the meeting room. LifeSize is one of four video collaboration vendors participating in the Microsoft Lync Room Systems program, aimed at developing a new product category designed around Lync 2013. LifeSize LRS1000 for […]

Although we gave our Best of InfoComm 2012 Best New Technology Award to HDBaseT technology, if there was an omnipresent theme at this year’s show, it was Unified Communications (UC). To be perfectly honest, UC’s been around as an acronym for years – and it’s become one of those buzz-worthy terms that marketing and PR […]

Vidyo, Inc., a telepresence company, this month announced it will deliver extended interoperability with Microsoft Lync, which will enable organizations that use Microsoft Lync to offer employees accessibility to the Vidyo platform. The VidyoConferencing infrastructure provides continuous presence video layout to the Lync client as well as enables Lync interoperability with legacy systems and Vidyo […]