UC Software 5.3 preview at Enterprise Connect 2015, March 16-18 at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando FL

[Christine Kovacs (christine)]

I’ve just arrived re-energized from Enterprise Connect 2015 an amazing event offering solutions and new technologies for business communications and collaborations especially for large organizations and the government. As a Polycom Enterprise Connect exhibitor I had the chance to enjoy and showcase the many Polycom solutions we are now offering to address the workplace of the future. These solutions offer many collaboration solutions for innovative workspaces.

This year’s event’s main focus was addressing solutions for unified/disunified communications, collaboration, and contact centers. The Polycom booth had solutions addressing unique offerings that will truly change and revolutionize the workplace of the future. While walking through the Polycom booth and looking at the many demos some of these unique technology innovations really stopped the visitor. It was amazing to see how they were drawn in to look at and understand the experience and later, listen to their questions and their conclusions re: how this can positively impact their organization. The Polycom demos highlighted the impact of the end user experience and how it will optimize their collaboration.

The Polycom Voice Solutions demos included a preview of UC Software 5.3 a new release that will be launching on March 27th. This release will be a very large release addressing: BroadSoft solutions, Genband Solutions and Microsoft Lync solutions along with many enhancements and UI improvements.

To mention a few that were showcased at the booth specifically from the GENBAND area. We highlighted how an end user can now benefit from E911 location services feature, the improved directory integration, and GENBAND MADN-SCA(Multiple Appearance Directory Numbers – Single Call Arrangement) that supports among a host of other end-user improvements.

The GENBAND MADN-SCA was showcased via the VVX devices for GENBAND environments. It demonstrated better interoperability, enhanced call management that is now allowing multiple users to access a single line (the MADN-SCA) Multiple Appearance Directory Numbers – Single Call Arrangement and E911 support, connecting emergency calls with the appropriate public resources.

From the BroadSoft area we were showcasing the:

Enhanced Call park feature where call park can be used to park a call directly to a contact’s line. This feature enhances the user experience by providing audio and visual indication when the call is parked against a phone line and also provides a mechanism to view the remote party details.

We also showed off the:

Private Hold feature where a shared line user initiates a transfer of conference call & places the existing active call on hold and all other shared line appearances are alerted by blinking red LED. The end user can enable the private hold feature to display the PvtHold soft key on a shared line. This feature enhances the user experience by holding the existing call privately.

The additional items we were demonstrating were:

Polycom BroadSoft UC-One Integration features:

• Broadsoft Directory—Displaying information for all users in the enterprise: work and mobile phone numbers
• Broadcloud Presence—Allows users to share presence information with the BroadTouch Business Communicator (BTBC) client application
• Directory Integration— Enabling the user to search and display of BroadSoft enterprise directory contacts
• UC One Presence— Unified presence information with the BroadTouch Business Communicator (BTBC) client applications on other devices
• UC One Contacts and Favorites— Synchronized UC One Contacts, Personal Groups and Favorites with BroadTouch Business Communicator (BTBC) client applications

The most popular and exciting feature showcased at the Polycom Desktop /Voice solutions area is the Acoustic Fence demo.

People just loved the experience of the acoustic fence as it provides advanced noise cancellation for headset and handset users. The proprietary Polycom audio processing, background noise is truly eliminated all tradeshow floor noise and produced a clear audio of the demo visitors. I loved seeing the eyes of our booth visitors as they were in a noisy environment and the Acoustic fence provided the best possible audio quality. They were commenting how the experience will reduce the strain on the far end user who no longer has to struggle to differentiate between background noise and what is being said.

The Polycom Acoustic Fence is designed to address the problem of call centers and home office workers. Polycom’s sophisticated audio processing can identify and detect distracting background noises and automatically mute the offending participant…but when that user starts speaking their line will then be automatically unmuted. This automatic enhancement of the desktop experience ensures that collaboration sessions are natural, engaging and productive.

The Enterprise Connect demos really showcased how the workplace is changing and how the traditional office, where people sit statically at dedicated desks working an 8-9 hour routine, is rapidly being transformed into a more flexible and mobile workplace of the future. People now work outside of the traditional office in places they choose and places where they need to be to do their work. We are seeing how the large organizations are adopting to many types of work styles because they benefit from a more flexible, agile workforce. Organizations are planning to provide solutions that enable the future knowledge worker to connect to the corporate network on a daily basis.

Please check to hear more about UCS 5.3 on Friday March 27th!