Polycom has just announced the release of the latest firmware for the RealPresence Trio, the world's first smart hub for group collaboration.There are lots of new features (links to videos below), but I think that it is worth mentioning the new Skype for Business UI. It may not seem like much, but in my opinion, having a familiar user interface is important for two key reasons.

Firstly, when it comes to collaborating and meetings, people do not want to spend time learning a new UI for every device and in each location that they choose to join a call. Providing a consistent UI will ensure that when people walk into a room with a Polycom RealPresence Trio, they will recognise the familiar Skype for Business UI, already understand the simple workflow to join a meeting and feel comfortable using the single click to join calendar invite.  People want to focus on the meeting ahead, not on setting up a meeting. The new UI helps ensure that joining a meeting is a simple process, wherever you may be.

Secondly, if users are familiar with using the new UI, then they will feel more comfortable using the device and meeting space for collaborating. Ultimately this helps organisations drive adoption and usage of the technology they have invested in. 

As I said, it may seem simple, but the easier it is for us to collaborate, the quicker we can make decisions and the more successful we will be. 

See the new features here, including, but not limited to:

• RealPresence Trio Skype for Business UI Tour 
• Display layout options
• Call escalation

I recently attended the Westcon Imagine events in Australia and New Zealand had the opportunity to present the findings from Polycom’s latest ANZ WPOTF report. It was a great opportunity to discuss Polycom’s focus on the workspace, experience and workflow and how our innovation in these areas are helping employers and employees collaborate more effectively.

*This interview first appeared in Tech Day NZ & Biz Edge NZ and Tech Day and IT Brief

At the recent Imagine 2016 event in Auckland, there were many topics discussed, not least of which the power of collaboration and where we’re going in the future.

James Ware, Polycom ANZ senior manager of Alliances and Cloud Services, spoke about the workspace of the future.

“There is no longer a standard meeting room,” says Ware. “It’s all about open plan and opening the office up to collaboration - we’re seeing a real focus on the huddle room.”

A ‘huddle room’ is essentially a smaller, more connected version of the boardroom. Typically, they include a screen, a phone system and a central surface with around four seats or less and businesses use them for quick and insulated private calls.

“While there might be a large number of boardrooms, it’s a relatively small number when compared to huddle rooms,” says Ware. “We estimate about 1% of the world’s huddle rooms are in Australia and New Zealand, which equates to around 450,000.”

Traditional office space is shifting toward a more open, more shared and more affordable combination of public and private collaboration spaces around the world. It has never been more important to enable people to create their own workspaces via secure connections from anywhere, on any device. There is no doubt that across Australia and New Zealand, there is a large increase in the use of global teams and in tasks that require cross organisational collaboration. This is where regular video conference calls become crucial. However, while traditional phone calls and conference systems do a great job of transmitting the audio you want to be picked up, they also do a great job of picking up unintentional noise.

“Think about the guy in the back noisily eating the packet of chips, the people working from home with enthusiastic children and barking dogs or even just the general day-to-day noise of an office,” Ware says. “It can put a strain on any meeting - and even bring them to a halt.”

It’s clear that modern organisations need to find a way of making the dramas of distance disappear – fortunately, Polycom has the answer with their latest line of products.

“Our NoiseBlock technology automatically blocks background noise from any meeting, meaning the guy in the background can continue happily eating his chips – no one else in the meeting will hear a thing,” Ware says. “Furthermore, we also offer the ability to utilise an ‘Acoustic Fence’, whereby you can hold the meeting from noisy locations such as your car, a coffee shop or on the train and all noise around you within the fence will be blocked.”

Wainhouse Research and Polycom conducted surveys from Polycom’s existing customers regarding their thoughts on the video-enabled workspace – here are some of the results:

• 94% said it increases efficiency and productivity
• 87% said it accelerates decision making
• 87% said it reduces travel costs
• 35% said it reduced franchisee training

“What we want to do is unleash the power of collaboration for organisations, and it’s all centred around three key features – workspace, experience and workflow,” says Ware. “We want to enable people to create their own workspaces via secure connections from anywhere, on any device.”

According to a survey from Polycom, more than 48% of ANZ employees would use video conferencing more frequently if it was as simple as using a personal device – and that is what Polycom has achieved, with a simple user interface that links seamlessly with various platforms and where you literally have to just click to join.

A guest post by James Ware, Senior Manager, Alliances & Cloud Services

‘We are in the (enter business type here) business; we are not in the business of running data centres.’ 
 

Sound familiar? This is a statement that we are hearing with increasing frequency from customers. Evidence would point to Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) customers being early adopters of technology, and cloud service adoption is no different. We lead the way, with many in the ANZ market rapidly adopting a cloud-first strategy. While there are plenty of organisations that still run infrastructure on their own hardware and manage their own data centres, we’re continuing to see an upward trend (that hockey stick effect) of organisations that have decided to outsource to cloud service providers in order to better focus on their core business.

And then there are organisations that only wish to outsource some services, and who want to retain the rest. The fact is that customers are looking for options and as vendors we need to provide customers with consumption choices. There are multiple cloud consumption models, and services can be provided from a private cloud, public cloud or utilising a hybrid solution. 

Benefits of cloud video services
It wasn’t too long ago that the very idea of a video conference was challenging. We have come so far by removing the ‘clunkiness’ involved in hosting or participating in a video call – the IT intervention to initiate the conference, the complexity, the poor connections, and the costs involved were just some of the issues.

Video has become natural and intuitive as both a social and enterprise tool for collaborating. With users connecting visually via a multitude of devices and environments, moving to cloud-based services was only a matter of time.

Here are 4 key benefits of moving to the cloud:

1. Increased flexibility: Cloud-based video services offer customers flexible consumption models. A cloud solution offers the flexibility to scale up or down as customer demand changes, and customers can adopt a ‘pay as you grow’ model towards video deployments. Flexibility on consumption allows organisations to focus on successful adoption without the fear of over or underutilisation.
   
   
2. Budgeting and Asset Lifecycle Management: Consuming video-as-a-service means that what was once a capital expense is now a simple operating expense. Not only are projects more cost-effective to budget for, but if the right service provider is chosen, other benefits like access to the latest software upgrades are automatic – no more sweating assets to build your capex business case! 
   
   
3. Reduced complexity and access to the latest features: Video experts managing a cloud video service can focus on providing customers with the latest features and best service. Customers can focus on collaborating effectively and having a great experience. 
   
   
4. Fast adoption: Delivered via the cloud, video services are immediately available for customers to test and consume. With simple set up and management, customers can evaluate solutions and move to adoption much faster.

The Polycom Advantage 

Customers are looking to Polycom and our partners for advice on moving applications and services into the cloud.

A major consideration for Polycom and our customers is that not only should we be offering consumption choice, but for successful end user adoption of collaboration services, maintaining a consistent experience and integrated workflow is critical to success.  Integrating cloud video into existing workflows, and providing a consistent experience across traditional video conferencing devices or emerging devices such as tablets, desktops and phones is important. Polycom has built these considerations into the design of various consumption offerings and support services.

Choosing a vendor with experience at all stages of the video evolution matters most; they need to offer thought leadership and more importantly choice.  Polycom is very pleased to be working with the partner community that delivers a variety of services, so whether you are looking for vanilla or cookie cut solutions, we have a nice selection on the menu.

Polycom will be present at multiple events for the remainder of 2015.  Come and talk to us, we would be very interested to learn about your journey to the cloud and equally provide you with some excellent options should you want to get a taste of cloud based video services.

Upcoming events:
Come meet with us at the following events to learn more about how Polycom can provide you the collaboration solutions which are right for your business: -

Integrate 2015, Melbourne         25th – 27th August 2015
Microsoft APC, Gold Coast        31st August – 3rd September 2015
Ignite NZ , Auckland                    1st – 4th September
Telstra Vantage, Melbourne       22nd – 23rd September
HINZ, Christchurch                     19th – 22nd October
Ignite Australia, Gold Coast         17th – 20th November

Related content:
▪ Infographic: 4 Great Myths About Cloud Services
▪ Video: Pay as you Grow: Polycom’s Cloud Strategy Empowers