One of the most rewarding things about working at Polycom is that, from time to time features that you request actually appear in products.   It's not quite as hard as trying to get a bill to become a law, but there are multiple steps.  How does it happen?  

It all starts with an idea.  Once you have an idea, and understand how/why it would be used and develop a short business case to support it, the idea goes into a request tracking tool. Once tracked, it joins other feature requests to be prioritized by the product manager and several other key influencers.  They decide together whether this request is more important than other requests.  Typically, the product manager ends up with a stack-ranked list of requirements for a release. 

With a finite number of engineering resources, the development and product management teams weight the requests and levels of effort to deliver the requests.  They come up with a plan for development of a set of features into a release.   Then the developers develop, the testers test, and the documentation is written.   Generally products go through a beta testing process and we almost always run it internally too.   All the while we make necessathroughry changes or improvements to provide the best possible products to our customers.  

Finally the product is ready for release and then, the big day comes.  The product is released and becomes generally available.  Finally, the loop is closed, and you end up with a message like this in your email from our feature request tracking system:  

While I can't talk about this specific feature request (yet), it is very satisfying seeing the words "Implemented in release" and knowing your idea has jumped all the hoops and was deemed good enough to be delivered as part of a product or solution. 

If you have an idea for a feature request, please contact your Polycom partner or sales engineer. Alternately, send me email and I'd be happy to create it on your behalf.  Like making laws, not every bill becomes a law and not every feature request gets into a product, but we can begin the journey.   Who knows, some day you might get an email saying your idea has been "Implemented in release". 

From the factory, Polycom system remote controls are set to Channel ID 3.   These devices are all "line of sight" infrared (IR) remote controls  They can be changed to a unique Channel ID in case you have mutliple remote controls in one room or are getting "IR bleed" between rooms or devices. 

Before starting, please note: 

• If the remote control is set to channel 3, it will control a Polycom system set to any Channel ID.
• The Polycom Touch Control virtual remote control is always set to channel 3.  If you're using it, it automatically disables the IR remote.  Smart Pairing does NOT have any affect on the IR remote settings.  Using a virtual remote control application like VTC-Remote does not have any affect on the IR remote settings.
• The Power button works on each HDX system within the range of the remote control, regardless of the Channel ID settings.
• If you're using the remote control (and not the web UI) to change the Channel ID, it's easier to set the channel on the endpoint first and then change it on the remote control .
• Unless you're in the process of changing the Channel IDs, the first thing to check when the remote control isn't working are the batteries.  Either recharge or replace them, depending on your type of remote control. 

The two most current types of remote controls are the HDX (left ) and Group Series (right).  Instructions for configuring them vary. 

To set the channel on a Polycom HDX remote, use one the the two procedures below:  

On a Polycom HDX, from the remote control using the on screen menus, choose:

System>Admin Settings>General Settings>System Settings>Remote Control/Keypad>Channel ID {0..15, default = 3}

On a Polycom HDX from the web UI, choose: 

Admin Setting>General Settings>System Settings> and scroll down to the Channel ID {0..15, default = 3}

After setting the channel on the endpoint, you must also use the procedure below to set the channel ID on the actual remote control too.  (From Chapter 10 of the Administrator’s Guide for Polycom HDX Systems). 

Note that the channel you select will be displayed in the remote control LCD window. 

Once complete, test your remote control.

Alternately, To set the channel on a Polycom Group Series,  the configuration must be done through the web UI.  Browse to the IP address of the Group Series.   Choose 

Admin Settings > General Settings > System Settings > Remote Control, Keypad, and Power> and set the Channel ID {0..15, default = 3}.

After setting the channel on the endpoint, you must also use the procedure below to set the Channel ID on the actual remote control.  (From Chapter 9 of the Administrator’s Guide for the Polycom RealPresence Group Series). 

 Once complete, test your remote control.

Troubleshooting:  

If your remote control doesn't seem to be responding after changing channels, press and hold the power button for 2 seconds (HDX) or press and hold the hangup button for 10 seconds (Group Series).  These should respond regardless of channels.  If they do respond, then either the remote control or endpoint are misconfigured.  To recover, set the remote control to Channel ID 3. 

If connected, a Polycom Touch Control disables the IR control of its endpoint.