Polycom has a long and fruitful history of cooperation with Microsoft’s collaboration innovations, integrating the best of what Microsoft has to offer into its audio and video conferencing systems. Whether it’s Office 365 or Skype for Business, Polycom has been there for the last fifteen years, providing customers with an ideal gateway into the world of Microsoft communications technology.
When Microsoft Teams was unveiled around this time last year, we knew it was just a matter of time before Polycom introduced an integration plan. And we were right. As announced late last month, Polycom’s portfolio of conferencing and collaboration solutions will now offer Microsoft Teams users the best in voice and video technology.
With Microsoft Teams, users can connect via chats, audio calls or video conferences in private and group conversations. Additionally, anyone can share content--files, apps, desktops--and review transcriptions of any recorded content.
Microsoft Teams basically extends the reach of Office 365, with users being given instant access to such features as SharePoint, OneNote, PowerBI and Planner. And with email integration and a searchable database compiled with information from Microsoft Graph, Teams becomes a vital communication hub for folks committed to Microsoft platforms.
With so many different collaboration solutions out there, interoperability is key. By integrating with a solution like Polycom RealConnect, Teams users can reach out to people who use non-Skype for Business endpoints, thereby eliminating barriers to communication that used to exist between Skype for Business users and outside parties using different solutions.
If you’re worried about Skype for Business suddenly disappearing to make way for Microsoft Teams, well, don’t. Not yet, at least. A new Skype for Business server will be available in 2018, so you still have some time with your trusted conferencing infrastructure, but Teams appears to be the future, so it’s a good thing Polycom will be there to ease you into it.
This would be a good time to mention that Polycom will soon introduce a new hybrid version of RealConnect, which will keep Skype for Business on-site users connected with existing video devices until such time that they are ready to make the leap into Office 365 and Skype for Business Online. Everything will eventually be in the cloud, but until then, with Polycom’s help, you can decide when and how to move your company into it.
Learn more about Polycom and its wide range of solutions and please contact us if you have any questions about pricing or installation. We will have one of our experts get back to you as soon as possible. If you’re looking for something else, use our Advanced Search tool to find it.
