Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), the global leader in open, standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), today announced broad interoperability for Microsoft® Lync™ 2013 that includes new qualified Polycom voice solutions and a new software extension to the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform that will deliver interoperability between Lync 2013 and the full portfolio of Polycom standards-based video collaboration and content sharing solutions. These announcements further the extensive partnership between the two companies, building on Polycom’s portfolio of 40 video, voice and content sharing solutions that are interoperable or optimized to work with Lync 2010 today. Together, Microsoft and Polycom offer the most complete UC&C portfolio at the lowest total cost of ownership.

"With today’s announcement, Polycom will deliver the broadest interoperability for Lync 2013 in our industry,” said Andy Miller, President and CEO, Polycom. “The majority of companies choose Polycom and Microsoft over other vendors for a complete UC&C solution today, and we will continue to ensure that our joint customers have a superior collaboration experience, unmatched interoperability and investment protection. The combination of Polycom and Microsoft software provides a seamless UC solution for video, voice, conferencing and collaboration, from anywhere, anytime, and drives increased productivity across organizations.”

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Qualification for Polycom VVX Business Media Phones and Compatibility of Polycom Video Room Systems and Polycom RealPresence Platform with Lync 2013

As part of today’s news, Polycom announced native integration and Lync Server 2013 qualification for Polycom® VVX® Business Media Phones (Polycom VVX 500 and Polycom VVX 600 models), with the Polycom VVX 300 and Polycom VVX 400 models expected to achieve qualification in Q2 2013. In addition, the Polycom RealPresence Platform and the Polycom HDX® Series and Polycom® RealPresence® Group Series of video collaboration endpoints are expected to be compatible with Lync Server 2013 in June.

Software Extensions to RealPresence Platform Delivers Lync 2013 Interoperability with Polycom Video Solutions and AVC/SVC Industry Standard Endpoints

New software extensions to the Polycom RealPresence Platform will include software updates to the Polycom® RealPresence® Collaboration Servers (RMX Series® and Collaboration Server 800s) and Polycom® RealPresence® Virtualization Manager™ (Polycom® DMA®), which will deliver Lync 2013 interoperability across Polycom’s full portfolio of video solutions, including the new Polycom RealPresence Group Series, executive desktop video systems, mobile video apps and other endpoints.

With these new software updates, Polycom and Microsoft customers will be able to use endpoints and infrastructure supporting open-standards based H.264 AVC or SVC (Scalable Video Coding) with Lync 2013. Last year, Polycom licensed the first open standards-based SVC implementation royalty free to the industry, including the Unified Communications Interoperability Forum (UCI Forum), to ensure adoption and industry-wide interoperability (see press release). Microsoft implemented open standards-based SVC into Lync 2013. Last fall, Polycom added its open standards-based SVC to the RealPresence Platform, which provides customers with 3X HD multipoint video capacity for greater scalability and dramatically lower TCO, superior performance, and backwards- and forwards-compatibility for investment protection.

The software extensions announced today will also include Lync 2013 interoperability for the recently launched Polycom® RealPresence® Content Sharing Suite, a software application that allows Lync users to share content back and forth with standards-based video collaboration devices such as room-based video solutions (e.g., Polycom HDX systems) or mobile apps (e.g., Polycom® RealPresence® Mobile 2.2 app). Additionally, the software extensions will include a new cross-platform scheduling application that integrates with Lync 2013, Exchange and Polycom RealPresence solutions to allow combined Lync 2013 and traditional video endpoint meetings using existing Microsoft Outlook scheduling capabilities. This capability will enable customers to easily schedule video meetings with both participants and video endpoints, which makes setting up and managing video calls easier for end users while freeing up IT support resources.

Delivering a Unifying Communications and Collaboration Experience

Together, Polycom® RealPresence® video and voice solutions and Microsoft Lync unify communications across work environments – on the go, home and work offices, conference rooms and immersive theaters. With the combination of Lync and Polycom RealPresence solutions, employees can launch video collaboration sessions easily and intuitively from within familiar interfaces and normal workflows, from any work environment on- or off-premises. They simply click a name in their Lync contact list to securely collaborate face-to-face via Polycom video in a conference room or on a mobile device.

Advanced Services Help Customers with Implementation

On March 1, Polycom finalized the acquisition of Sentri, Inc., a leading provider of advanced services with expertise in Microsoft technologies (including Lync), UC&C, video collaboration, cloud services and networking. As a Premier Support for Lync™ Partners (PSLP) certified company, Sentri brings significant expertise integrating Microsoft Lync with Polycom solutions that will benefit customers.

Availability

Polycom VVX 500 and Polycom VVX 600 Business Media Phones natively integrate and are qualified for Lync Server 2013 today, and the Polycom VVX 300 and Polycom VVX 400 models are expected to pass qualification in Q2 2013. The Polycom HDX Series and Polycom RealPresence Group Series of video collaboration endpoints, and Polycom RealPresence Platform, are expected to be compatible with Lync 2013 in June 2013. The new software extensions to Polycom RealPresence Platform that will deliver broad interoperability between Lync 2013 and Polycom’s full portfolio of video solutions with support for Lync 2013 features are currently planned to be available in the second half of 2013. Polycom RealPresence Content Sharing Suite is available today. For more information about today’s news and the overall Polycom and Microsoft relationship, visit www.polycom.com/Microsoft and watch the related video.

About Polycom

Polycom is the global leader in open, standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions for voice and video collaboration, trusted by more than 415,000 customers around the world. Polycom solutions are powered by the Polycom® RealPresence® Platform, comprehensive software infrastructure and rich APIs that interoperate with the broadest set of communication, business, mobile and cloud applications and devices to deliver secure face-to-face video collaboration in any environment. Polycom and its ecosystem of over 7,000 partners provide truly unified communications solutions that deliver the best user experience, highest multi-vendor interoperability, and lowest TCO. Visit www.polycom.com or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn how we’re pushing the greatness of human collaboration forward.

NOTE: The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Polycom reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time. Products and related specifications referenced herein are not guaranteed and will be delivered on a when and if available basis.

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding future events, including statements regarding product availability, features and qualifications, Polycom's new solutions delivering the broadest interoperability for Lync 2013 in the industry and the benefits of the Sentri acquisition to customers. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the impact of competition on our product sales and for our customers and partners; the impact of increased competition due to consolidation in our industry or competition from companies that are larger or that have greater resources than we do; our ability to bring our new products and offerings to market in a timely manner due to engineering, manufacturing or other delays; changing market demands; potential fluctuations in results and future growth rates; risks associated with general economic conditions and external market factors; the market acceptance of our products and changing market demands, including demands for differing technologies or product and services offerings; our ability to successfully integrate our acquisitions into our business; possible delays in the development, availability and shipment of new products; increasing costs and differing uses of capital; changes in key personnel that may cause disruption to the business; our inability to achieve the expected results from adjustments being made to our expense profile; the impact of restructuring actions; and the impact of global conflicts and changing laws that may adversely impact our business. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and in other reports filed by Polycom with the SEC. Polycom disclaims any intent or obligations to update these forward-looking statements.

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