Polycom Ships Pathnavigator, Simplifying Video Communications Deployment,Management And Use

MILPITAS, Calif. – March 19, 2002 – Polycom® Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM),

a worldwide leader in the convergence of interactive voice, video and data communications,

today announced the general availability of Polycom PathNavigator™ (PathNavigator),

the revolutionary call-processing server application that simplifies the deployment,

management and use of interactive video communications over both IP and ISDN

networks. PathNavigator, with the Polycom OneDial™ feature, greatly simplifies

the use of video communications, including the process of making point-to-point

and multipoint calls across single and multi-network environments. Additionally,

for IT administrators, it provides them with greater control over how video

communications operates on their network, and its functionality can significantly

reduce costs, and improve reliability.

Polycom will demonstrate PathNavigator at the FOSE government trade show, March

19-21 at the Washington D.C. Convention Center – Booth #1450.

“Polycom PathNavigator delivers the ease of use, control, and reliability

that customers have been asking for, and that only Polycom can provide,”

said Gary Alt, vice president and general manager of network solutions at Polycom.

“Over 25,000 seat registrants for PathNavigator were ordered prior to our

first shipment. It has been installed at numerous organizations in a cross section

of commercial, education, and government accounts, including Indiana University

and China Unicom.”

“Polycom PathNavigator eliminates the complexity of video communications,

making the systems much more accessible and easy for our users, and giving our

systems administrators the tools to maintain control over our IP network environment,”

said Brian Voss, associate vice president for telecommunications at Indiana

University, a beta customer of the new PathNavigator software. “The Polycom

OneDial and Conference-On-Demand features of PathNavigator have greatly simplified

scheduling and managing multipoint conferences, which can be time-consuming

and resource-intensive in a large environment like ours. In addition, PathNavigator’s

detailed diagnostic, logging and reporting capabilities have significantly enhanced

our ability to troubleshoot problems in the network, and its web-based management

interface is robust and full-featured.”

Indiana University uses Polycom systems exclusively for its IP-based (H.323)

video communications needs and has deployed a complete, end-to-end videoconferencing

solution for distance learning, research support and university administration.

The university uses Polycom’s ViewStation® and ViewStation FX group

video communications systems, ViaVideo™ desktop video appliances, MGC-100™

multipoint control units and the Global Management System™ software for

managing its video communications network.

About Polycom PathNavigator

Available now, Polycom PathNavigator is a call processing server that runs on

Windows NT or Windows 2000 servers and works in conjunction with Polycom’s

Global Management System. The heart of PathNavigator is an exclusive Intelligent

Network Routing Engine, which combines provisioning, gatekeeper functionality,

addressing and routing functions into a single product for IP and ISDN video

calls. It includes call routing features such as least-cost routing and alternate

routing to optimize calls for lowest cost and best quality, seamlessly to end-users.

Its policy-based call routing with network topology knowledge gives IT managers

control over their video communications bandwidth and costs.

With a wide diversity of video products available today, PathNavigator is designed

to interoperate with virtually any video endpoint, gateway, gatekeeper or MCU

regardless of manufacturer. However, when using PathNavigator in conjunction

with a Polycom MCU, iPower™, ViewStation or ViaVideo, setup and multipoint

communications work seamlessly. PathNavigator can register with third-party

gatekeepers, such as the Cisco Multimedia Conference Manager (MCM).

Polycom PathNavigator introduces a range of industry-first functionality, including:

• Polycom OneDialTM – enables users to easily place calls without complex

  codes. Polycom OneDial hides all the complicated numbers, prefixes, area and

  country codes, network choices (IP or ISDN) and other steps that are actually

  processed behind the scenes to complete the call. Users simply select a name

  from a directory or dial just like a telephone.

• Conference-On-Demand – enables on-demand multi-point conference calls,

  thus turning any Polycom endpoint into a multipoint system, when used in conjunction

  with the Polycom MGC-100 MCU.

• Automatic Least-Cost Routing/Alternate Routing – enables the administrator

  to pre-define the least-cost routes between all network locations. PathNavigator

  uses this data to seamlessly route calls based on network availability or

  the most cost-effective route and to use alternate ISDN networks when primary

  IP call routes are not available.

• Telephony Features – users can forward video calls to their voicemail

  or cell phone when unavailable or if the line is busy. PathNavigator also

  has video call center capabilities with simple endpoint control to add or

  remove the endpoint from a hunt group.

• Policy Management – enables administrators to create policy management

  parameters to control bandwidth through segments of their video network, apply

  network policies and provide access to resources based on individual, group

  or corporate-wide settings.

• Auto Provisioning – allows automatic provisioning of DID (ISDN) and

  E.164 numbers for automated deployment of video endpoints.

• Increased Security – PathNavigator can flag or deny call attempts from

  unregistered endpoints according to administrator criteria. Administrators

  can also keep NAT IP addresses confidential, preventing internal IP addresses

  from being accessed or sent outside the enterprise.

Pricing and Availability

Polycom PathNavigator is available worldwide now through Polycom’s extensive

channel partner network for a manufacturers’ suggested resale price (MSRP)

of US $9,999 to $49,999, depending on the number of concurrent users.

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets a full range of high-quality,

easy-to-use and affordable voice and video communication endpoints, video management

software, multi-network gateways, and multi-point conferencing and network access

solutions. Its fully integrated end-to-end solution, The Polycom Office™,

is supported by the Polycom Accelerated Communications Architecture, and enables

business users to immediately realize the benefits of integrated video, voice

and data over rapidly growing converged networks. For additional information,

call 1-800-POLYCOM (765-9266) or +1-408-526-9000, or visit the Polycom web site

at www.polycom.com.

About Indiana University

Indiana University is one of the oldest state universities in the Midwest and

also one of the largest universities in the United States, with more than 110,000

students, faculty, and staff on eight campuses. IU has a growing national and

international reputation in the areas of information technology and advanced

high performance networking. For more information, visit www.indiana.edu.

Polycom, the Polycom logo and ViewStation are registered trademarks

and Polycom PathNavigator, ViaVideo, iPower, Global Management System, Polycom

OneDial, Polycom Office and MGC-100 are trademarks of Polycom in the U.S. and

various countries. ©2002, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.