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Polycom

Polycom ads 6 VoIP providers

October 30, 2007

Polycom, Inc. [NASDAQ: PLCM], the world’s leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced the expansion of its VoIP Interoperability Partner (VIP) Program for manufacturers of SIP-based call control platforms with the addition of six newly certified members: Cedar Point Communications, LignUp, MetaSwitch, PanTerra Networks, Sutus, and Zultys. Polycom now recognizes a total of 25 leading VoIP platform providers as certified members who deliver solutions that seamlessly interoperate with the award-winning line of Polycom SoundPoint® IP desktop and SoundStation® IP conference phones. As a result customers now enjoy a broad and flexible offering of interoperable, standards-based VoIP solutions that meet a range of business needs.

Polycom’s line of VoIP desktop and conference phones offers standards-based flexibility with renowned Polycom voice quality and clarity – including breakthrough Polycom HD Voice™ technology, which enriches the customer communications experience with high definition voice quality that doubles that of traditional landline phones. The phones are software upgradeable via the network and offer rich feature support through a combination of intuitive hard and soft keys with a large graphical display, making it easy for users to transition to a VoIP environment.

“Polycom and its partners are giving customers integrated solutions that will smooth the transition to VoIP and ensure reliability and comprehensive feature support between the SIP-based call platform and the Polycom phones,” said Will Stofega, research manager of VoIP services at IDC. “The Polycom VIP program provides standards-based IP PBX and softswitch vendors, who do not manufacture their own phones, a process to certify their systems interoperable with Polycom’s VoIP phones and provide customers with a complete IP telephony solution.”

“As the leading independent supplier of standards-based VoIP endpoints, we appreciate that our customers want best-of-breed components for their VoIP solution,” said Sunil Bhalla, senior vice president and general manager of Voice Communications at Polycom. “Our VIP program offers customers the flexibility to choose the best VoIP solution for their needs, while guaranteeing interoperability with our best-in-class endpoints. Since initiating our VIP program we’ve seen tremendous interest from the industry’s leading vendors of SIP-based platforms, and we’re delighted to welcome our newest partners to the Polycom family.”

The Polycom VIP program allows vendors to demonstrate that their premises-based or hosted SIP-based call control solutions interoperate with a defined feature set of the award-winning desktop and/or conference phones and SIP software. The VIP program involves rigorous interoperability testing at a Polycom-approved test facility according to a Polycom test plan.

The program also helps assure that customers moving from legacy PSTN phone systems to VoIP solutions featuring Polycom phones and certified manufacturers’ equipment enjoy seamless interoperability and familiar functionality; providing an easy transition to VoIP and reliable technical support. Additional information about the Polycom VoIP Interoperability Partner Program is available at www.polycom.com/vip

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. is the worldwide leader in unified collaborative communications (UCC) that maximize the efficiency and productivity of people and organizations by integrating the broadest array of high definition video, wired and wireless voice, and content solutions to deliver the ultimate collaborative experience. Polycom’s high quality, standards-based conferencing and collaboration solutions are easy to deploy and manage, as well as intuitive to use. Supported by an open architecture, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony, workplace wireless telephony, and presence-based networks. With its market driving technologies, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations seeking proven solutions and a competitive advantage from on-demand communications and collaboration. For additional information, call 800-POLYCOM or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com.

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NEW YORK – Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] and Polycom*, Inc. [NASDAQ: PLCM] are adding high definition (HD) video conferencing and telepresence to unified communications for enterprises, greatly expanding the possibilities for growth, enhanced productivity, lower cost and reduced carbon footprint by incorporating real-time video collaboration from the desktop to the board room.

Building on a global resale and services agreement announced in May 2007, Nortel has also launched a demonstration network that allows prospective customers around the world to experience truly immersive telepresence.

Bob Hagerty, chairman and chief executive officer, Polycom and Dietmar Wendt, president, Global Services, Nortel made these announcements today in conjunction with the World Business Forum in New York.

“Nortel and Polycom are making it possible for employees, customers and suppliers thousands of miles apart to experience face-to-face meetings so real they’ll almost believe they’re in the same room,” Wendt said. “This provides all the benefits without the time, expense and environmental impact of travel.”

“Nortel supplies everything from network design and installation to operation, management, scheduling, and utility-based pricing and service delivery,” Wendt said. “This makes achieving tangible business results simple and fast. And Nortel is firmly committed to providing the best possible end user experience.”

With this joint unified communications solution from Nortel and Polycom, users can get one-click desktop access to HD video conferencing, along with telephony, instant messaging and e-mail. This gives them the ability, for example, to have immediate, face-to-face meetings with anyone, anywhere in the world.

With HD video conferencing and telepresence, doctors can provide more life-saving, long-distance consultations. Banks and other financial institutions can make faster, more well-informed decisions impacting transactions worth millions of dollars. Hotels can increase revenues by expanding business services to include highly-efficient, multi-location conferencing and collaboration. Offshore oil drilling rigs can get immediate assistance making repairs, saving the cost of flying in experts by helicopter and literally thousands of dollars a minute in lost production.

“We’re making numerous time and money-saving applications available to our customers by combining leading-edge Polycom video and collaboration products with world-class multimedia communications and application services from Nortel to create an outstanding unified communications experience,” Hagerty said.

The two companies are delivering interoperability between Polycom’s RMX 2000* Real-Time Media Conferencing Platform** and Nortel’s Multimedia Communication Server (MCS) 5100, enabling users to launch point-to-point and multipoint voice, HD video and HD content sharing in real time from Nortel’s MCS desktop client.

The Nortel demonstration network is managed from eight Multimedia Network Operation Centers around the world. By year-end 2007, it will connect nearly 30 locations, including Nortel-deployed Polycom RealPresence* Experience (RPX*)** suites in Frankfurt, New York, Toronto, Dallas and Raleigh, N.C. Planned additional locations include London, Beijing, New Delhi, Singapore and Chicago.

Nortel resells and services Polycom video conferencing solutions as part of the Nortel Multimedia Services portfolio under a non-exclusive agreement. This includes telepresence; conference room and desktop video for multipoint conferencing; video network management and scheduling; and recording, streaming and archiving of video conferences and video content. These standards-based solutions are part of the Polycom UltimateHD* architecture**, which offers the highest quality, scalability and backwards compatibility necessary to provide an unrivaled user experience.

Polycom and Nortel Government Solutions, a U.S. company wholly owned by Nortel, also provide these solutions to U.S. Federal Government agencies seeking more efficient, effective and productive environments for collaboration among geographically dispersed workers.

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. is the worldwide leader in unified collaborative communications (UCC) that maximize the efficiency and productivity of people and organizations by integrating the broadest array of high definition video, wired and wireless voice, and content solutions to deliver the ultimate collaborative experience. Polycom’s high quality, standards-based conferencing and collaboration solutions are easy to deploy and manage, as well as intuitive to use. Supported by an open architecture, they integrate seamlessly with leading telephony, workplace wireless telephony, and presence-based networks. With its market-driving technologies, best-in-class products, alliance partnerships, and world-class service, Polycom is the smart choice for organizations seeking proven solutions and a competitive advantage from on-demand communications and collaboration. For additional information, call 800-POLYCOM or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com.**

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

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