AT&T and Polycom have joined forces to announce a strategic agreement which personalises, mobilises and virtualises video meetings.

As organisations of all types look to accelerate the adoption of video-based communications and video-enabled business processes, both firms say the agreement will create greater availability of cloud-delivered video communication capabilities – giving customers unmatched choice in when, how, and where they collaborate.

Polycom says their RealPresence Platform is a "comprehensive software infrastructure for universal video, on-premises or in the cloud collaboration, interoperating with the broadest set of applications, devices and network protocols."

“Together with AT&T, we are reshaping and expanding the capabilities of cloud-delivered video communications, making it easier for businesses to connect and collaborate with each other,” says Andy Miller, President and CEO, Polycom.

“With Polycom’s commitment to openness, standards and interoperability, and AT&T’s commitment to networks, applications and interconnectivity, we’re creating video solutions for customers that are as simple, reliable and as universal as dial tone so they can collaborate without worrying about vendor, device or network-specific restrictions. It just works.”

AT&T's chief marketing officer Michael Bowling echoed Miller's opinion, saying:

“Our goal is to lead the innovation curve by introducing solutions and services that make communications easier, anytime, anywhere, on any device.

“The work between AT&T and Polycom will bring customers new capabilities, help expand their reach and use of video collaboration and ultimately deliver lasting impacts by transforming how they get work done.”

The first wave of capabilities include:

• AT&T and the Polycom RealPresence Platform – AT&T will incorporate the highly interoperable Polycom RealPresence Platform as part of the AT&T Telepresence Solution video infrastructure in the AT&T Business Exchange.

This will lead to:

• New on-demand virtual meeting room capabilities that increase customer choice through expanded interoperability.

• Flexible and easy-to-use video collaboration experiences that deliver a lower total cost of ownership.

• New forms of collaboration with business customers, partners and suppliers on the AT&T Business Exchange.

• Fully Managed Service Bundles – AT&T Telepresence Solution customers will now have access to a range of Polycom RealPresence video solutions offered in 40 countries – including immersive and multipurpose rooms, and personal systems – as part of a managed service bundle.

This approach helps customers reduce their capital expenditures by providing the video equipment as part of the managed service for a monthly fee, while also helping to reduce the burden on internal IT resources, leaving customers more time to focus on business-critical activities.

• VPN Services – Polycom has selected AT&T to become its preferred internal wide area network service provider utilising the industry-leading MPLS AT&T VPN service.

The network will carry Polycom video, voice and data communications including access to the AT&T Business Exchange to and from over 80 locations around the globe including Polycom Customer Experience and Briefing Centres.