Poly Inc.

Poly Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Telecommunication
Founded	December 1, 1990 (1990-12-01)
Headquarters	Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
Key people	Dave Shull (CEO)
Products	Collaboration, video, voice, content, teleconference, telecommunications, telepresence, infrastructure software, hardware and services
Revenue	Template:Gain US$1.73 billion (FY 2021)
Net income	Template:Gain US$409.57 million (2022 Q3)
Number of employees	3,451 (2018)
Parent	HP Inc.
Website	poly.com

Poly Inc., previously known as Polycom, is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that specializes in technologies for video, voice, and content collaboration. It functions as a subsidiary under the ownership of HP Inc..

Established in 1990 by entrepreneurs Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, Polycom initially concentrated on producing audio conferencing speakerphones before broadening its portfolio to include video conferencing, content sharing, and telepresence products. The company was acquired by Plantronics in 2018, leading to a rebranding as Poly in 2019. Subsequently, HP finalized its acquisition of Poly in 2022.

History

Polycom was launched by former colleagues from PictureTel Corp., Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman, with initial funding of $500,000 contributed by Hinman and associates. This was followed by a $3 million investment from venture capital firms Oak Investment Partners and Accel Partners. The company’s strategy focused on delivering integrated communication solutions encompassing audio, video, and content collaboration.

Brian Hinman served as CEO from the company's inception until 1998, succeeded by Bob Hagerty and later Andy Miller in 2010. Miller’s term concluded amid SEC scrutiny over accounting irregularities; he resolved the matter by agreeing to a five-year ban from executive roles and exited with $24 million in compensation. Peter Leav then assumed the CEO position until 2016 when Mary McDowell was appointed following the acquisition by Siris Capital Group.

Facing decreasing revenues, Polycom implemented a workforce reduction of approximately 15% in 2015. That year, under the leadership of President and CEO Peter Leav and CFO and EVP Laura Durr, the company reported $1.3 billion in revenue.

Polycom's Acquisition History

In 2016, Mary McDowell, a seasoned telecommunications leader, took the helm as CEO of Polycom. On April 15 of that year, Mitel Networks, a competitor, revealed intentions to purchase Polycom for $1.96 billion, a transaction structured as a tax inversion to leverage Mitel’s more favorable Canadian tax rate. Nevertheless, by July 2016, Mitel withdrew from the deal, opting instead for an all-cash acquisition offer from Siris Capital Group, a private equity firm based in New York, which acquired Polycom for $1.7 billion.

Polycom achieved $1.1 billion in revenue during 2017. Subsequently, on March 28, 2018, Plantronics declared its plan to acquire Polycom for around $2 billion, aiming to establish a dominant entity in business communications. Later that year, Plantronics agreed to pay $36 million as part of a settlement regarding a bribery probe linked to Polycom’s activities in China between 2006 and 2014; however, the U.S. Department of Justice refrained from filing criminal charges following Polycom’s proactive disclosure.

On March 28, 2022, HP Inc. announced it would acquire Poly from Plantronics, finalizing the transaction in August 2022. Valued at $3.3 billion including debt, this acquisition represents HP’s strategic move to broaden its offerings in hybrid work technologies and enterprise communication solutions.

Polycom's Acquisitions

Date of Acquisition	Acquired Entity	Business Focus
January 1998	ViaVideo Communications Inc.	Video communication systems based on appliances
December 1999	Atlas Communications Engines, Inc	DSL routers and integrated access devices
February 2001	Accord Networks	Advanced rich-media networking products
April 2001	Circa Communications	Products for IP telephony
October 2001	PictureTel	Video communication systems for PCs
December 2001	ASPI Digital	Manufacturer of installed voice systems
June 2002	MeetU	Software for web collaboration
January 2003	VCAS software from AGT	Software for video scheduling and management
January 2004	Voyant Technologies	Networking solutions for voice conferencing and collaboration
August 2005	DST Media	Video networking firm based in China
January 2007	Destiny Conferencing	Solutions for immersive telepresence
March 2007	Spectralink and KIRK telecom	Wireless telephony systems for workplaces
March 2011	Accordent Technologies	Software specializing in rich media streaming and management
October 2011	ViVu Inc.	Software focused on video collaboration
January 2018	Obihai Technology	VoIP audio technology

Note: On June 1, 2011, Polycom signed a definitive agreement to acquire HP’s Visual Collaboration (HPVC) assets—including the Halo Products and Managed Services division—enhancing its visual collaboration solution portfolio.

Product Offerings

Polycom has licensed an array of technologies such as H.264 video compression codecs, Siren audio codecs, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), native high-definition cameras and displays supporting 1080p resolution, architectures optimized for low latency with minimal bandwidth consumption, advanced wideband audio coding with low delay (AAC-LD), multichannel spatial audio featuring echo cancellation capabilities, and interoperability with legacy video conferencing systems.

SoundStation

Introduced in 1992, the SoundStation was a triangular-shaped speakerphone equipped with full-duplex audio, allowing for simultaneous two-way conversations. During the 1990s, the SoundStation and its successor, the SoundStation Premier, held a dominant position in the market.

Following the discontinuation of AT&T’s DSP16A processor, the original model was succeeded by the SoundStation 2 in 2004. This updated version enhanced audio clarity but was still confined to a 3 kHz audio bandwidth due to the limitations of traditional analog POTS lines. The product line expanded with the wireless SoundStation 2W DECT system and the wired SoundStation VTX1000, which was the first POTS speakerphone to support 7 kHz HD Voice over standard telephone lines.

Audio products

The initial SoundStation from 1992 was succeeded by improved variants including the SoundStation Premier, Premier Satellite, and EX models. The company began international distribution in 1993, starting with shipments to the United Kingdom.

In December 2001, Polycom acquired ASPI Networks, integrating installed voice conferencing solutions like the ASPI Vortex into its offerings. The Vortex system supported up to 12 input/output channels for extensive audiovisual integration. Its successor, launched in 2007, was the Polycom SoundStructure series.

Polycom introduced its first Voice over IP (VoIP) conference phone—the SoundStation IP 4000—in early 2001. Later models such as the IP 6000 and IP 7000 (released in 2008) featured HD Voice and Acoustic Clarity technology. The company’s pioneering HD Voice device was the SoundStation VTX 1000 (2003), followed by the Communicator C100S in 2006, recognized as the industry’s first HD Voice PC speakerphone.

Polycom entered the desktop phone sector in 1998 with circuit-switched SoundPoint phones and expanded into IP desktop phones by launching the SoundPoint IP series in 2001. These utilized an open-standard SIP protocol ensuring wide interoperability.

In 2007, Polycom acquired Spectralink Corp., thereby adding Wi-Fi and proprietary wireless handsets alongside the KIRK DECT product lineup. By 2008, Polycom enabled third-party application development on its phones through an open API and launched its Productivity Suite.

The year 2009 saw Polycom debut video-enabled voice devices: the VVX 1500 business media phone which integrated video conferencing capabilities with VoIP and HD Voice; and the CX5000 table-mounted video/audio console featuring a 360-degree camera under licensed Microsoft Roundtable distribution rights.

In 2011, Polycom introduced the VVX 500 multimedia desktop phone featuring a gesture-controlled touchscreen interface.

In 2012, Polycom divested its Wi-Fi and DECT product lines back to Spectralink, which had been spun off to Sun Capital Partners for roughly $110 million.

Video products

Polycom entered the video conferencing arena in 1998 with ViewStation, a set-top unit that combined a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera and codec into a compact device priced at $6,000—lighter than competing products. Development of a "Document Conferencing Projector" named ShowStation began in 1994 and launched alongside audio products by 1997, generating revenues of $47 million. The company went public on NASDAQ in April 1996.

In January 1998, Polycom acquired ViaVideo for $54 million and rebranded its video conferencing system as ViewStation. This compact unit integrated webcam functionality with onboard processing to offset limited computer capabilities. As computing power advanced, Polycom transitioned to software clients such as Polycom PVX and RealPresence Desktop (RPD). The ViewStation series later expanded features to include multipoint conferencing, content sharing, and support for H.323 IP protocols.

Polycom entered the multipoint bridging market in 2001 by acquiring Accord Networks along with its MGC-100 product line. Later that year, it purchased PictureTel for approximately $362 million through a combination of stock and cash. In 2006, Polycom launched its inaugural HD video conferencing system and subsequently unveiled RealPresence Experience (RPX), a three-screen immersive teleconferencing solution based on Destiny Conferencing technology acquired in 2007.

February 2007 marked the release of Polycom’s RMX 2000 multipoint bridge platform supporting both HD video and telepresence applications. The company further broadened its telepresence and HD offerings with executive desktop solutions and room-based conference systems.

In 2008, Polycom introduced Converged Management Application (CMA) for video network administration alongside Distributed Media Application (DMA) 7000 for managing multipoint video calls. System enhancements included support for resolutions up to 1080p and 720p at frame rates reaching 60 frames per second. By 2010, Polycom launched Open Telepresence Experience (OTX 300), a three-screen immersive system utilizing efficient codecs that reduced bandwidth consumption by half compared to competitors.

By fiscal year 2011, Polycom reported revenues totaling $1.5 billion, underscoring its robust position within video conferencing technology and services markets.