Dalai Lama Meeting Broadcasted By Polycom and Veracomp Over the Internet

KRAKOW, POLAND - 16 Dec 2008 : Polycom, Inc. [Nasdaq: PLCM], the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communications solutions, has announced, that its solutions allowed its partner Veracomp SA to broadcast over the internet the ceremony conferring the distinction of Doctor Honoris Causa on His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Internet users could watch in real-time both the ceremony and the Dalai Lama's meeting with the academic society, which lasted approximately four hours.

The direct, online coverage of the celebration could be viewed on the Jagiellonian University website. Consequently, a large number of people across the country could also participate in the live meeting with the Dalai Lama.

"Following Veracomp's advice, we decided to communicate via the Internet, something that is now very common, particularly among young people. Thanks to the knowledge of Veracomp SA staff and their expertise in the latest technologies, Internet users could watch this event, which was so important to our University, live," said Mr. Józef Oleszkiewicz PhD, Head of the Network and Server Services at Jagiellonian University.

"We were already using some Polycom videoconferencing equipment, but for the ceremony Veracomp added the latest Polycom solutions, which together built an extremely high quality system to stream video over the internet, to over fifteen thousand users. Broadcasting to such a large number of people was possible thanks to the capacity of the equipment, as well as to the existing network infrastructure that allows an output of several gigabytes. The transmission was sent from two locations in the premises of the Jagiellonian University," continued Oleszkiewicz. "The Veracomp team implemented the whole system within just two days. A specialist from Polycom along with a representative of the IT department of the Jagiellonian University were also on hand to offer advice when necessary."

"We are deeply honoured to have been able to support the Dalai Lama's visit to Krakow. We provided a solution based on Polycom equipment, allowing for direct, online video streaming of the event. This example clearly shows the huge benefits of videoconferencing, that can be used by any educational institution," explained Bartek Madej, product manager of Veracomp SA. "The video streaming over the Internet was carried out using two Polycom products: Polycom® RSS™ 2000 and VMC 1000™ Polycom Video Media Center (VMC). The signal was generated by the Polycom HDX 9004s, connected to the RSS 2000 recorder, which recorded the meeting as well as streaming it to the VMC 1000 unit. The VMC 1000 broadcast the streaming, directly over the Internet and allowed the simultaneous transmission of 1000 independent streams."

The ceremony conferring the distinction of Doctor Honoris Causa of Jagiellonian University to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama took place on 8th December 2008 in the hall of Collegium Novum of the University during the ceremonial session of the University Senate. The laudatory speech was delivered by Professor Beata Szymańska-Aleksandrowicz from the Institute of Philosophy of Jagiellonian University and the text of the doctorate was read by the Dean of Philosophy Faculty, Professor Maria Flis. In the afternoon, in the great hall of Auditorium Maximum of the University the meeting with the academic society took place. The events at both venues were broadcasted over the Internet via video streaming.

About Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University is one of the oldest and largest education establishments in Europe. It was founded in 1364 by the Polish King Casimir the Great. At that time it was the second university to be founded in Central Europe, after Prague. Among those who studied in Cracov (at that time the capital of Poland) were many renowned scholars, however the best known is Nicolaus Copernicus who studied liberal arts in years 1491-1495. The ancient Jagiellonian University, covered with the moss of centuries, is simultaneously a young, innovative place. Nowadays, the University houses very many premises and several campuses for students, the oldest part become a museum open to the public. More information on www.uj.edu.pl.

About Polycom
Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and collaborate everywhere. Please visit www.polycom.com for more information.

Contacts

• Angelika Kempf
  Polycom, Inc.
  Tel: +49 811 999 4218
  angelika.kempf@polycom.com