Polycom is powering the video collaboration of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), an alliance of 28 countries from Europe and North America focused on defense, security, and crisis management.
The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), as part of its contract with NATO, is deploying Polycom RealPresence Platform components in all major NATO locations throughout Europe and North America.
“Accurate and clear communication is essential when representatives from 28 different countries and cultures are weighing issues central to their collective defense, yet those communications must be trusted and reliable to mitigate the security risks posed by new ways of working,” said Gus Mommers, center head, Conference Management Services at the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency.
Network managers can use Polycom video conferencing solutions to accommodate both highly secure NATO Secret classification for confidential communications and NATO Unclassified for less sensitive meetings, such as resource planning, cost-effective training, or other essential daily business.
Using Polycom’s firewall traversal solutions, network administrators can enable desktop or mobile video users to join meetings without putting NATO’s network at risk.
Polycom’s interoperability with Microsoft Lync, used widely throughout NATO, also makes it easy for Microsoft Lync users to launch or join a video meeting and upgrade on the fly from a voice call to a video call.
Polycom also enables NATO members to generate closed captioning to always effectively communicate, even if some participants are hearing-impaired or require captions to fully understand what is being said.
“Polycom solutions met NATO’s requirements for security, interoperability, and ease of use. Combined with the scheduling system, the Polycom collaboration environment allows NATO to focus on the work at hand, and not on the technology needed to do it,” said Mark Escobar, SAIC Department of Defense Agencies and Commands Group senior vice president.
