An Open Letter to Customers and Partners from Chairman & CEO Bob Hagerty

October 6, 2009

Dear Polycom Partners and Customers,

The landscape of the Unified Communications (UC) industry changed significantly with the announcement of Cisco's planned acquisition of Tandberg. This announcement was far from unexpected. Industry experts and observers anticipated consolidation in our market because visual communication is a key application for business productivity and a core element within UC environments. By acquiring Tandberg, Cisco is reaffirming that visual communication—from the desktop to the fully immersive telepresence suite—has become a mission-critical business tool.

This is something Polycom has long understood—and nurtured, as an industry innovator. The combination of Cisco and Tandberg now opens the door for Polycom, as we are the only independent vendor of scalable visual solutions and the partner of choice for all the UC leaders, including Microsoft, HP, IBM, Avaya/Nortel, and many others.

While this acquisition limits Tandberg's platform to be Cisco only, Polycom will continue to drive open standards and interoperability, which are fundamental to the easy adoption of a robust video collaboration solution, across the industry. Polycom provides the flexibility to work seamlessly with the UC platform providers of your choice.

With the most comprehensive voice and visual communication solution portfolio available from Polycom, you are able to purchase telepresence, video, voice, and infrastructure solutions with the confidence that your investments are future proofed, even as you choose to upgrade and evolve your UC networks.

This acquisition will undoubtedly represent massive distraction to Tandberg and Cisco's telepresence business. In addition, it creates product duplication at the high-end. Polycom's telepresence solution portfolio, meanwhile, remains unrivaled in scope and our Polycom® RealPresence™ Experience (RPX) immersive telepresence solution is unequaled for its unique, immersive experience.

Our solutions are being deployed by industry leaders such as Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., Zurich Financial Services, NASDAQ, Regus, NATO, and many, many more companies and organizations you can read and watch videos about on our site.

While Cisco and Tandberg begin the long and complex process of corporate integration, Polycom is here, undistracted, to help you address real-world challenges including reduced travel budgets, increased productivity, globalization, dispersed and mobile workforces, and the need to reduce carbon emissions.

You can count on Polycom for a global channel and customer support network to meet your needs anywhere in the world; for strong partnerships with leading UC platform providers such as Microsoft, HP, IBM, and Avaya/Nortel; and for trusted relationships with the world's largest service providers such as BT, Verizon, Telstra, AT&T, Orange/France Telecom, and China Unicom.

More than anything, though, you can continue to count on Polycom for the best-in-class solutions in the Unified Communications market.

Best regards,

Bob Hagerty
Polycom Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President