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Kids To Experience Polycom Telepresence And Telecommuting During National Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day

This Thursday, Children throughout North America Give HD Telepresence a Test Drive While Enjoying Games, Contests and an Ice Cream Social

SAN JOSE and PLEASANTON, Calif.; AUSTIN, Texas; ANDOVER, Mass.; BOULDER, Colo. - Apr 21, 2009 : When Megan Lawler, 13, visits her father's San Jose office for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work® Day this Thursday, she'll play games and share ice cream with other kids in Austin, Andover, Boulder, and a dozen other places. And she'll still be home in time for dinner.

That's because Lawler's father works for Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video and voice communication solutions. Polycom's products create high definition (HD) environments that allow people to get face-to-face with colleagues anywhere in the world.

The company expects more than 100 children in nine locations throughout North America to follow their parents to work on Thursday. As it has in previous years, Polycom is hosting the event to give tomorrow's workforce a peek at the kind of environments that are revolutionizing the way people telecommute – and in the process, maintain a better balance between their work and personal lives.

Kids in every participating Polycom office will remain linked via Polycom telepresence solutions with their counterparts in eight other locations. They'll engage in games and contests – including a perennial favorite, "stupid phone tricks" – and then join in a group ice cream social. Along the way, they'll get hands-on experience with the amazing technologies that big businesses, government agencies, and even TV producers rely on work with colleagues around the world, without ever leaving their offices or homes.

Millions of U.S. workers telecommute at least occasionally. According to Forrester Research's March 2009 report, "US Telecommuting Forecast, 2009-2016," that number is expected to continue to rise from 222.7 million in 2008 to 230.6 million in 2011.

"The Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work initiative is all about showing kids how to recognize possibilities and achieve their fullest potential, and that's something Polycom helps people do every day," said Steve Quakenbush, director of human resources and global staffing at Polycom. "To reduce costs and to improve their quality of life, more and more people are telecommuting from home, either a few days a week or full time. Polycom provides solutions that make telecommuting as powerful as ‘being there.' As employers look for revolutionary ideas that can help people work smarter, HD telepresence will take an increasingly vital role."

Ranging from room-sized set-ups with cinematic screens to personal desktop systems on desktops, Polycom's HD telepresence solutions feature Polycom UltimateHD™ technology, which delivers true HD video, content and audio. UltimateHD allows meeting participants to pick up every nuance of a conversation, see facial expressions, make eye contact, and read body language – all essential to effective communication and collaboration.

Photo Op: Members of the press are invited to join Polycom Thursday at its Boulder, Colo. and San Jose, Calif. offices for a photo opportunity with the kids and their parents. For more information, please contact Robin Raulf-Sager (Boulder) or Caroline Japic (San Jose/Pleasanton).

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.

© 2009 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. POLYCOM®, the Polycom "Triangles" logo and the names and marks associated with Polycom's products are trademarks and/or service marks of Polycom, Inc. and are registered and/or common law marks in the United States and various other countries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Contacts

www.polycom.com provides product specific information for telepresence, voice and video conferencing customers in the North America region.

4750 Willow Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588-2708, USA. Sales inquiries: 1 800 POLYCOM

© Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.