The Award Winning Voyager PRO UC, the New Calisto 825 and New UC Toolkit Accelerate Unified Communications Adoption and Deployments
Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) today announced new additions to its Unified
Communications portfolio that span communication devices, software, and
services. Plantronics is delivering a vision of smarter, more intuitive
communications and pioneering the next generation of mobile
communications devices and technologies to help people stay connected
regardless of location or device. Plantronics celebrates its 50 year
milestone with a look to the future by offering the new Plantronics
UC Toolkit, the industry’s first complete set of tools,
training and documentation for expanding the growth of unified
communications solutions and two new flagship products for the UC
market, VoyagerTM PRO UC and Calisto® 825, also announced today.
The company’s celebration will be held at an event filled with
customers, partners, industry influencers and employees at company
headquarters in Santa Cruz, Calif. The guest of honor is world famous
astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin who was wearing a Plantronics headset when he
managed the Apollo mission that heralded the first moonwalk nearly 42
years ago. Aldrin will be joined on stage with Plantronics CEO Ken
Kannappan to honor the heritage of the industry pioneer and celebrate
continued innovation. The event will be streamed live online and replays
can be seen here: http://www.plantronics.com/launch/
“This is a pivotal time in Plantronics history as we celebrate the half
century mark and embark upon an exciting time of innovation and industry
leadership. It’s an ideal time to introduce the world to our vision of
Simply Smarter CommunicationsTM,” said Ken Kannappan, president and
chief executive officer at Plantronics. “We want to end the pain-points
that people experience when trying to stay connected at work or home. We
think everyone - from consumers to mobile professionals to the business
world- should be able to simply communicate regardless of device or
location. We want to deliver innovative products with uncompromising
quality, an ideal experience and extraordinary service so everyone can
simply communicate.”
Simply Smarter CommunicationsTM
Behind the Vision
The “office” has transformed from four walls, a desk and a computer, to
something much more fluid, mobile and familiar. No matter the location -
home, airport, coffee shop or café - today’s distributed workforce
requires instant access to information and people. People want solutions
that save time, so they can conduct their business with more
productivity and efficiency. Plantronics is uniquely positioned to
understand the needs of this new world and create the “hub” for
communications, whether users want to communicate via PC or mobile
phones, deskphones or softphones.
Industry Supports the Vision
Today’s event will be filled with Plantronics executives, customers,
partners, industry influencers and employees. Industry leaders Avaya®,
Cisco® and Microsoft® will be speaking on the importance of unified
communications in the enterprise and how Plantronics and they are
working together to offer customers solution to simply communicate.
Plantronics UC Toolkit
Available today, the new Plantronics UC Toolkit is a portfolio of IT
best practices, guidelines, recommendations, and training tools that
encompass the entire lifecycle of a unified communications
implementation. The Plantronics UC Toolkit empowers IT organizations so
they can have the best UC audio device experience and adoption rates -
and ultimately optimize their companies UC investment.
“Now, more than ever, enterprises are embracing the move to unified
communications, said Bill Loewenthal, vice president of unified
communications at Plantronics. “We created the Plantronics UC Toolkit by
leveraging best practices learned through helping our customers deploy
UC solutions. The only resource of its kind, the UC Toolkit is designed
to arm and empower IT professionals with the best information to meet
the demands of today’s business world. With the introduction of the
Plantronics UC Toolkit, we are extending our legacy of 50 years of
innovation to help our customers embrace our vision of Simply Smarter
Communications.”
Plantronics Expands Product Portfolio for Unified Communications
The next generation award-winning Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset,
announced today, revolutionizes mobile phone and PC communications
through smart sensor technology. It uses advanced hardware and software
that seamlessly eliminate communication complexity by detecting
presence, integrating with your PC applications, and dramatically
enhancing the headset experience.
Please visit www.plantronics.com/voyagerprouc
to learn more.
The Calisto 800 Series, also announced today, are the first
speakerphones in Plantronics’ unified communications product portfolio
that combine multi-device hands-free connectivity with intuitive visual
call management. Optimized for use with Microsoft® Office Communicator
and LyncTM, these products were designed for private and home office
workers who depend on multiple communication devices to collaborate
effectively. The Calisto 800 Series also includes the Calisto 825, which
manages calls between a PC and a mobile phone. The Calisto 825 features
a unique wireless microphone that provides unparalleled speakerphone
audio quality and freedom of movement.
Please visit www.plantronics.com/calisto
to learn more.
Safe Harbor
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements
relating to Unified Communications (”UC”) and our Voyager Pro UC and
Calisto 800 series. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s
current expectations and beliefs and involve risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from those
contemplated by such statements. Among the factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contemplated are: (i) UC
solutions may not be adopted with the breadth and speed in the
marketplace that we currently anticipate and (ii) our plans are
dependent upon adoption of our UC solution by major platform providers
such as Microsoft, Cisco, Avaya, Alcatel, and IBM, and we have a limited
ability to influence such providers with respect to the functionality of
their platforms, their rate of deployment, and their willingness to
integrate their platforms with our solutions. For more information
concerning these and other possible risks, please refer to the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on June 1, 2010, quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q,
particularly the sections entitled “Risk Factors,” “Certain
Forward-Looking Information” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, and other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as recent press
releases. Plantronics undertakes no obligation to update publicly any
forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or
circumstances after the date they were made, or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.