Polycom is a world leader in video, audio and data communications for business – but rightly most well-known and praised for its extreme quality of audio, developed over 15 years of research, development and innovations in high-fidelity sound.
The experience of a fantastic conference call is having audio that makes participants feel they are in the same room as the remote participants in the call. Polycom’s patented HD Voice provides a method and apparatus for wideband voice over a telecommunications network that is proven to deliver over twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls, providing a vibrant and more natural conversation.
And Polycom’s range of audio innovations ensure that your conferences go smoothly, are free of interference, and make collaboration anywhere – without interruptions – a reality.
What Audio Innovations?
Over the years, Polycom engineers and R&D teams have developed a whole host of industry-leading technologies and innovations – some that can be heard and experienced, others running quietly behind-the-scenes – to deliver the highest quality meeting and conference audio, including:
- Acoustic Fence
- NoiseBlock
- HD Voice
- 3D Voice
Let’s take a deeper look at a few of these innovations…
Acoustic Fence
The idea of the Acoustic Fence is to keep conversations free from external noises by automatically eliminating sounds such as background chat and office typing with a “virtual fence” between the sound source and the meeting participant.
The Polycom Acoustic Fence innovation uses a specially designed echo cancellation technique that attempts to reduce or cancel out all soundwaves except the speakers voice and sounds within the fenced area, using multiple microphones, smart gating and spectral subtraction.
- The person on the other end can clearly hear your voice, and only your voice, therefore understanding you better, feeling closer to you, and will not have to interrupt the conversation asking you to repeat yourself.
- For call centres and many businesses, reducing call time is important. By eliminating distractions and repetition, the wait times and call times are dramatically reduced.
The fence depends on the number of microphones used and their positioning, for example, in a bubble or wall for creating fences such as shown above. Acoustic Fence Technology is found within VVX Phones and RealPresence Group series endpoints and software.
Noise Block
Polycom’s NoiseBlock technology listens for non human noises to prevent them from impacting the sound within video and audio calls. At times when sound is occurring but no one is talking, NoiseBlock will automatically mute the microphone. As soon as you start speaking, the microphone is un-muted so the far end can always hear you, without being distracted by keyboard typing, paper rusting or other background noises near to the microphone. It also reduces constant background noises such as air conditioning units to help improve clarity of conversation.
- Distracting sounds are removed from calls
- No one is required to put themselves or ask other to go on mute
- You won’t forget to un-mute and end up talking without being heard
NoiseBlock is available on the RealPresence Group, Desktop, Mobile, Trio, Debut and RMX server.
HD Voice
Polycom’s HD Voice combines a number of factors to provide high definition audio across many solutions in their portfolio, alongside many other manufacturers who use Polycom HD Voice within their devices.
“It’s like switching from AM radio to CD-quality – the difference is extremely recognisable and so astounding, you will never want to go back to regular phone calls”
- Wideband technology for twice the clarity of ordinary phone calls
- Acoustic Clarity Technology with full duplex audio, echo cancellation, noise reduction and advanced voice processing
- High quality system design with hardware and software components designed to maximize sound quality.
“It’s like being in the same room with the other participants on the call. You can hear every word without repeating, which saves time and cuts down on misunderstanding”
3D Voice
Polycom’s 3D Voice is designed to create a lifelike experience within immersive telepresence studios.
With specific ceiling microphone positioning to triangulate a speakers location and software to transfer positioning information to speakers that are strategically located at the far end, the audio plays back from the specific location that the person is speaking.
This creates a more accurate representation of audio that seems to come from the mouth of the individuals speaking, even when multiple people are talking. 3D Voice enables you to hold more lively interactive conversations in the immersive suite.
With businesses continuing to grow globally, the need for clear remote communications is more critical than ever. With accents and cultural differences adding to the challenge, it’s extremely important that audio is clear and that geographically dispersed teams can communicate as effectively over the phone – or on a video call, where the most important part is still audio – as they can in person.
Find out more
- Wainhouse Research – Evaluation of Polycom’s Noise Reduction Features
- See other audio solutions for the meeting room, desktop and for remote collaboration
- Find out more about Polycom solutions from VideoCentric
Get in touch with VideoCentric online, or on 01189 798910 to discuss Polycom solutions, enhanced audio for your meeting spaces, Polycom audio for Microsoft environments and improving audio for your Video Conferencing rooms, desktops and office spaces.
