Posted by MobiG @ 10:11 pm
The folks at Plantronics are celebrating their 50th anniversary by announcing some brand new communication devices, software, and services. Amongst them, two items stand out: the Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset and the Calisto 825 speakerphone set. In addition to these two, a Plantronics Unified Communications Toolkit has been announced, “the industry’s first” totally complete set of tools, training, and documentation “for expanding the growth of unified communications solutions. Ken Kannappan, president and chief executive officer at Plantronics, notes the following: “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.”
The Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth headset will ring in at $199.95, and features a revolution in mobile phone and PC communications via some excellent smart sensor technology. Using advanced technology to make your whole entire experience completely simple this headset appears to be one that you just slide in and use.
The Calisto 800 Series, in particular the 825 (ringing up at $259.95) enables you to use multi-device hands-free connectivity with visual call management with a user interface they say is totally intuitive. Made specifically well for working with Microsoft Office Communicator and Lync, this device and it’s 800 family were made for private and home office workers who’ve just gotta have multiple communication devices (me! us!) to work and collaborate effectively. The Calisto 825 also manages calls between a PC and a mobile phone, and features a unique wireless mic that’s got unparalleled speakerphone audio quality and freedom of movement.
Check out the full press release below:
Plantronics Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation and Unveils New Unified Communications Products and Services
The Award Winning Voyager PRO UC, the New Calisto 825 and New UC Toolkit Accelerate Unified Communications Adoption and DeploymentsSANTA CRUZ, Calif., Jan. 26, 2011 – 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 CommunicationsTMBehind 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 VisionToday’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 ToolkitAvailable 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.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.
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