HP and Poly Join Forces to Offer Flexible Working Solutions
When HP announced in mid-2022 that it was taking over Poly, it soon became clear that it had a special asset in its hands. As a whole, they offer everything from conference cameras to laptops. As a result, companies should be able to turn to HP for all wishes, whether they are in the office or not.
Flexibility is Key
During our visit to HP, it quickly becomes clear that hybrid work is a core business for the company. Unlike Google and Twitter, for example, people don’t want to be too stubborn when it comes to office visits. Managing Director HP Benelux Koen van Beneden talks about the importance of flexibility in this area. For example, an employee should also be able to have repairs done at home instead of just at the office. This mindset permeates all of HP’s product stories, but also at Poly.
A Long History
Like HP, Poly has a long history. For example, in the previous appearance of Plantronics (Poly evolved from Plantronics and Polycom), it provided the communications tools for the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969. Customer Experience Manager Jonas van der Kaaij Olsson astutely refers to it as “an early form of remote working”. Today it offers all kinds of headsets, cameras and other hardware to keep meetings running smoothly. It’s an area that HP itself hasn’t had much to do with.
Looking to the future, we can see that HP and Poly are still working hard on an integration. The current Poly building in Hoofddorp will become vacant, with Amstelveen soon becoming the common base for the Dutch branch of HP and Poly.
Combining Forces
The sum of Poly and HP is expressed as follows: where HP specializes in compute, print and display, Poly’s strengths can be found precisely in the peripherals. A quote for a large organization can therefore contain almost all the facilities it is looking for.
On the occasion of the media visit, Poly will give a demo of Poly DirectorAI, which all contains a number of patented features to make conversations run better. For example, there is highlighting specific participants, enlarging the windows for people who are speaking and other ingenious options.
The demo needs some time to run, but soon we see the functions in question in practice, namely with a Teams call. On the video front, the DirectorAI solution can track and frame speakers within an office so that we only see the head and torso. In the presence of several people, you can also split the image as if everyone has their own Teams connection. All of this works with some lag, but that’s also necessary: too much switching of speakers and camera tweaks leads to chaos.
Another impressive feature has been christened the Acoustic Fence. This can filter out talking individuals outside the office or passing cars. Van der Kaaij Olsson demonstrates it by simply standing further outside the defined ‘fence’. We still hear him through the wall, so a cheap trick is out of the question. Keyboard and mouse clicks can also be removed through software.
Adapting to Different Workplaces
Not all workplaces are equally well lit, and this is something that HP and Poly have taken into account. The products are designed to be able to work in any environment, from well-lit offices to dimly lit living rooms. This is something that HP and Poly are proud of, and it is clear that the combination of the two companies will bring many advantages in the field of hybrid work.
HP and Poly have joined forces to offer flexible working solutions that can be adapted to any environment. With the combination of HP’s compute, print and display solutions and Poly’s peripherals, companies can now get a quote that contains almost all the facilities they are looking for. The products are designed to work in any environment, from well-lit offices to dimly lit living rooms. Poly DirectorAI also offers a number of patented features to make conversations run better, such as highlighting specific participants, enlarging the windows for people who are speaking and filtering out talking individuals outside the office or passing cars. The integration of HP and Poly is still ongoing, with the current Poly building in Hoofddorp becoming vacant and Amstelveen becoming the common base for the Dutch branch of HP and Poly.