SUNY Saves Money With Polycom RealPresence Video Collaboration

Polycom’s (News - Alert) RealPresence HD video collaboration platform is allowing schools in the SUNY system, along with other New York state agencies, to cut training costs significantly. Instead of sending employees to remote locations for training, universities and state agencies can connect employees to training using Video Interactive Educational Webinars, or VIEW programs, delivered through a SUNY entity called the New York Network.

Employees can watch training lectures in real time as well as archive crucial lectures for later playback. The RealPresence Broadcast Producer can also deliver interactive webinars with texting capability so that users can ask questions while the webinar is in progress.

The Media Manager aggregates media into one centralized location for storage, categorization, publication and expiration. Built-in security, viewer reports and testing capabilities ensure that all employees can fulfill continuing education or certification requirements through the appropriate SUNY programs.

“To gain economies of scale, SUNY and state agencies are looking to consolidate their solutions,” said Neil Satterly, executive director of NYN. “The RealPresence Platform makes it more affordable to deliver, record, manage, and audit our education and training programs.”

Many NYN clients use the Polycom solution to record and transmit programs. Participating clients include Albany Medical College, the New York State Broadcaster’s Association and the New York State Commission on National and Community Service. In addition to watching programs, testing functionality allows users to take important tests and to know immediately whether or not they passed. This service helps New York agencies to save on the cost of proctoring and scoring exams manually.

Satterly pointed out that VIEW, which is just on the ground floor in terms of scalability, can accommodate up to 5,000 viewers simultaneously. “We can customize the look and feel of each program so it reinforces the client's brand and delivers a high-quality, interactive training experience that benefits everyone involved.”

The RealPresence platform uses an open standards approach, which allows it to function with many different UC, business and social networking applications. Polycom provides video collaboration and interactive solutions for over 400,000 clients worldwide, including video resource management, video content management, and universal access and security.