Polycom to offer cloud-enabled service solutions to ICT Ministry
Video-conferencing provider Polycom is offering its flagship Real Presence technologies to the government, saying these solutions would aid the efficient provision of services under the "Smart Thailand" programme.
Marc-Alexis Remond, Polycom’s director for enterprise market and industry solutions worldwide, said the firm offered its RealPresence platform of voice and video solutions through three models: on the premises, private cloud, and public cloud. It works across devices, including desktop computers, telephones, and mobile devices.
“Video-conferencing can be done on any device, allowing people to communicate and collaborate anywhere at any time,” he said.
The Real Presence platform enables government agency representatives and citizens to communicate easily and effectively, wherever either may be. This improves public services, increases departmental efficiency and responsiveness, and promotes inter-agency collaboration, Polycom says.
Recently, the firm announced the global expansion of the platform via cloud computing, offering RealPresence Cloud to make videoconferencing available to businesses of all sizes.
With this technology, the government could provide video communication to all of its agencies, the firm says.
“The system can also help government manage emergencies efficiently,” Remond said.
Polycom’s regional manager for Thailand and Indochina, Thep Ritrangkla, said that this year the company would approach the Information and Communication Technology Ministry, with the goal of becoming part of the Smart Thailand scheme.
He said the beauty of the RealPresence system was its flexibility: it could be deployed on the cloud or on the Internet.
Remond said Polycom had collaborated with Singapore to roll out a next-generation broadband network. They opened an “i-experience centre” in 2010 to showcase the applications of the system.
Polycom has been supporting government and service providers in Southeast Asia. Early this year, it joined with Vietnam Post and Telecommunication, the largest telecom carrier in Vietnam, to launch Mega Conference, a subscription-based, cloud-delivered video-conferencing service for businesses.
“We will see this kind of service in Thailand,” Thep said.
Currently, Polycom has 40-50 local system integrators. Its target market in Thailand includes government, enterprises, and service providers.
Remond is visiting Thailand as a speaker at the third annual FutureGov conference taking place today in Bangkok.
