Polycom Improving Deaf Education Through Video Solutions and Commitment to Community

From: Business Wire (press release) - Jan 13, 2004

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2004--

Polycom Executive Appointed to a Gallaudet University Board; Assoc. of College Educators -- Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing receives grant for Polycom-equipped Virtual Professional Development School

Polycom(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:PLCM), the world's leader in video and voice conferencing, conference bridges, and integrated web collaboration solutions, today announced its continuing commitment to the field of deaf education with the appointment of Michael Baker, Polycom vice president of Vertical Markets, to the board of associates of prestigious Gallaudet University for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The company also announced that the Association of College Educators -- Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (ACE-D/HH) is creating a Virtual Professional Development School that will use Polycom's ViewStation(R) and ViaVideo(R) communications solutions to teach educators in the field of deaf education.

"High-quality video conferencing is significantly improving deaf education for students throughout the world, whether it's the ability to sign and lip read over video, or programs like the Virtual Professional Development Network that uses video to train deaf educators across the United States," said Michael Baker. "I'm proud of the work Polycom has done in this area and personally honored to have been appointed to the Gallaudet University board of associates."

Gallaudet Appointment

The Gallaudet University board of associates is an advisory body comprised of leaders in the business and philanthropic communities that is chartered with promoting Gallaudet within the business community, assisting with fundraising, and acting as a mentor by sharing business knowledge with Gallaudet students.

"Gallaudet University is pleased to have Michael Baker on our board of associates," said Catherine Sweet-Windham, executive director of Institutional Advancement. "His expertise and Polycom's reputation as a leader in the field of video communications are a perfect fit for Gallaudet, which has the most up-to-date visual technology for our students."

Virtual Professional Development Network

ACE-D/HH has created a national network for documenting and sharing, via video conferencing, best practices for deaf education. It was recently awarded a U.S. Department of Education Preparing Tomorrows Teachers with Technology (PT3) grant to fund its project 'Join Together: A Nationwide On-Line Community of Practice and Professional Development School Dedicated to Instructional Effectiveness and Academic Excellence within Deaf/Hard of Hearing Education.' The ACE-D/HH network will connect master teachers, the top educators for the deaf around the country, over Polycom video with pre-service teachers, who are in the process of completing undergraduate or graduate programs in deaf education for classes and mentoring. The project will also allow master teachers to interact with one another in real time to share best practices and common educational interests, facilitating professional development opportunities for participants. For more information on the program, please visit www.deafed.net

About Gallaudet University

Gallaudet University was founded in 1864 by an act of Congress and is the only university in the world designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

About the Association of College Educators -- Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing

The Association of College Educators -- Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing is a professional organization for higher education faculty in the preparation of teachers in deaf education. The Association is one of the six members of the Council on Education of the Deaf (CED). For additional information, please visit www.acedhh.org.

About Polycom

Polycom, Inc. is the world's technology leader of high-quality, easy-to-use video, voice, data and web conferencing and collaboration solutions. The Polycom Office(TM) is our continued commitment to make distance communications as natural and interactive as being there by providing best-in-class conferencing solutions that are interoperable, integrated and intuitive to the user. The Polycom Office is based on industry standards and supported by an open architecture that promotes interoperability in multi-vendor environments and complements leading network infrastructure platforms. For additional information, call 1-800-POLYCOM (765-9266) or +1-408-526-9000, or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com.

Polycom, the Polycom logo, ViewStation and ViaVideo are registered trademarks and Polycom Office is a trademark of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (C)2003, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contacts
Polycom, Inc.
Kimberly Klawuhn, 408-474-2825
kklawuhn@polycom.com