I've written about Polycom supporting TIP (Telepresence Interoperability Protocol) and Cisco's response to Polycom supporting it. Well, today Polycom announced a new software update for Polycom RealPresence Platform designed to "free users locked into proprietary telepresence solutions."

This update will allow customers with standards-based video collaboration solutions, like Polycom, to join calls with non-standard based telepresence systems, like Cisco. The solution is made possible by Polycom's support for the Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP), developed by Cisco and only implemented on Cisco TelePresence System suites. The latest RealPresence Platform software update, released today, also further extends interoperability across Microsoft and IBM UC environments.

“This is a great win for anyone using video collaboration. Our support for TIP is freeing users of non-standard Cisco telepresence by allowing them to connect to millions of other standards-based video systems that are deployed worldwide,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, executive vice president and general manager of UC solutions and chief development officer, Polycom. “This solution further establishes Polycom as the leader of open standards and interoperability, and provides investment protection for our customers.”

TIP integration was initially enabled on Polycom desktop, room-based and immersive-telepresence endpoints for point-to-point calls. The latest Polycom software releases include full native TIP support for video calls, and extended support for H.323 and SIP networks, which allows organizations to access shared UC environments such as IBM Sametime and Microsoft Lync, even if participants are using legacy systems.