Plantronics : Poly Expedites Hybrid Working at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Forward thinking London Council turns to Poly video conference solutions to accomplish meeting equality objectives for local government workers

LONDON, UK, November 18, 2021 - Poly (NYSE: POLY) today announced that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, an inner London borough with royal status, has successfully met its hybrid working goals for meeting equality. The Council aimed for a significant uplift in video collaboration technology adoption and achieved it by outfitting 41 of its rooms and meeting spaces with the Poly Studio premium USB video bar. Poly's video conferencing solution now provides a consistent experience for workers, whether based in council offices or working from home.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had already embarked on its digital transformation, investing heavily in Microsoft Teams but staff were hesitant to use outdated equipment in the Council's meeting rooms. The Poly Studio premium USB video bar brought everyone together in one meeting room, no matter where they joined the conversation from. An additional challenge was finding a solution that was software agnostic to allow the use of multiple video conferencing platforms.

Poly's high-quality video bar's performance surpassed its official specifications in all tested configurations while any security concerns were automatically allayed thanks to the video bar's connectivity to the already secured employees' laptops. This simplified the Poly Studio implementation and much-needed technological updates to meeting spaces. In just 9 days, 30 of the Council's rooms were equipped with the Poly Studio intuitive and easy-to-use video bar that ensured meeting rooms could now be used to their maximum potential. This plug-and-play simplicity was immediately adopted by workers and is now a core component of the Council's future hybrid strategies.

"People had given up on AV technology before, disappointed by the hard-to-use, outdated devices the meeting rooms were equipped with. A mind-shift only took a split second when their needs were realised with Poly Studio." Matthew Ford-Enfield, head of workplace technology at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster City Council, commented. "The only thing they now need to do is plug in their laptop and the rest is business as usual. Thrilled with the combination of price and usability the solution offers, plus the hassle-free nature for the IT support team, we anticipate that the number of meeting and executive rooms equipped with this video bar will continue to grow."

Poly recognises that local government organisations across the globe are already looking to ensure public services are available and intuitively accessible online, influenced by the uncertainty of the recent pandemic or other major challenges. Many have already transitioned to a combination of remote and office work, and security continues to be everyone's main priority as their teams use the systems to collaborate with each other but also to engage securely with members of the public from any location.

Paul Clark, senior vice president, EMEA Managing director at Poly, added: "From virtual team meetings to taking online payments, public sector leaders must ensure the devices and software they're using for both internal and external collaboration and engagement are safe and secure, protecting both employee and citizen data. Service delivery will have to be re-evaluated in a post-Covid light for the revised needs of service users and employees. Councils that have already invested in their digital transformation, like the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, will see considerable returns from this."

Poly Studio's high adoption rate, combined with its value proposition, delivers on a very important aspect for local government bodies that bear the obligation to invest resources wisely for the benefit of local citizens and makes the video bar the device of choice for the next round of office refurbishments.

Read the full case study on Poly and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea here.

About Poly

Poly (NYSE: POLY) creates premium audio and video products so you can have your best meeting -- anywhere, anytime, every time. Our headsets, video and audio-conferencing products, desk phones, analytics software and services are beautifully designed and engineered to connect people with incredible clarity. They're pro-grade, easy to use and work seamlessly with all the best video and audio-conferencing services. Poly MeetingAI delivers a broadcast quality video conferencing experience with Poly DirectorAI technology which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver real-time automatic transitions, framing and tracking, while NoiseBlockAI and Acoustic Fence technologies block-out unwanted background noise. With Poly (Plantronics, Inc. - formerly Plantronics and Polycom), you'll do more than just show up, you'll stand out. For more information visit www.Poly.com.

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About the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council

Kensington and Chelsea is one of London's most vibrant and recognisable boroughs. It has many unique buildings, famous museums and beautiful parks. Although the borough is geographically one of the smallest in London, at just over 4.7 square miles, it is one of the most densely populated and diverse areas in Europe. It is home to the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival. Kensington and Chelsea Council (also known as RBKC) aims to provide high quality services to improve the lives of its residents and to make the borough a better place in which to live, work, and visit. The Council has five directorates, sharing Children's Services and Adult Social Care and Public Health with Westminster Council. Other directorates include Environment and Communities, Housing (including Grenfell recovery), and Assets and Resources.

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Sonal Bisht
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