Polycom and Freedom Calls Foundation Connecting Soldiers Deployed in I

Polycom and Freedom Calls Foundation Connecting Soldiers Deployed in Iraq with Families Back Home

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    Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
    Topical News: War On Terrorism
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    PLEASANTON, Calif. & BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2005--

    Nearly 100 Atlanta Family Members to Connect
    Friday, Jan. 14 With Camp Cooke in Iraq

    Polycom(R), Inc. (Nasdaq:PLCM), the world's leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, and the Freedom Calls Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps troops in Iraq and Afghanistan keep in touch with their families, free of charge, during their deployments, today announced they will be connecting twelve soldiers deployed at Iraq's Camp Cooke with family members and loved ones. The live, interactive video calls will take place from the Polycom Atlanta facility Friday, Jan. 14 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
    Friday's event in Atlanta is the latest joint effort between Polycom and Freedom Calls to connect military personnel with families and events back home. In Nov., Polycom worked with Raytheon Corporation to make its Polycom-equipped video conferencing facilities around the country available during the Thanksgiving season for family reunions. Other events have included video transmissions to the troops of both a Dallas Mavericks basketball game and the NCAA's Louisville vs. University of Kentucky match up. And on New Year's Eve 2004, Polycom and Freedom Calls connected soldiers over video with their loved ones celebrating in New York's Times Square, with the event being broadcast on MTV. (Photo from New Year's event available)
    "I am extremely pleased that Polycom's technology is giving families separated by military deployments the chance to reunite face to face, and we couldn't be happier to open our facilities to the residents of Atlanta whose loved ones are serving their country," said Bob Hagerty, chairman and CEO of Polycom. "In times of war, it's not only the soldiers on the front lines who are asked to display extraordinary courage, the families and friends at home awaiting their return posses a strength that is inspiring. The true value of Polycom's communication technology will be realized if it can make this difficult time easier for these military families."
    In addition to making its facilities and video equipment available for live video calls and providing technical support, Polycom donates its VSX 3000 video systems to Freedom Calls for deployment to Camp Cooke and Camp Fallujah in Iraq, as well as to sites in Afghanistan. Ultimately, Freedom Calls plans to link more than 3,000 university and corporate sites in the next year with bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Foundation is currently working with Medical Missions for Children, another Polycom-supported charity that delivers care via video conferencing to children in medically underserved regions of the world. This cooperative effort will connect an Iraqi child who has a heart defect with pediatric specialists in the United States.
    "Our goal at the Freedom Calls Foundation is to use the latest communications technology to enhance the quality of life for both deployed soldiers and the families and loved ones waiting for them at home," said Edward Bukstel, co-founder and director of operations at the Freedom Calls Foundation. "The picture and sound quality of today's video conferencing solutions is so crisp and clear and the systems are so easy to use that we're on our way to reaching that goal and easing the strain of being stationed thousands of miles from home while serving a tour of duty."
    Since its inception a year ago, the Freedom Calls Foundation communications network has enabled military personnel to remotely attend and participate in family milestone events such as graduations and communions, to see newborn babies and witness children's first steps, as well as to conduct everyday family business. Freedom Calls has even hosted a remote wedding.

    About Freedom Calls Foundation

    The Freedom Calls foundation is a Public Charity building a communications network dedicated to providing state of the art video conferencing, telephone and Internet services to enable our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to keep in touch with their families and loved ones at home 24 hours per day, free of charge. The Foundation is authorized by the Secretary of the Army to provide communications services to the troops and their families and recently received a Commendation from the Army as well as a personal letter of appreciation from Major General Taguba. The Foundation provides services to more than 20,000 soldiers and Marines and the Army has requested that the Foundation install 8 additional facilities in Iraq and 2 in Afghanistan in the coming months. The Freedom Calls Foundation is supported by donations of corporations and the American people on the foundation's website www.freedomcalls.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 800-POLYCOM (765-9266) or 408-526-9000, or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com.

    Polycom, the Polycom logo and VSX 3000 are trademarks of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (C)2004, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved.

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CONTACT: Polycom, Inc. Kevin Young, 925/924-5706 kyoung@polycom.com or Freedom Calls Foundation Edward Bukstel, 215/498-4453 ebukstel@freedomcalls.org

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