Polycom announced today a strategy with a supporting products and services portfolio to support it. One element of this strategy is called Polycom RealPresence CloudAXIS. The idea behind CloudAXIS is that any standards-based endpoint can connect, but what is new is that those using Google Talk, Skype, and potentially other presence-based IM clients can connect too.
What is missing is a clear explanation of how this solution works. I'll try to provide the details.
Essentially, the new user interface Polycom has created, the UX, has hooks that allow it to federate presence and instant messaging with Skype, Google Talk, Facebook, Microsoft Lync, IBM Sametime, and presumable other IM engines in the future.
One key here is that the person initiating a conference needs to be using Polycom's client; this can be on a PC, Mac, or tablet, or it could be on a professional or group video endpoint controlled through Polycom's new tablet interface.
The way it works is that the person using the Polycom client drags "buddies" he/she wants in the video conference into a conference area on the screen (reminiscent of Avaya's Flare interface), and then clicks on a "start conference" button. Clicking the start conference button sends an IM to those who are invited to the conference containing a hyperlink. Those using Skype, Google Talk, Facebook, etc., click on the link to join the conference. Clicking on the link opens up their browser, and they are connected.
The important element here is that this *is not* using the native video capabilities in Skype or Google Talk. It is using the codecs available in the browser, and only HTML5 browsers are supported. Thus, this is not an H.264 SVC-based conference, nor does it support wideband audio. Skype has its own proprietary SILK codec and Google licenses technology from Vidyo, so don't think you'll be using these codecs when in a browser call with Polycom CloudAXIS... it will be using one of the freely available codecs that do not require a license that are available in the browser.
Of course, on the back end of this solution is Polycom's SBC (OEM'd from Edgewater Networks), and Polycom RMX video bridges or potentially the new RealPresence 800s virtual MCU that runs on off the shelf servers. This will provide secure firewall traversal and secure entry into the conference.
Polycom is positioning its CloudAXIS solution as both a premises-based offering and an offering available to service providers. Besides being able to allow lots of users to easily connect, it is intended to discourage or limit use of over the top solutions like Skype or Google Talk that may cause security concerns.
For now, though, this solution is not running the new H.264 SVC or AVC video codecs.