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Plantronics introduces Elara, a new phone station for mobile-first workers
(Contributed)
September 25, 2018 — Santa Cruz, CA
Native Microsoft Teams Support Included to Enhance Employee Productivity
Plantronics Elara adds a New Category of Productivity Solution to the Broadest Suite of Products Available for Microsoft Solutions from Plantronics and Polycom
Plantronics, an audio pioneer and communications technology leader, today announced the Plantronics Elara 60 Series, a new category of productivity solution – the mobile phone station – designed for the increasingly mobile-first worker. Thirty-six percent of employees are reliant on mobile phones for day-to-day business communications[1], so putting the mobile phone in the center of the collaboration experience with native Microsoft Teams support is a natural way to enhance employee productivity.
Plantronics Elara enables a mobile phone with desk phone-like capabilities, including headset, speakerphone, and handset options. This mobile phone station receives Microsoft Teams notifications and provides users with a one-touch or voice-activated Microsoft Teams experience. To operate, merely set your mobile phone on Plantronics Elara and get to work – available wireless charging can keep your battery full. With no network wires, nothing could be easier.
“Creating great mobile experiences has been part of Plantronics’ DNA from day one and Plantronics Elara breaks new ground to elevate the mobile phone into a true collaboration engine for employees and customers,” said Joe Burton, president and CEO, Plantronics. “Because of our close relationship with Microsoft, it made sense to leverage the collaboration power of Microsoft Teams as a native experience in Plantronics Elara.”
“Microsoft is thrilled to welcome the Plantronics Elara as a new Microsoft Teams device category for mobile-centric workers. With Elara, Plantronics is delivering a simplified collaboration capability which allows mobile users to simply and easily use Teams,” said Ilya Bukshteyn, Partner Director of Devices for Microsoft Teams.
The Plantronics Elara 60 Series offers customers great flexibility to design the mobile phone station that suits user preferences. In addition to having native one-touch Microsoft Teams integration, built-in dial pad, convenient headset integration, and support for iOS and Android smartphones, customers can select other options including:
- Multi-coil wireless phone charging capabilities
- Speakerphone with crystal-clear audio performance
- Phone handset
These special options transform Plantronics Elara into a productivity engine for mobile employees. There are additional standard features in every Plantronics Elara model such as Microsoft Cortana voice activation integration, color LCD screen to display charging status, connected devices, call status and other customizable settings, and Kensington lock capability to keep this new mobile station from going mobile.
The Plantronics/Polycom booth (#1918) at the Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando, Fla. showcases Plantronics Elara for the first time. With the announcement of Plantronics Elara and the sneak peek of new Savi and Voyager headsets launching in October, Plantronics expands its support of Microsoft solutions across Teams, Skype for Business, and Office 365. The Plantronics and Polycom portfolio of offerings to customers is the broadest suite of collaboration products for Microsoft solutions.
Plantronics and Polycom support of Microsoft Teams goes beyond the new Plantronics Elara, as Teams support will be available on the Polycom Trio conference phone and through the interoperability cloud service, RealConnect, in the fourth quarter of 2018. Plantronics and Polycom are committed to supporting customers using any of Microsoft’s collaboration platforms – Teams, Skype for Business, or Office 365 – at the desk, in the conference room or on the go.
The Plantronics Elara 60 Series continues the momentum of Plantronics and Polycom connecting endpoint solutions to cloud services. With Plantronics Manager Pro software-as-a-service (sold separately), IT professionals get easier device management and provisioning capabilities along with insights from analytics on device usage to anticipate and support employees before any problems may arise.
Plantronics Elara 60 Series will ship in early 2019. For more information on the Plantronics Elara 60 Series go to www.plantronics.com/product/plantronics-elara-60. For more information on Plantronics and Polycom solutions for Microsoft platforms go to Plantronics.com/microsoft.
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