If indeed the ambitious video conferencing startups of the world like Vidyo and Blue Jeans Network were supposed to have messed up the business plans of established players in that world by now, you certainly couldn’t have proved it by looking at the earnings results just put up by Polycom.

Sales in Q4 at $353 million, while down 9 percent year-on-year were in-line with analysts expectations, while profits at 17 cents beat expectations by two cents.

I talked briefly with CEO Andrew Miller said a recent deal with AT&T will help its competitive stance against rival Cisco Systems in the video conferencing space. “The AT&T deal really but the industry on notice,” Miller said.

Additional existing deals with IBM and Microsoft via its Lync service remain in place and contributed to the 5 percent rate of sequential growth in the quarter. Polycom has also been battling a perception that its video conference business has been under attack by startups. The company launched a significant upgrade to its video conferencing technology in October. “Last year was all about people talking about Vidyo and Blue Jeans,” Miller says. “We think we have the most compelling product heading into 2013.”

Categorised as: Chief Digital Officer | Digital Media | Feedster

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