Poly Zero Touch Provisioning is put to the test by 2talk
Poly (Polycom) business phones have long set the gold standard for crystal-clear business telephony. And their slick unified communications features are aimed at supercharging enterprise productivity. Models like the coveted VVX and CCX lines have become ubiquitous for their HD voice quality, robust applications, and ability to centralize multiple communication channels for on-the-go workers. So why not zero touch provisioning?
There’s always been a catch for Poly endpoints. Beneath the sleek exterior and dazzling interfaces lay clunky provisioning processes that gave IT administrators headaches. As modern workforces grow more mobile and distributed across branches, small offices and at-home setups, getting Poly phones up and running quickly across multiple locations has been easier said than done.
Between time-consuming staging, complex on-premise configuring, and reliance on third-party management platforms just to get business phones initialized – it’s no wonder SMB admins dread rolling out new Poly devices after the purchase high wears off. And while smartphones and laptop-based softphones might seem like easier deployment options, they lack that dedicated desk phone power and reliability that Poly handsets provide.
The Zero Touch Promise
That’s why our interest was naturally piqued when Poly announced a built-in Zero Touch provisioning solution for their premium CCX 700 and VVX 350/450 model business phones in 2020. Zero Touch looked to solve the longest-standing phone pain point: automatic configuration right out of the box without IT ever having to touch the devices manually once unwrapped.
Theoretically, by simply plugging these latest Poly endpoints into the network and internet access, Zero Touch triggers the phones to auto-connect to Poly’s cloud registration service and self-configure for instant productivity – no tech supervision required. To SMB IT teams with limited budgets and capacity, this hands-free, hassle-free promise sounded too good to be true on paper.
The Reality: Zero Touch Goes Under the 2talk Microscope
As veterans of streamlining Poly business phone deployments with our user-friendly boot server for years, the team at 2talk comms felt sceptical about Zero Touch living up to its lofty marketing. We’d heard big talk before. So, to separate reality from hype, we designed a raw in-house testing gauntlet for Poly’s newest out-of-box claims. Rather than take Poly’s word at face value, we put Zero Touch to the test across over 200 different provisioning variables right in our innovation lab.
We aimed to mirror what the real-world performance an SMB IT administrator could expect when tackling a 150-seat multi-location rollout combining Poly’s premier CCX 500 and 700 models with 2talk’s award-winning VoIP Calling service for crystal-clear audio, 100+ enterprise features, mobile integration and more productivity unlocked.
