siliconindia | | August 201519suggestions and feedback from employees; the company also conducts surveys that have led to enhancements in its vision-care policy, retirement plan, and training budget. Plantronics also holds monthly town hall meetings and organizes summer management conferences for the utmost benefit of its staff.A visionary in the truest sense, Kannappan is not only prolific when it comes to meeting the demands of his personnel but has also helped the company deter from unfavorable market risks, in times of crisis. In 2001, the company observed a huge downturn in its revenue, while being juxtaposed by the enormous opportunity in wireless and mobility looming on the horizon. Kannappan took a heady decision to increase their investment in trending technology advents even with the company's trickling earnings. "Although it was hard to convince investors and our stock price went even lower, over the next few years we had a 10-point increase in global market share and profits," exclaims Kannappan. Since then, Plantronics has only experienced the winds of fortune. The company's financial reports for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2016 exhibited a growth in cash equivalents and investments to $683 million. "Our financial results were in line with our expectations and we also introduced several innovative new products for unified communications, consumer entertainment, and gaming," states Kannappan.The company recently unveiled Voyager Focus UC, the first wireless Bluetooth stereo headset of its kind with Active Noise-Cancellation (ANC) technology, designed to reduce noise and distraction in open, collaborative, and remote workspaces. Plantronics adapted best-of-breed microphone technology with improved algorithms to ensure voice clarity, while smothering background noise. Keeping up with Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC), Plantronics' products were recently made WebRTC compliant which makes video communication more user-friendly by embedding voice, text, and video communications capabilities in web browsers. Organizations that choose to deploy WebRTC applications and use a host machine that supports audio through USB or Bluetooth, can use Plantronics' products to connect, transfer, or receive the audio associated with the WebRTC session. Additionally, as IoT continues to connect people, process, and data, Plantronics embedded its call control feature within the Cisco Jabber soft phone. "As a member of Cisco solution partner program, Plantronics is able to quickly create and deploy solutions to enhance the capabilities, performance, and management of the network," says Kannappan. In order to provide activity-based workspaces, Cisco uses its soft phones and Cisco IP telephones along with Plantronics Voyager Legend UC headsets to be constantly connected to the phone regardless of the workstation. This addition has significantly saved real estate costs and increased employee collaboration for Cisco.Innovation through Five DecadesFollowing a design philosophy which perceives the human body as a canvas, Kannappan is of the opinion that headsets will continue to evolve as major fashion accessories. "By commingling the intricacies of sound innovation with the intimacy of personal fashion and comfort, Plantronics' design will enable people to express their style preferences and individuality through headsets," remarks Kannappan. Starting off with critical applications, such as the NASA program where Neil Armstrong spoke his first words on the moon, Plantronics' prowess goes back a long way. On the event of the company's fifty years of innovation celebrated in the year 2011, Dr Buzz Aldrin who was part of the Apollo mission himself vouched for the clarity in communication delivered by Plantronics headsets. What started out as two airline pilots working in a garage in 1960, today continues to be driven by a single obsession--to remove all the barriers in voice communication. From aiding the first man on the moon to pioneering state-of-art mobile communication solutions, Plantronics under Kannappan's leadership displays strong signs of innovation and growth for years to come.Kenneth Kannappan, CEO & President,Buzz Aldrin
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