Plantronics Earns Spot on 2012 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators Across America

Plantronics Earns Spot on 2012 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators Across America

Company Honored for its Cutting Edge Flexible Working Initiative

MONARCH BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Driven by the rise of mobile devices, the relationship between work and worker has changed. Flexible work arrangements that don't require structured locations or hours are increasingly popular and Plantronics Inc. (NYS: PLT) is being recognized by InformationWeek as a leading innovator in this trend called 'smarter working'. Plantronics is in this year's InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. The annual list was revealed on September 11, 2012 at a gala awards ceremony at the exclusive InformationWeek 500 Conference which took place at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point, CA.

"This is a testament to the global Information Technology team at Plantronics who have made our smarter working initiative possible. What started as an experiment in new technology and a new way of working, quickly spread to a global deployment requiring infrastructure to support remote working and collaboration," said Tom Gill, vice president and CIO at Plantronics. "I'm extremely proud of my team for their hard work and dedication ensuring our employees, partners and customers can effectively collaborate across time zones and geographies. This was truly a global effort."

Prioritizing people over place, smarter working delivers flexible solutions that fit how different people work and make it easier for them to work more effectively and successfully across work environments. For example, to ensure employees are connected and can communicate freely, IT has installed video conference rooms throughout the offices. Every drop-in conference room, focus room and team collaboration room is also equipped with Smart TVs that serve as monitors for projecting during meetings.

By adopting advanced communications and design principles that support office, virtual and mobile work styles equally well, smarter working emphasizes business results over structured office hours and locations. The modern workforce is heading towards more flexible, open workspaces like those at Plantronics' offices. This environment creates a different set of challenges for Plantronics' customers so the smarter working initiative has the added benefit of being the company's largest test lab for its software and hardware solutions. The new environment is also model for smarter working and provides a showcase for customers while saving money at the same time.

Smarter working is also about being a responsible global citizen. When employees can work from different locations, like home, it helps keep more cars off the road, which helps everyone save on commute time and their impact on the environment. Plantronics takes social responsibility seriously and has one of the largest solar panel installations in Santa Cruz County, offsetting nearly 80 percent of the site's utility bill.

Plantronics is a global corporation headquartered in Santa Cruz, California with offices in 20 countries, including major facilities in China, England, Mexico, and the Netherlands. Plantronics' new workspaces leverage Unified Communications and other technology to enhance collaboration with an increasingly distributed workforce. Plantronics' smarter working initiative has been extensively covered in media. Examples include CIO Magazine, Fast Company and CBS Interactive (SmartPlanet).

"The InformationWeek 500 has recognized the most innovative users of business technology for 24 years, and this year's innovations were particularly impressive," said InformationWeek Editor In Chief Rob Preston. "What the editors looked for are unconventional approaches—new technologies, new models, new ways of grabbing business opportunities and solving complex business problems with IT."

InformationWeek identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of information technology with its annual 500 listing, and also tracks the technology, strategies, investments, and administrative practices of America's best-known companies. Past overall winners include PACCAR Inc., The Vanguard Group, CME Group, National Semiconductor, Con-Way, and Principal Financial Group. The InformationWeek 500 rankings are unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in information technology, rather than simply identifying the biggest IT spenders.

Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found online at www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

About Plantronics

Plantronics is a global leader in audio communications for businesses and consumers. We have pioneered new trends in audio technology for over 50 years, creating innovative products that allow people to simply communicate. From Unified Communication solutions to Bluetooth headsets, we deliver uncompromising quality, an ideal experience, and extraordinary service. Plantronics is used by every company in the Fortune 100, as well as 911 dispatch, air traffic control and the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.plantronics.com or call (800) 544-4660.

About InformationWeek Business Technology Network (http://www.informationweek.com)

The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow—from defining and framing objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology categories with online properties such as DarkReading.com (security), NetworkComputing.com (networking and communications) and BYTE (consumer technology). The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs, developers and SMBs, via InformationWeek Global CIO, Dr. Dobb's and InformationWeek SMB, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek Financial Services, Government and Healthcare sites. Content is at the nucleus of our information distribution strategy—IT professionals turn to our experts and communities to stay informed, get advice and research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

Plantronics is a registered trademark of Plantronics, Inc. The Bluetooth trademark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of the mark by Plantronics, Inc. is under license.

InformationWeek
Winnie Ng Schuchman, 631-406-6507
Vice President, Marketing
wng@techweb.com
or
Plantronics
Karen Auby, 831-458-7814
Senior Manager, Public Relations
karen.auby@plantronics.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:

The article Plantronics Earns Spot on 2012 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators Across America originally appeared on Fool.com.

Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.