The Viewstation SP (Starting Point) was introduced as a lower cost alternative to the standard Polycom Viewstation. It has exactly the same engine and provides identical video and audio performance but has fewer connectivity options and offers no multipoint upgrade. Branded in Europe as Polyspan, the Viewstation SP range remained the budget system of choice until the launch of the VSX range in 2004.
Polycom produced an extremely reliable system that rarely breaks down so it represents a safe and prudent alternative to buying new. All Viewstation SPs offer H.263-based video conferencing over IP at up to 768k and differ only in their ISDN configuration. The Viewstation SP 128 connects at 128k, the SP 384 at 384k.