Web conferencing applications are gaining momentum in both the Internet and business worlds. According to CNET News.com, the Yankee Group reports that the market for conferencing services is expected to grow substantially this year to approximately $700 million. This is a jump from $480 million in 2003.

What is Web conferencing and why is it becoming so prevalent? Web conferencing is simply a term used to describe the interactions and communications that take place between individuals and/or companies via the Web. It is a cost-effective tool that allows users to cross geographic boundaries while circulating information almost instantaneously.

Although many assume that Web conferencing is used primarily for virtual meetings, there are generally three types of the technology--meeting, presentation, and collaboration.

Meeting: Two or more people conduct meetings using Web conferencing systems over the Internet. Very similar to an actual "meeting," participants can share documents, stream audio or video, engage in chats, or use voice-over IP.

Presentation: Attendees of a "presentation" may log into a Web conference and communicate with a moderator (who can also interact with participants and manage communication) via phone lines or web-based chat. Presenters have the opportunity to display information using various techniques such as audio/video streaming or slide shows.

Collaboration: This is a valuable technique to employ particularly for workers in remote geographic locations. This conferencing format makes it possible for teams to work simultaneously on one document in real-time.

There are Web conferencing products aplenty in the marketplace today. One should always consider the many factors involved before determining which one best suits his/her needs.

Centra Software, Inc. today announced that Rainbow Technologies, a leading provider of digital content, transaction security for the Internet and secure remote access solutions, is boosting its channel sales organization with real-time enterprise conferencing and collaboration solutions from Centra.

Rainbow Technologies addresses the complex security needs of organizations through easy-to-implement, easy-to-use products and software. Originally, Centra was used to facilitate internal training and online meetings.

"We didn't allow Web collaboration and conferencing vendors to pitch their products in person - they all had to go through a rigorous bake-off and were judged solely upon the strength of their technology in a live, online demonstration," said Thomas Toth, corporate Webmaster for Rainbow's iMarketing team. Toth is responsible for implementing Centra at Rainbow. "Centra won the competition hands-down, with the functionality, performance and flexible pricing models that best met our needs."

Empowering the Channel with Centra

Over the last year, Rainbow has evolved its distribution from direct sales to delivery through a multifaceted channel program. Transforming Rainbow into a strong channel organization has placed new burdens on the company - from managing lead generation to helping its sales force navigate the responsibility of getting partners on board through product training and certification courses.

In order to manage the increased marketing and communications initiatives needed to support the growth of Rainbow's channel, the company expanded its use of Centra to host Web seminars for a variety of internal and external events and training. Through Centra's Web conferencing application, Rainbow is now able to support and streamline the entire process of conducting Web seminars - before, during and after the actual event.

"We needed to simplify and automate registration and other processes around delivering Web seminars," said Toth. "Centra's Web conferencing application has proved to be the single most important marketing tool for generating sales leads, growing our channel, and making the most of our partner relationships. It is a key selling point for us."

According to Toth, one key feature of Centra's product is the ability to recognize partners through a unique identification marker. This helps Rainbow track which partners are participating in events and generating leads. "It helps us make the most of our strongest partner relationships and provides insight into how to enhance other relationships or penetrate into new areas."

In addition to simplified administration and management of content and people, Centra's proven integration with third-party applications, such as Pivotal, Rainbow's CRM system, was a critical requirement in making the company's Web seminar programs and outreach a success. Now Rainbow can streamline the export of leads from its Web seminars straight into Pivotal for immediate sales follow up - eliminating the need for manual intervention.

"Our focus on addressing the channel has been business-critical for Rainbow," added Toth. "All the work we have invested in creating strong, mutually beneficial relationships with our partners is being impacted by Centra at all levels - that speaks volumes for the value that Centra delivers."

"Centra's continues to build on its experience in delivering value added solutions - so organizations can leverage the power of Web conferencing to address processes around sales readiness, channel enablement, marketing and training," said Paul Daly, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, Centra. "Rainbow Technologies is a great example of how Centra can be used to effectively target audiences and significantly increase the value of channel partner programs."

Microsoft is retiring its six-year-old NetMeeting online conferencing application and instead will push Office Live Meeting, formerly known as PlaceWare, for online meetings.

NetMeeting helped pioneer online conferencing when it was released in May 1996, before the advent of instant messaging (IM) and other services for real-time online communication. The software still ships as part of Windows and some of its features, such as whiteboarding and application-sharing, are used by the MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger IM applications.

But NetMeeting had served its purpose and would gradually be phased out, Microsoft spokesperson, Stacy Drake, said. Microsoft had already stopped development work on NetMeeting and links from MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger would be cut in future updates to those products, she said.

Instead, Microsoft's IM applications would link to Office Live Meeting, Drake said.

"Since buying PlaceWare we will focus our real time collaboration efforts on Office Live Meeting," she said. Microsoft completed the acquisition of PlaceWare in April and launched a new version of the service in September.

Microsoft also planned to remove NetMeeting from its Web site, Drake said. The NetMeeting directory already appears to be gone, which means that users have to type in the IP address of the person they want to conference with.

Drake could not give a time frame for the NetMeeting phase-out.

It wasn't that long ago when any long-distance company peddling a low rate could persuade Jeff Pulver to switch. But these days, Pulver has no use for such money-saving deals.

By hooking up his phone to the broadband connection in his New York office, Pulver and his 20 employees make all their calls over the Internet, slicing a few thousand dollars off the telephone bill every month.

As if the wireless industry weren't competition enough, traditional phone companies are facing a relatively new rival in the form of voice-over-Internet service.

Internet calling is still in its infancy, with 100,000 customers nationwide, but with about 20 million U.S. homes equipped with cable modems or digital subscriber lines, experts say voice-over-Internet is expected to become a multibillion-dollar industry over the next few years.

Next month, Microsoft Corp. is planning to release an update to its Office Live Meeting 2003 that will integrate it with Windows Messenger so that users can initiate Web conferencing sessions right from the enterprise instant messaging client.

In an interview with eWEEK.com during the Comdex trade show here, Microsoft officials said the move is one of many that the software maker is planning to more deeply integrate its various products with Live Meeting, the renamed Web conferencing service it acquired from PlaceWare Inc.

The Redmond, Wash., company plans to go as far as to introduce in 2005 a server-based version of Live Meeting, something the company hinted at when it introduced Live Meeting 2003 in September. While details are still being worked out, the server version will either be a stand-alone offering or a feature within Microsoft's Office Live Communications Server presence and IM software introduced with Office System 2003 in October, said David Hastie, product manager in the real-time collaboration group.

Any server version also would work in conjunction with the hosted service so that enterprises could mix and mingle their approach by, for example, using the server software with internal employees while connecting attendees from outside the enterprise through the hosted service, Hastie said.

"The demand has always been there for a premises-based and a server solution," said Hastie, who joined Microsoft from PlaceWare. "We believe there will always be a place for both."

With the integration of Window Messenger with Live Meeting, Microsoft is joining a growing trend of Web conferencing and IM vendors interconnecting their products. In October, Yahoo Inc. announced integration of it Business Messenger enterprise IM service with WebEx Communications Inc.'s Web conferencing service.

Microsoft in recent months had been promising to provide a deeper connection between Windows Messenger and Live Meeting. The move marks the beginning of closer ties between Live Meeting and Live Communications Server, which is at the heart of the company's enterprise IM push. In the third quarter of 2004, Microsoft plans to release a full version update of the service, Live Meeting 2004, that will merge presence information from Live Communications Server into Live Meeting, Hastie said.

Presence information from Live Communications Server could be tied into features on Live Meeting such as the list of attendees or the seating chart of participants in a Web conference.

"We want to make sure that communication and collaboration has the broadest reach possible," said Ed Simnett, Microsoft's lead product manager in real-time messaging and platform.

The next release also is promising deeper overall Office integration. Live Meeting 2003 already took some first steps with Outlook integration so Live Meeting sessions can be scheduled in Outlook as well as creating a native Windows client. The 2004 release will go further with the ability through a single click within an Office application to share that application and launch a Web conference session on Live Meeting as well as with new PowerPoint animation capabilities and Office file support.

Other new features planned for Live Meeting 2004 include the ability to transfer files, the integration of streaming audio and additional controls, such as muting, for audio running on the public switched telephone network.

By now, everyone's aware of the newest Web conferencing software group on the business technology block, GrassRoots Communications, Inc. (GRC). But, did you know that this Web conferencing giant is as dedicated to the environment as it is to providing reliable, affordable global communications solutions?
If you're in Southern California, you just might. Residents and visitors to sunny Palm Springs are growing used to seeing entrepreneurial success Cery Perle, GRC Founder and CEO, tooling around town in his GEM neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV), a zero emission, battery electric transport. Perle's actions demonstrate his commitment to the environment, mirroring GRC's already proven commitment to its clients, and setting it apart from other Web conferencing providers once again.
Prior to the purchase of the NEV, GrassRoots emerged from the group of Web conferencing providers and quickly gained international attention by catching the eye of successful retail chains and computer sellers with the world's first affordable Web conferencing packages. Pair this with the fact that GRC's full array of Web conferencing products are reliable, user-friendly, and backed by a team that is committed to support and service, and it's easy to see that that this group is setting the pace for future software development as well as environment protection.

But, according to Perle, that's not enough. Sure, he admits he and his group are out to change the way the world connects, but they're also out to
improve the way the world conducts business, one meeting at a time. And, as this successful entrepreneur is quick to point out, GRC is now poised to take a strong leadership role; he wants to make sure that he and his employees set a good example, both in the boardroom and out.

ViaVid Broadcasting Inc. (OTCBB:VVDB), a leading provider of teleconferencing, web conferencing, transcription and support services, today announced LINK Conference Service, LLC (LINK) has chosen ViaVid's ViaVision Web Conferencing platform to provide online presentation tools to it's client base.
LINK Conference Service uses ViaVid Broadcasting service in conjunction with large worldwide planned events. ViaVid enables LINK Conference Service clients to present robust presentations to large disbursed audiences in a cost efficient way.

"We've worked with ViaVid over the past year to tailor a customized solution that best suits our clients' needs," said Mary Jo Ryan, CEO of LINK Conference Service. "By partnering with ViaVid's technology, LINK is able to provide cost effective worldwide planned events to our clients."

ViaVision is capable of handling two audiences at the same time; the conference call attendees will have access to the online presentation (in real-time) and/or the Internet, listen-only, audience will get the whole presentation delivered through a webcast. This sets ViaVision a step ahead of its competition that generally target one audience or the other. ViaVision offers enhancements to traditional conferencing by allowing for the use of extensive visuals during a conference call and/or webcast.

"This agreement demonstrates how ViaVid continues to be recognized as a value added service provider in an environment where people are required to be more productive than ever," stated Brian Kathler, President of ViaVid. "By using the ViaVision platform people are reducing their need to travel and eliminating costs."

Web Conferencing, Video Conferencing, Software News

Web Conferencing is the future of interactive business communication. Online enabled voice conferencing, audio conferencing, and web conferencing are connecting the global business market- making it easier for colleagues in different cities, states or even countries to easily communicate using web conferencing.

Online meetings are taking the place of the multi-day road trip and high airline fares. Why travel 3,000 miles to do a ten minute presentation when a web conferenced online meeting can be presented to numerous clients over the globe, from the comfort of your home office.

Sonexis Inc. on Monday announced a new version of its flagship audio and Web conferencing system that adds additional security capabilities and provides broader support for enterprise collaboration software.

With ConferenceManager 4.0, Sonexis provides support for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security so that any content shared during a Web conference is encrypted. Such encryption will help companies comply with security and privacy requirement under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, said Ed Wadbrook, senior vice president of product management and strategy at Sonexis, of Tewksbury, Mass.

California State Assembly Member, Marvin M Dymally, today deposed before a Delhi Court from the office of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case via video conferencing.

Dymally denied meeting Lakhubhai Pathak on any occasion and stated that he was not present at a meeting in New York in December 1983 wherein an alleged conspiracy to cheat Pathak was hatched. Pathak, who died a few years back, had stated that Dymally, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, Chandraswami and KN Agarwal had allegedly conspired to cheat him.

Dymally however stated in his deposition that he new Mr Rao, Chandraswami and Agarwal and had met the former Indian Prime Minister in his official capacity. Dymally even stated that he had met arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi at one of Chandraswami's ashrams. The video conferencing was held for almost half an hour wherein Chandraswami and Agarwal were present.

Video Conferencing in an Instant : Web Conferencing Software News

Sometimes words are not enough. The telephone is a staple of modern communications, and e-mail changed the way business is conducted like nothing that came before it. But as anyone who has sat through a meeting can tell you, sometimes business communication involves charts, frenzied scribbling on a whiteboard, and dramatic waving of arms — none of which has much of an effect on the phone or in e-mail.

Internet videoconferencing is a powerful way to communicate with your employees, clients, and customers. It can give your conversations the impact of being in the same room, when in fact the people you're talking to can be across the country or across town. Videoconferencing allows you to see the people you're talking with and, depending on the software you're using, you may be able to share charts, documents, and notes just as effectively as in person.

Yahoo Business Messenger 2.0 Integrated with WebEx Web Conferencing : Web Conferencing Software News

Yahoo! Inc., today announced availability of the new Yahoo! Business Messenger with integrated WebEx meetings that leverages technology and service capabilities of Yahoo!'s enterprise instant messaging offering and WebEx's global Web communications network. The new Yahoo! Business Messenger product represents the first-to-market, hosted, real-time collaboration service to offer enterprise class instant messaging with integrated WebEx meeting capabilities.

Yahoo! and WebEx Communications Inc. formed a relationship in June of this year to meet the real-time communications needs of businesses and offer an expanded service that leverages the strengths of two market leaders. With nearly 65 million workers already using instant messaging, and that number expected to grow to 255 million by 2005 (IDC, August 2002), businesses and IT departments are moving to enterprise instant messaging solutions that deliver integrated Web communication capabilities, administrative control, increased security, global reach, and enterprise-class reliability and scalability.

"Businesses have asked for an enterprise IM service that can help secure their networks and deliver additional communications value without the costs of a deployed infrastructure. That product is now available through Yahoo! Business Messenger with integrated WebEx meetings," said Steve Boom, senior vice president of Yahoo! Enterprise Solutions. "Our combined service delivers business value unmatched in the marketplace, both in terms of functionality and total cost."

"Effective and efficient internal and external communications are critical needs of every business. From sales and marketing, to R&D and corporate management, being able to seamlessly move from an IM session into a multimedia WebEx meeting is key to increasing productivity and performance," said Subrah Iyar, CEO of WebEx Communications. "By integrating access to our global MediaTone Network, Yahoo! Business Messenger delivers a comprehensive service for real-time Web communications, not only within the organization, but beyond the firewall."

Customers Respond to the Merging of Two Powerful Communications Tools

IM and Web conferencing have become essential communications services for businesses. Now, through Yahoo! Business Messenger with integrated WebEx meetings, companies are looking forward to quickly moving from brief online discussions to fully collaborative meetings.

Web Conferencing News :: Sony Ericsson to Release Video-conferencing 3G phone next year

Sony Ericsson plans a January launch for its first mobile phone that will run on third-generation networks and can be used for video conferences.

Philip Rambech, Sony Ericsson's U.K. and Ireland managing director, told journalists this week that the Z1010 is undergoing its final testing right now.

Two-way video calls--a key third-generation (3G) feature--are already working successfully on the Z1010, he said.

Web Conferencing News :: IBM Finetunes Web Conferencing Communications

With the latest release of Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing, IBM has made a number of small refinements that will help companies improve communications with customers and business partners.

Formerly known as Sametime, IBM's Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing 3.1 began shipping at the end of July and is priced at $48 per user. In eWEEK Labs' tests, we found that the improvements in this version made it easier to manage connecting with other users via the Sametime Connect IM client, while adding polish to the Web conferencing experience for attendees and presenters alike.

On the IM front, we found numerous improvements in the way the Sametime Connect client manages contacts. In Sametime 3.0, IBM added support for connecting with external users using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and SIMPLE (SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions). In this release, users gain the ability to connect to an external user by using the external user's e-mail address.

Web Conferencing: Microsoft Prototype Camera Designed To Enhance Web Conferencing

Microsoft is showing around a prototype product, called the Ring Cam, designed to make Web conferences more like face-to-face meetings. Combined with Web-conferencing software that Microsoft acquired this year, remote-meeting participants would be able to view and hear a live, 360-degree image of participants in another location.

Few details are known about when products might result from the prototype. A Ring Cam--actually multiple FireWire cameras--would stitch together images from its surroundings. Software would isolate the audio and image of whichever participant is speaking, says Amit Mital, general manager of Microsoft's real-time collaboration unit. That technology likely would be incorporated in Microsoft's Office Live Meeting 2003 service, which is based on products it acquired with the recent purchase of PlaceWare Inc.

Microsoft's challenge is to integrate the real-time technologies it's developing--instant messaging, presence awareness, team workspaces, and now Web conferencing--over the next several years, Mital says.

Some IT execs and managers who gathered at Microsoft's Mountain View, Calif., campus to see the first public demonstration of the concept were at least curious about the trial balloon.

MSN: shutting chat rooms, opening up Secure Instant Messenger?

MSN: shutting chat rooms, opening up IM?
Or just thinking up new ways to squeeze extra cash out of customers?

In announcing it would shut free chat rooms, Microsoft highlighted problems with spammers and pornographers. But analysts said there may be benefits for the software giant, which is trying to shunt customers to paid services across its network.

Microsoft said MSN users should switch over to its free MSN Messenger instant messaging service as a replacement for the chat rooms, which are scheduled to close down in 28 countries on 14 October.

Microsoft stands to benefit in several ways from the move, for example, by reducing expenses related to maintaining and policing free web chat rooms, and raising the prominence of MSN Messenger in the regions affected: Europe, Asia, Africa and parts of Latin America. That in turn could help boost revenue when Microsoft begins to charge for IM, something analysts say is just a matter of time.


"Even though MSN Messenger is not a paid service, it's the leading edge of where Microsoft wants to go with paid services," said Rob Helm, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an independent market research firm.

Like rival IM services from America Online and Yahoo!, MSN Messenger has attracted millions of users around the world who communicate to other buddies on its network. Although these services are free, they give providers another vehicle for advertising and, more important, keep people using other services in their networks.

IBM Australia - Instant messaging and web conferencing tools




News September 26, 2003


Instant messaging and web conferencing tools

IBM Australia has announced IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 6.5, a messaging and collaboration platform.

The latest version of Lotus Notes and Domino integrates IBM Lotus instant messaging and web conferencing functionality, giving users on-line 'awareness' capabilities and the ability to initiate instant messaging (IM) sessions directly from their in-box or from within a collaborative application.

While both Lotus Notes and Domino and Lotus instant messaging and web conferencing can be purchased separately, IBM also announced a limited-time promotion for Notes and Domino 6.5 customers.

IBM has designed the new version of Lotus Notes and Domino with integrated IM capabilities to help end-users manage the increasing volume of electronic information and the increased speed of business.

By blending one of the industry's leading messaging and collaboration platforms with one of the industry's leading corporate IM solutions, IBM has created a collaborative solution designed to help maintain employee productivity and help companies more quickly respond to the needs of their customers and market opportunities.

With the release of Lotus Notes and Domino 6.5, IBM is announcing a special promotion that allows customers to leverage the business benefits of IM and portal technology within their Lotus Notes and Domino environment.

Video Guidance Adds MeetMe(TM) Streaming Services to Their MeetMe(TM) Line Of Video, Web, and Voice Conferencing Services

Minneapolis, MN based Video
Guidance, a video, web, and voice conferencing services provider, has
announced their latest offering entitled MeetMe(TM) Streaming. This
technology enables customers to seamlessly broadcast live presentations,
rollouts, policy changes, promotions, and web-casts to multiple video sites
and/or to individual PC's. "Streaming allows a message to be broadcast to a
larger audience by using technologies that exist in remote and home offices,"
stated Dan Giesen, Director of Operations for Video Guidance.

In order to continue with our mission of providing the latest technology
at the highest level of customer service, Video Guidance has teamed up with
Visual Data Corporation. They have a proven track record of providing
streaming technology that is reliable, secure, and cost effective. Visual
Data Corporation has dedicated Certified Regional Web Technicians to assist
24/7, and has been in the interactive communications business for over 10
years. "Their responsiveness and commitment to testing prior to going live
made them our number one choice," stated Michael Werch, President of Video
Guidance. Streaming allows our customers yet another efficient alternative of
communicating to their entire dispersed employee population. MeetMe(TM)
Streaming services include video and audio web-casts, speech-on-demand,
e-learning, and a multitude of other presentations to end users. They simply
retrieve the link from their email, and can view the event as it is
broadcasted, or at a later date. The information is accessible for 90 days,
without having to copy the event onto a VHS/DVD.
MeetMe(TM) Streaming is now a component of the entire line of Meet Me
Services offered by Video Guidance; others include MeetMe(TM) Video
Conferencing, MeetMe(TM) Web Conferencing, and MeetMe(TM) Voice Conferencing.

About Video Guidance

Video Guidance is committed to continually evaluating the latest in video,
web, and voice conferencing technologies. We provide the most current
products, services, and solutions that will give your organizations the
ability to enhance internal and external communications. Video Guidance also
provides unsurpassed training and outsourcing resources; sales, leasing,
rental options; audio and bridging services; 24/7 technical assistance;
web-casting and nationwide public room rental. Strategic alliances include:
Tandberg, Polycom, Visual Data Corporation, Conference Plus, Accord Networks,
Radvision, Philips, VFI and Digital Planet Communications

IMPlanet News Briefs

FaceTime inks integration deals with Bloomberg and Oracle

IM gateway provider FaceTime Communications is adding Bloomberg LP and Oracle to its list of integration partners.

With Bloomberg, FaceTime is working to extend its IM Auditor regulatory compliance solution to support the new Instant Bloomberg messaging network.

Instant Bloomberg is a new integrated feature of Bloomberg Professional. Like public IM systems, it offers a presence-based instant messaging network, but one tightly integrated with Bloomberg's content, data, and information services. Through the deal, FaceTime will work to provide logging and auditing capabilities in connection with communications held over the network.

In connection with Oracle, FaceTime's new IM Presence Manager will be integrated with the Oracle Application Server Portal. The integration incorporates user presence and availability information -- from the major IM networks -- into Oracle portals, enabling users to collaborate in real-time within shared work environments.

Web Conferencing News- First Virtual Communications Receives Notification

First Virtual Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FVCX), a premier provider of rich media web conferencing and communications solutions, today announced that the Company received a Nasdaq Staff Determination on September 5, 2003, indicating that the Company fails to comply with the minimum stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing set forth in Marketplace Rule 4310(c)(2)(B) or the alternative minimum market value of listed securities or net income requirements there under and that its securities are therefore subject to delisting from The Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The Company has requested a hearing before a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to review this Staff Determination. While there can be no assurance that the Panel will grant the Company's request for continued listing, the Company's management is actively working to regain compliance.
About First Virtual Communications

First Virtual Communications is a premier provider of rich media web conferencing and communications solutions. The Company's award-winning Click to Meet(TM) product line is enterprise-class software that enables corporate, education, healthcare and government customers worldwide to present, share, sell, train and collaborate. Click to Meet integrates the user's choice of data, audio and multipoint interactive video into existing work environments and into everyday communication tools such as instant messaging, web browsing and e-mail. Click to Meet software solutions are widely deployed in over 1,500 customer locations and excel in such challenging environments such as military intelligence, emergency response, disaster recovery, corporate training and geographically dispersed tele-working locations, among others. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, First Virtual Communications has operations in France, United Kingdom, Japan and China. More information about First Virtual Communications can be found at www.fvc.com or by calling 1-800-728-6337 or 1-650-801-6500 outside North America.