Mentergy Ships LearnLinc Version 5, Breaking New Ground in Virtual Classroom Effectiveness
ATLANTA — The U.S. subsidiary of Gilat Communications, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GICOF – news) Mentergy, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise e-Learning solutions worldwide, today announced that the LearnLinc Live e-Learning division has shipped Version 5 of its award-winning virtual classroom software, LearnLinc.
LearnLinc 5 redefines live e-Learning by offering high-performance application sharing, quick installation, and enterprise-wide scalability. Other new features include expanded LMS (Learning Management System) integration and support for Mentergy’s Quest multimedia authoring software.
LearnLinc 5 includes improvements based on feedback from customers totaling more than 8 million student hours of virtual classroom experience. The speed and performance of application sharing used by LearnLinc customers for software skill training, has been increased three-fold, while client size has been reduced by more than half, creating one of the smallest downloads on the market for a full-featured virtual classroom. The Virtual Campus interface, client installation, database administration and instructor control have been greatly simplified for ease-of-use.
Several LearnLinc customers who tested a pre-released version of LearnLinc 5 expressed enthusiasm for its new features:
“We are looking forward to the LearnLinc 5 upgrade to accelerate Standard Register’s pre- and post-conference sessions for our distributed sales force,” said Jeanine Mrjenovich, learning technology manager at Standard Register. “We believe LearnLinc 5 application sharing is three times faster and will allow us to share applications in color over a standard dial-up line. Smaller LearnLinc client size and faster installation is also important to us as we expand our live e-Learning deployment.”
“LearnLinc Version 5 pre-release has completely transformed distance learning from a nice idea to a truly effective, dependable instructional tool,” said Matt McGrath, instructor at Knowledge Impact. “We deliver e-learning and performance support solutions to major companies, and the application sharing upgrade alone has done more for our end-users than we could have ever imagined. We look forward to continuing to do business with LearnLinc Live e-Learning and wholeheartedly appreciate the help we’ve received.”
“LearnLinc was the first commercial virtual classroom on the market in 1995,” said Adam Stewart, vice president of Mentergy’s LearnLinc Live e-Learning division. “From the outset, we listened to our customers so we could build a comprehensive virtual learning environment that would deliver the highest quality training results. LearnLinc 5 expands our commitment to a new level of training productivity. When LearnLinc 5 is combined with our Allen Communication division courseware services or tools such as Quest and Designer’s Edge, we create an unbeatable combination for our customers.”
Additional LearnLinc 5 Features:
Expanded Access to Live, Interactive Learning
Distributed Server Architecture allows highly interactive LearnLinc classes to be distributed among several LearnLinc servers located at various corporate sites. Students and instructors connect to the server nearest to them automatically, and share content from a central LearnLinc server. Since each distributed server can support up to 200 participants, Distributed Server Architecture allows LearnLinc classes to be scaled to reach students at many locations across the enterprise.
Support for Multimedia-rich Authoring
Quest 6.1, Mentergy’s award-winning multimedia authoring tool, can be used to author highly interactive courseware to be synchronized inside the LearnLinc 5 classroom. A LearnLinc instructor can launch animations, video and audio clips and interactions authored in Quest on all student desktops, enabling a rich, multimedia learning environment.
LMS Integration
Mentergy has partnered with leading Learning Management System vendors to make live e-Learning a powerful component of enterprise-wide delivery and management of online learning. LearnLinc 5 contains significant improvements to enable quick and straightforward integration of student data from the virtual classroom to leading LMS platforms.
The LearnLinc virtual classroom allows a live instructor to lead and control a class of distributed students using audio conferencing, with the interaction and flexibility found in a traditional classroom. Interactive learning tools include instructor/student floor control, class coordination, synchronized courseware, application sharing, whiteboard, text chat, breakout groups, record & playback, polling, feedback and TestLinc (web-based testing & assessment). Firewall friendly LearnLinc classes can be delivered over the public Internet, private intranets, and local networks. Customers may purchase LearnLinc software licenses, or contract LearnLinc Application Hosting on a cost per student hour basis. LearnLinc Live e-Learning also offers TrainNet, a video-intensive virtual classroom environment for satellite and terrestrial broadband delivery.
About Mentergy
Mentergy, Inc. is a Gilat Communications, Ltd. [NASDAQ:GICOF] e-Learning company that provides a comprehensive set of live e-learning products, consulting and courseware development services for large enterprises through its LearnLinc and Allen Communication properties. With over 21 years of expertise in the learning industry, Mentergy assists businesses worldwide in making a cost-effective shift from traditional learning, with its inherent expense and loss of productivity, to a blended approach, which includes technology-based training solutions or e-Learning. Mentergy’s customers range from mid-size companies to Global 2000, including Aetna US Healthcare, WorldCom, Made2Manage, Citibank, Countrywide, Rockwell-Collins, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Intel and other industry leaders. http://www.mentergy.com
About Gilat Communications
Gilat Communications, Ltd. [NASDAQ:GICOF], is a global leader in learning using advanced, blended e-learning techniques and technologies. Gilat Communications formed Mentergy, its e-Learning operation, by merging Allen Communication, which has provided advanced courseware development services and technology-based authoring and design tools for almost 20 years to more than 60% of the Fortune 500, with LearnLinc Corporation, featuring live, collaborative Web-based training via the LearnLinc® virtual classroom, used by hundreds of organizations around the world. TrainNet™, Gilat’s comprehensive broadband IDL solution allows organizations to conduct instructor-led or self-paced sessions utilizing computers, telephone, Internet connections and broadband communications. John Bryce Training is Gilat’s European IT training and content company, and is one of the leading providers of IT training services in Europe and the Middle East. http://www.gilat.net
About John Bryce Training
John Bryce Training is a leading IT training company in Israel and Europe and a fast-growing enterprise in this field since 1994. The company offers over 200 different programs and courses, each tailor-made to suit its clients’ rapidly changing needs. John Bryce trains IT professionals, managers, developers and infrastructure personnel in a wide range of subjects, and is an authorized training solution provider for companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Novell, and others. www.johnbryce.co.il
Mentergy™ is a trademark and LearnLinc® is a registered trademark of Gilat Communications. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
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Contact Information:
Mentergy, Inc., Atlanta
Ziv Mandl
770-612-9129
Gilat Communications Ltd.,
Tel-Aviv
Eytan Mucznik
(972) 3-925-5094
(Investor Relations)
Ruder Finn, Inc., New York
Robert D. Ferris, 212/715-1573
Karen Sheppard, 212/593-5815
