Centra Expands Offerings to Provide Teleconferencing Alternative for Centra-powered Online Sessions
LEXINGTON, Mass. (December 12, 2002) – Centra (NASDAQ: CTRA), the leading provider of software and services for real-time communication and collaboration, today announced enhancements to CentraOne( that give customers the option of selecting either voice-over-IP or traditional teleconferencing for the audio portion of Centra-powered online sessions. As a result, Centra customers may now choose, on a session by session basis, the audio solution that best suits their needs, enjoying either the cost efficiencies of integrated, multi-way, full-duplex voice-over-IP or the convenience and familiarity of traditional, telephone-based conferencing. In line with a commitment to open architecture, Centra will work with any third-party teleconferencing service currently in use in a customer’s organization, and will also include teleconferencing as part of our service for customers looking to consolidate their Web conferencing and teleconferencing purchases. These teleconferencing enhancements are immediately available as part of CentraOne 6.1.
Today, CentraOne integrates advanced audio conferencing tools with meeting, scheduling, automatic invitation management, archiving, and online data collaboration tools to create a truly integrated collaborative application for group communications. Centra’s proprietary high compression audio codec is optimized to deliver the highest quality audio performance over Internet connections as low as 28.8 kbps and has been widely used by Centra’s customers since the product was first introduced to the market in 1997. However, for customers who have mobile users with limited network availability or users who prefer the familiarity of the handset over the headset, the teleconferencing alternative is an effective way to satisfy their needs and expand Centra’s reach. Both of Centra’s fully-featured environments combine the best elements of audio conferencing and Web collaboration to enable teams to work together interactively through a browser-based interface.
“During the next five years, collaborative Web conferencing will undergo radical change as deployments gradually move away from a hosted model toward on-premises execution, and as the service is woven into business applications,” said Matt Cain, senior vice president of Web and Collaboration Strategy research for META Group. “It is essential that today’s Web conferencing providers create an environment that supports a variety of different models providing seamless integration of both voice and data.”
Scaleable Software Solution for Enterprise Collaboration Centra’s secure and scalable enterprise application provides collaboration solutions for sales, marketing, human resources, information technology, and other departments across the enterprise who need to take advantage of more efficient and cost-effective business communication over the Web. CentraOne brings together voice, video, data, and graphics in easy-to-use interfaces for Web conferencing, meetings, and virtual classrooms that can be deployed onsite or accessed through a secure ASP, leveraging Centra’s global network of servers. Centra integrates with existing infrastructure to help organizations align enterprise IT strategies with key business processes to enhance productivity, lower costs, and drive revenue. Centra’s solutions are available in 13 language editions and in 29 countries worldwide.
“We continue to develop our audio and Web platforms with one goal in mind for our customers – ease of use,” said John Walsh, Centra’s vice president of product management. “From everyday collaborative meetings to high touch learning programs, Centra continues to lead the industry in the design and implementation of applications that make virtual communication a practical and integral part of the work day, delivered in a format that fits the needs of each customer we serve.”
About Centra
Leading with an undisputed track record of helping millions of users to increase revenue and improve overall business performance, Centra enables global corporations, government agencies, and universities to drive greater productivity and lower costs through the industry’s most extensible enterprise software application for real-time business communication and collaboration.
Today more than 950 organizations across every industry and market sector choose Centra, including Cadbury Schweppes, Citigroup, AT&T, Procter & Gamble, McKesson, Merck, Nationwide Insurance, Sysco, and Stanford University. Centra’s products are bolstered by a vital ecosystem of strategic partners, including Deloitte Consulting, EDS, Microsoft, Siebel, Cisco, and Oracle. Headquartered in Boston, Centra operates throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information, visit Read the Full Article.
Centra Software, Inc. 430 Bedford Street, Lexington, MA 02420 * http://www.centra.com
phone 781-861-7000 * fax 781-863-7288
