First Virtual Communications to Resell Picturetel 900 Series
ANDOVER, Mass. & SANTA CLARA, Calif. — PictureTel® Corporation (Nasdaq:PCTL – news), the world leader in integrated collaboration and First Virtual Communications™ (Nasdaq:FVCX – news), a leader in rich media communications solutions, today announced that First Virtual Communications will resell the PictureTel 900 Series™.
Under the terms of the agreement, First Virtual Communications will distribute the PictureTel 900 Series, as well as future iPower™ solutions, to its customers throughout North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. The PictureTel 900 Series will be offered in conjunction with First Virtual Communication’s innovative Click To Meet™ platform.
Using Click to Meet’s simple point and click interface, end users can simultaneously access two-way video, streaming, and web collaboration applications – from any desktop or even from the PictureTel 900 Series using its built in web browser.
Click to Meet delivers voice and video telephony, data collaboration, and streaming to allow the end user to create a truly interactive meeting through the desktop. Click to Meet is standards-based and operates across any corporate network, including IP, ATM, ISDN and DSL.
The PictureTel 900 Series™ is the first offering in the iPower family and combines videoconferencing, the PC, and the Internet to deliver intuitive, content-rich remote communications that provide the first real synonym for face-to-face interaction. In addition, the solution features the most powerful system management capabilities of any product in this class of communications equipment.
The iPower platform, developed by PictureTel and Intel helps teams to easily share ideas, pull in experts, and ultimately, make more informed decisions.
“PictureTel has delivered a new, powerful solution that is achieving significant market traction,” states Ralph Ungermann, president and chief executive officer of First Virtual Communications. “Our customer base is demanding the PictureTel 900 Series, and iPower is easily married to the applications we support today since both are designed around the Internet. We believe that, together, PictureTel and First Virtual will help businesses create a true knowledge culture – where decisions are based on the very best intelligence and we remove all technical barriers to productivity.”
“First Virtual Communications has been a first mover in the race to enable integrated, rich media communications,” states Lew Jaffe, president and chief operating officer, PictureTel. “They pioneered broadband video networking and have become the experts in collaboration technologies. Click to Meet will enable users of these networks to harness the power of the PictureTel 900 Series. Click to Meet is a perfect complement to the iPower solutions, and we look forward to working together to help businesses transform their communications infrastructures.”
About PictureTel
PictureTel Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTL – news) is the world leader in developing, manufacturing, and marketing a full range of visual- and audio- collaboration platforms. PictureTel also owns 1414c, a communications ASP that greatly simplifies the network complexity inherent in mixed rich media collaboration.
PictureTel markets network conferencing servers in addition to the complete range of end-point products and delivers a global capability to service, support, and provide complete solutions for customers needing rich media communications. PictureTel is fundamentally in the business of eliminating the barrier of distance, enabling people to be Anywhere Now.™
About First Virtual Communications
First Virtual Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:FVCX – news) is a leader in rich media communications solutions, providing systems and services that enable system integrators and service providers to deliver an integrated suite of collaboration applications to its enterprise customers. First Virtual Communications also delivers solutions directly to corporate and public sector enterprises.
The company’s flagship product, Click to Meet™, is the industry’s communications platform for high quality, face-to-face e-collaboration. It is designed to seamlessly integrate video and audio telephony, data collaboration, and streaming across IP, ISDN, DSL, and ATM networks.
Click to Meet provides the optimal platform for delivering a new generation of video enabled B2B web applications for commerce, distance learning, telemedicine, federal and state governments, and the judiciary.
First Virtual Communications’ strategic partners include Accord, Adaptive Broadband, Alcatel, British Telecommunications plc, China Telecom, Cisco Systems, Inc., CUseeMe Networks, EDS, Ezenia!, France Telecom, Ideal Technology Solutions, Nortel Networks, PictureTel, Polycom, Qwest Communications, SBC Communications Inc., Shanghai Telecom, Telstra, Verizon Communications, Wind and other leading companies worldwide. Further information about the company is available at http://www.fvc.com.
Cautionary statements:
First Virtual Communications: Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words, “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects” and words of similar import. Such forward-looking statements have known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of First Virtual Communications, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: First Virtual Communications’ limited operating history and variability of operating results, First Virtual Communications’ recent launch of its broadband video services offering, market acceptance of video technology, First Virtual Communications’ dependence on ATM backbone technology, potential inability to maintain business relationships with telecommunications carriers, distributors and suppliers, rapid technological changes, competition and consolidation in the video networking industry, the importance of attracting and retaining personnel, management of First Virtual Communications’ growth, and other risk factors referenced in First Virtual Communications’ public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s report on Form-10 Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2000.
PictureTel: This release includes projections and other forward-looking statements about the company’s revenues, earnings, and other measures of economic performance. Actual results could differ materially from forecasts due to many factors such as, for example, competitive pressures, changes in technology, and the difficulty in forecasting in overseas markets and indirect channels. Additional information concerning risks that could cause actual results to differ is contained in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K and its Form 10-Q as filed with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
PictureTel is a registered trademark of PictureTel Corporation. PictureTel 900 Series, iPower, and Anywhere Now are trademarks of PictureTel Corporation.
All other terms and products names may be trademark or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
