Technology Advancements Set eCollege(SM) ASP Model Apart from Others
HTTP Compression Increases Content Delivery Speed
DENVER – July 2, 2002 – eCollege(SM) [Nasdaq: ECLG], the leading provider of technology and services for online higher education programs, today announced the implementation of advanced compression technologies that provide faster content delivery speed for online programs. eCollege’s HTTP Compression implementation compacts course and campus content for faster delivery over the Internet to make a 28.8 speed line perform similarly to a 56 speed line, and a 56 speed line perform similarly to an ISDN line. This latest advancement further distances the ASP performance of eCollege’s hosted eLearning offerings from the rest of the category.
“We have achieved superior ASP performance in the eLearning industry with our continual focus on high levels of reliability, scalability and security to help provide positive online learning experiences for the faculty and students of our clients,” said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of eCollege. “It’s these experiences that often dictate completion and retention levels, and ultimately the growth and success of an online program.”
“Most online students and faculty access online courses from home Internet connections, so by improving the speed and performance of content delivery, we help them alleviate bandwidth limitations,” continued Thorne. “In addition to continuing to rely on our system being available when they need it, now students and faculty can experience much faster connectivity when interacting with course materials and engaging in classroom activities over the Internet.”
HTTP Compression provides real-time compression of dynamic pages of content, allowing for faster connections and page load times. This compression improvement reduces load times on some of the most heavily trafficked portions of a course, including threaded discussions, exams and grades.
Depending on the configuration of the end user’s computer and the nature of the course content area, users can experience download speed improvements of 20 percent to well over 200 percent. Students and faculty will notice performance improvements in increased speed over dial-up lines. Network managers can see a significant reduction in network traffic with improvements ranging from 200 percent to 1500 percent.
HTTP Compression is available through eCollege AU(SM) at no additional cost, and with nothing to download. To decompress the content into a readable format, the end user’s system must be HTTP 1.1 enabled, a capability available on all browsers that eCollege supports.
eCollege’s hosted environment is built on the most current technologies from Microsoft and Dell, and has delivered four “nines” (99.99 percent) year-to-date system availability through the end of the 2nd quarter, 2002.
About eCollege
eCollege [Nasdaq: ECLG] is the leading eLearning technology and services provider to educational markets. eCollege designs, builds and supports high quality online degree, certificate/diploma and professional development programs for colleges, universities, school districts and state departments of education. eCollege’s clients include such institutions as National University; University of Massachusetts Amherst; University of Colorado; Drexel University; DeVry University, Inc.; New England College of Finance; and the Kentucky Virtual High School. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Denver. For more information, visit www.eCollege.com.
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks. Actual results may differ materially. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the possibility of our network infrastructure and computer systems failing; our customers’ ability to achieve successful online programs; the ability of certain content to be compressed; the performance and limitations of the end user’s hardware, software and Internet connection; substantial and increasing competition in the online education market; future technological advances by our competitors; the vulnerability of our network to security risks; and such other factors as are discussed in our most recent Form 10-K Annual Report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), which you are encouraged to review in connection with this release. We believe that these forward-looking statements are reasonable, however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. We are not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.
eCollege and eCollege AU and are service marks of eCollege. All other trademarks and service marks or registered trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners.
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