VideoServer Changes Name to Ezenia!
Expands Internet Strategy with Interactivity Technology for Web Sites
ATLANTA, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- VideoServer, Inc. (Nasdaq: VSVR - news) today
announced the change of its name to Ezenia!, signifying the company's natural evolution to
change the way people meet on the Internet. Ezenia! has established a market leading position
delivering multimedia communications to enterprise users and is now expanding the use of its
technology to deliver live interactivity on the Web.
''The Web is emerging as a primary communication vehicle for today's organizations, creating
an opportunity for Web sites to become natural meeting places,'' said Khoa D. Nguyen, president
and CEO of Ezenia!. ''As like-minded people gather on Web sites today, these virtual
communities have little or no opportunity to interact either with the host of the site or each other.
Ezenia! will revolutionize the experience of visiting a Web site by enabling life-like
conversations among groups of Web site visitors and, in turn, help corporations build closer
customer relationships and conduct more productive e-business initiatives.''
At the Networld+InterOp shows in Atlanta and Paris this week, Ezenia! will showcase new
interactivity server applications, which will allow corporations to turn their Web sites into
natural meeting places, where visitors can engage in browser-based, voice conversations. By
enabling live interactivity on their Web sites, corporations and communities will offer more
compelling reasons for an increased number of people to visit their sites more frequently and
stay longer.
Addresses Needs of Brand-Centric Corporations and Online Communities
In a recent report on online marketing, analyst firm Forrester Research predicted that business
marketers will move as much as 10 percent of their promotional investment to the Web by 2004,
translating to $8.7 billion in advertising spending. With this dramatic shift in the importance of
corporate Web sites in an overall marketing strategy, brand-centric organizations are looking to
leverage new ways of continually driving customers and prospects to their sites. By adding
voice interactivity from Ezenia! offering online interactive events and discussion forums,
corporations can leverage new ways of developing relationships with their customers and
prospects, exposing them to micro-marketing programs, and ultimately encouraging them to buy.
There has also been a dramatic rise of new Web sites that serve as the focal point of
communities of interest, further demonstrating the need for live interactivity on the Web. These
community sites and portals are looking to increase traffic to their sites through richer, more
natural user experiences. By enabling visitors to meet and engage on their Web sites, community
site owners can increase their popularity and maximize advertising revenue.
''Imagine participating in a 'live' group session with a popular local TV news reporter but
instead of typing you can actually talk,'' said Gerry Kaufhold, principal analyst with Cahners
In-Stat Group. ''And after the event, you could split off into topic-related discussions with
people who share your interests. It takes today's text-based chat rooms to the next level and turns
Web site visitors into customers. Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, can add Ezenia!'s
interactive voice functionality as a service for Web sites that they host. There is tremendous
market potential for this technology.''
Expanding the Reach of Interactive Communications
Over the past 18 months, Ezenia! has successfully extended its business model from traditional
videoconferencing to include multimedia communications on corporate intranets. During this
phase of the company's evolution, Ezenia! reinforced its leadership position by delivering
Encounter(TM), the most comprehensive range of multimedia communications servers, which
has been recognized by leading reviewers, receiving three significant awards in the last five
months. Now entering the next phase, looking beyond the internal communications needs of the
enterprise, Ezenia! is positioned to enable mainstream business-to-business and
business-to-consumer voice interactivity over the Internet.
''As a long-standing partner of VideoServer we see the name change and its direction to include
Web interactivity servers to be a natural evolution for the company,'' said Stephen Von Rump,
president and CEO of VTEL, the leader in Internet Visual communications. ''We believe
Ezenia! is well-positioned to deliver on this initiative and look forward to our continued
close-working relationship to drive the deployment of rich multimedia for both internal
corporate communications as well as Web-based customer and partner interaction.''
In addition to its existing partnerships, Ezenia! will develop new relationships with Web
developers and service providers to facilitate the deployment of interactivity technology into
corporations, allowing the Web development agencies to differentiate themselves through new
value-added services.
''Our corporate clients are constantly looking to identify new ways of making their Web sites
'sticky','' said Charles Lard, president and CEO of Wing.Net, a leading interactive Web
development agency. ''We believe that Ezenia!'s initiative to enable live interactivity on Web
sites presents the site owners with compelling applications and allows Web developers to offer
exciting new experiences.''
Availability
Ezenia! will be demonstrating its interactivity server technology and applications at upcoming
tradeshows. Products are expected to ship during the first half of next year.
About Ezenia!
Ezenia! Inc. (previously VideoServer, Inc.) brings life to the network. As the global leader in
multimedia group communications with thousands of servers installed in corporations
worldwide, Ezenia! allows groups to interact regardless of their location -- enabling dispersed
teams to work together effectively and allowing vital information to be disseminated quickly. Its
interactivity servers will further enable corporations and on-line consumer communities to add
real-time voice interactivity to their Web sites. Through a global network of OEMs,
distributors, resellers and systems integrators, Ezenia! offers a complete suite of customer
service offerings and value-added consulting options that speed the deployment of its
award-winning products.
SOURCE: Ezenia! Inc.
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