Office.com Opens for Business Today
Winstar Launches Premier Online Destination
For Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
NEW YORK, Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Winstar Communications, Inc.
(Nasdaq: WCII) today announced the launch of Office.com(SM), an online
business service for small and medium-sized businesses at
office.com. A unit of Winstar, with a one-third equity stake held
by CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS), Office.com is the premier Web destination for
business-relevant content, commerce, community and communications services
from best of breed partners and in-house experts.
"Helping thousands of professionals - across dozens of industries - find
useful information and tools to get their job done is a serious and complex
undertaking," said Stuart B. Rekant, president of Winstar New Media Company,
Inc. "Office.com delivers completely integrated, relevant and comprehensive
content and services for the business customer that are unmatched on the Web
today."
The site features free access to news and information spanning nearly 150
industries and professions. Office.com utilizes a three-tiered revenue model
of deep advertising sponsorships, transactional revenue from e-commerce sales
of goods and services and i-commerce sales of premium information. Charter
advertisers on Office.com include 3Com, AT&T, ebank.com, eCal, MasterCard,
NetEarnings and OfficeMax.
Office.com launches with exceptional strategic partners from the fields of
content, e-commerce, research and technology. Each partnership provides
Office.com users with enhanced access to the latest information and resources.
"There's no margin for error when it comes to customer loyalty on the Web.
That's why each of our partners underwent a rigorous best of breed vetting
process," said Jeffrey S. Cutler, Office.com senior vice president and general
manager. "Not only will businesspeople find the site compelling from a content
perspective, but also a stand-out in terms of ease-of-use. We look forward to
a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship with all of our partners."
Office.com's list of content partners includes: COMTEX, Data Broadcasting
Corporation, Knight-Ridder/Tribune, L2S, Multex's Market Guide, Marketwatch
and Stockpoint. Companies providing additional tools and databases for
corporate research include Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Gale Group, Responsive
Database Services (RDS), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Classroom and Winstar Telebase Inc. The Office.com SmartShop has been
developed with leading e-commerce partners including barnesandnoble.com, Hello
Direct Inc., MasterCard, OfficeMax, RoweCom and Stamps.com. Finally, the
Office.com infrastructure has been developed with technology partners
including Aeneid Corporation, Blue Barn, Cambridge Technology Partners,
CommTouch Software, Digital River and Transium Corporation.
Many Office.com features were created based upon research and testing
among Office.com's target audiences. Prospects were involved with all phases
of development, providing in-depth assessments of their current Internet use,
as well as their "wish list" of new tools and resources that would truly
enhance their business' operations.
-- Office.com's proprietary Universal Business Search(SM) engine powers
the site's Fast Find feature - returning only the most relevant,
business-focused information from a diverse set of resources
including the site's own expert writers and producers, carefully
selected and organized third-party information and sites from the
World Wide Web.
-- Within Office.com's Business Management sections, interactive
Business Tools provide how-to guidance on a variety of business
matters.
-- Assessment Tools in the Office.com SmartShop(SM) and Communications
e-commerce areas take users through complex purchasing decisions
step-by-step, to help simplify and speed-up the buying process.
"Office.com embodies Winstar's 'Brave New Business' vision," commented
William J. Rouhana, Jr., Winstar's chairman and CEO. "We want to make the
Internet - which is today's version of the broadband network - relevant and
useful to small and medium-sized businesses. With Office.com's unmatched
depth of content and ease-of-use, any size business can take full advantage of
cutting-edge communications, tools, content and commerce via the Internet
today - with an eye toward their business growth tomorrow."
About Office.com
Office.com, a service from Winstar, is the first complete and relevant
destination site to meet the needs of businesspeople by focusing the power of
the Internet for the workworld. Office.com combines deep, industry-specific
content, community, commerce and communications services from best of breed
partners and in-house experts, helping people in business work smarter, faster
and more efficiently.
In 1998, Office.com debuted its "Business Tools" and related content in
Yahoo!(R)'s Small Business channel. Office.com was recently ranked a Top Ten
Online Business Center (OBC) by Cahners In-Stat Group, which rated its value
to end users, partners and potential investors.
For more information about Office.com, and the nearly 150 industries and
professions it serves, visit office.com.
About Winstar
Winstar Communications, Inc. (www.winstar.com) helps companies around the
globe take the friction out of their business through the use of seamless
communications and technology. Winstar provides its customers with a complete
set of high-quality, digital-age broadband communications services-including
high-speed Internet and data, Web-based information and local and long
distance services.
Winstar offers these services in more than 70 markets throughout the U.S.
and in Europe, Asia and South America. It is the largest holder of broadband
fixed wireless spectrum in North America, with licenses in the top 60 U.S.
markets. Winstar's broadband fixed wireless capabilities complement and
extend the reach of its extensive fiber network. The company's long-haul
fiber network-which supports IP (Internet Protocol), ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode) and frame relay-will extend more than 16,000 route miles and
cover all of the top 60 U.S. markets. Winstar's intracity fiber network will
extend nearly 6,000 route miles in 50 domestic and 12 international markets.
Winstar's Tier 1 Internet backbone and enhanced Web service offerings,
including Web hosting and design, make Winstar one of the largest Internet
companies in the U.S. The company's innovative applications enable businesses
to take advantage of the new Internet economy. Recently, the company
announced Office.com (www.office.com), a premier Internet destination site
designed to bring the best of the business Web to the desktop.
Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters
discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in Winstar's SEC reports,
including the 10-K for the period ended December 31, 1998, and the 10-Q for
the period ended June 30, 1999.
Winstar is a registered trademark, and Wireless Fiber and Office.com are
service marks of Winstar Communications, Inc. All other product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACTS:
Lee Graham Karen Tulis
Cone Interactive Office.com
(212) 973-1356 x122 (212) 995-7718
lgraham@coneinc.com ktulis@office.com
SOURCE Office.com
CO: Office.com; Winstar Communications, Inc.
ST: New York
IN: MLM FIN
SU: PDT
11/01/1999 06:01 EST prnewswire.com |
