• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Sonic Foundry Addresses Growing Volume of Rich Media Across the Enterprise With Mediasite EX Server Software

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 09:00 CST

MADISON, Wis., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Foundry(R) Inc. , a leader in automated rich media communications technology, today announced Mediasite(TM) EX Rich Media Server software, the latest addition to its award-winning suite of Mediasite rich media Web communications solutions. The EX Server software offers organizations a powerful way to centrally store, secure, manage and monitor their rich media assets so they can be accessed and leveraged across large enterprises.

Satisfying a rapidly growing market need

Large organizations, like university campuses, healthcare networks and corporate entities today need a more reliable way to manage, archive and secure their growing rich media content. EX Server software is designed to leverage enterprise investments in existing network infrastructures and provide the foundation for a scalable enterprise-wide deployment. EX Server accommodates the growing volume of rich media content that has become a requisite part of innovative organizations' successful communication strategies.

"Universities and corporations lose hours of valuable information each day because it is too big a hassle and too expensive to capture that knowledge as it is exchanged. These large organizations are now realizing how the secure sharing of online presentations can help boost expertise, reduce travel and other costs, and recapture lost productivity. With EX Server software, that information is just a click away," said Rimas Buinevicius, chairman and CEO of Sonic Foundry. "Our enterprise customers tell us they are realizing a competitive advantage as they capture, process and access their most important asset -- organizational knowledge. EX Server software further improves their communication across division, campus or geographical boundaries for these distributed, sometimes global, organizations."

The engine of the Mediasite enterprise

Sonic Foundry's Mediasite Server software serves as the heart of a rich media communications strategy. As a full-scale enterprise-class solution, the new EX Server software powers multiple Mediasite systems that are capturing hundreds or even thousands of hours of rich media content. Organizations can easily scale their Mediasite Web communications platform to support multiple unique entities across their organization or campus without requiring additional server hardware, all from one centralized server platform. Meanwhile, individual departments or divisions within the organization receive their own customized and secure Mediasite environment.

Built to leverage the existing enterprise- or campus-wide infrastructure for user and group rights management, EX Server software ensures rich media content security by integrating with leading LDAP directory services and Microsoft Active Directory. EX Server eases the burden on IT staff by

reducing network administration effort to maintain a separate directory for Mediasite.

Mediasite EX Server software begins to address the goal of making rich media content accessible for people who are hearing- or visually-impaired. Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires electronic and information technology used by the government to be accessible to people with disabilities. EX Server software broadens the reach of Mediasite content by offering captioning support for audio as well as slide content of Mediasite presentations, which is particularly important for government and higher education institutions moving toward Section 508 compliance.

"Sonic Foundry's EX Server addresses the issues that accompany the proliferation of multimedia publishing in the enterprise sector," said Steve Vonder Haar, research director of Interactive Media Strategies. "More than one quarter of the 1,203 corporate executives participating in a survey completed earlier this month say that their organizations already manage internal libraries of more than 100 hours of Web-based rich-media content. And with nearly four out of 10 companies surveyed reporting plans to increase their spending on rich media in 2006, the demand for secure, scalable systems to manage multimedia content is sure to grow."

Mediasite EX Server software addresses top enterprise priorities The new EX Server software provides: * Security: Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP-compatible directory integration * Data Management: Support for Microsoft SQL Server * Continuity: Ability to deploy Mediasite Servers in a cluster-enabled environment for redundancy and failover * Scalability: Multi-site installation support for up to 20 Mediasite Server software installations on a single server machine * Accessibility: Closed captioning support for video in the Mediasite Viewer; screen reader-enabled alternate text for presentation content; screen reader-enabled slide lists for content navigation; larger video size (320x240) A complete line of communication solutions

In the three years since it was first introduced into the market, Mediasite has set the standard as the premier rich media communication system in the industry. The newly introduced Mediasite EX Server software joins the award-winning family of Mediasite communication solutions, which includes the Mediasite RL, a rack-mountable rich media recorder for presentation and conferencing rooms; Mediasite VL video conferencing recorder; and Mediasite ML, a portable rich media recorder designed for mobile applications, such as tradeshows and conferences.

"Our vision of empowering customers to transform the way they communicate, and how people learn and receive information via the Internet, is furthered by the launch of EX and our recently announced Website, Mediasite.com, where you can search rich media presentations for specific topics," said Buinevicius. "Our goal remains to help people share their expertise for the benefit of their studies, careers and personal growth. We believe rich media is one of the most valuable, compelling and effective communication mediums on the Web today."

Availability

EX Server Software is available for immediate shipment. For more information, visit Sonic Foundry's Website at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/

About Sonic Foundry, Inc.

Founded in 1991, Sonic Foundry is a technology leader in the emerging rich media communications marketplace, providing enterprise solutions and services that link an information driven world. Sonic Foundry is changing the way organizations communicate via the Web and how people around the globe receive vital information needed for work, professional advancement, safety and education. The company's integrated Webcasting and Web presentation solutions are trusted by Fortune 500 companies, education institutions and government agencies for a variety of critical communication needs. Sonic Foundry is based in Madison, Wis. For more information about Sonic Foundry, visit the company's Website at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/

Certain statements contained in this news release regarding matters that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Because such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, uncertainties pertaining to continued market acceptance for Sonic Foundry's products, its ability to succeed in capturing significant revenues from media services and/or systems, the effect of new competitors in its market and other risk factors identified from time to time in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sonic Foundry Inc.

CONTACT: Press, Terri Douglas of Catapult PR-IR, +1-303-581-7760,ext. 18, tdouglas@catapultpr-ir.com; or Investors, Rob Schatz of StrategicGrowth International, +1-212-838-1444, rob@sgi-ir.com, both for Sonic FoundryInc.

Web site: http://www.sonicfoundry.com/

Web site: http://www.mediasite.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

More News in this Category