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

First Virtual Communications Appoints New Directors and Chairman

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 06:00 CST

¶ Mr. George Sollman and Mr. Werner Schmucking bring additional market knowledge and experience to First Virtual's Board; Ralph Ungermann to pursue other opportunities

¶ First Virtual Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FVCX), a premier provider of rich media web conferencing and collaboration solutions, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") appointed Mr. George Sollman as the new chairman of the Board, effective immediately, replacing Mr. Ralph Ungermann, who resigned as a director and as the Company's executive chairman. Mr. Sollman is the founder of Arabesque Investments LLC, a firm that focuses on investments in early stage high technology startups. The Company also announced that Mr. Werner Schmucking, a 40-year veteran of Siemens AG, had joined First Virtual as a new director, bringing the current number of Board members to six. ¶"I am happy to welcome both new directors to our Board," said Jonathan Morgan, CEO of First Virtual Communications. "George brings invaluable market knowledge, technical expertise and operating experience that will help us expand our position in the rich media communications market. Werner brings a wealth of experience in global communications, with a unique perspective on the European markets."¶ Prior to founding Arabesque Investments, Mr. Sollman was the co-founder and CEO of @Motion (acquired by Phone.com, now OpenWave) a company pioneering, developing and marketing Internet voice portal servers. Before founding @Motion in 1997, Mr. Sollman was the president and CEO of Centigram Communications Corporation for 12 years, a leading voice messaging company. From 1996-1997, Mr. Sollman was Chairman of the American Electronics Association, a trade group representing some 3,200 U.S. electronics firms. Today, Mr. Sollman serves on the Boards of Corticon Technologies and T-Venture, the venture capital arm of Deutsche Telekom, and as the chair of the Board of Advisors for the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. ¶"I am delighted to join First Virtual," commented Mr. Sollman. "The company has a unique opportunity to become a significant player in a very large market, and I look forward to contributing to its growth and success."¶ In stepping down from the Board, Mr. Ungermann said, "I have decided to focus all of my energy on the explosive broadband IP wireless market, with a strong emphasis on China." Mr. Ungermann served as a director and chairman of the Board since co-founding First Virtual in 1993, and as executive chairman of the Board since 2002. He was the Company's chief executive officer and president from 1993 until January 1999, and then from July 2000 until June 2001. ¶"On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I want to thank Ralph for his vision in founding First Virtual and for his many years of service to the organization," commented Jonathan Morgan, CEO of First Virtual. "We wish him well in his new endeavors."¶ Newly appointed director, Mr. Schmucking resides in Germany and has recently retired from a 40-year career at Siemens. He developed expertise in the International Telecommunications Business in sales, marketing, product management, services and strategic planning. Mr. Schmucking spent the last eleven years of his career serving as vice president of the Private Networks Group and Board Member of the Information Communications Group at Siemens. Additionally, Mr. Schmucking was president of ZVEI, the German Telecommunications Manufacturer Association, and vice president of Bitcom, an Information Telecommunication and Media Council. Today he works as a strategic adviser for the Information and Telecommunications Industry and as member of the supervisory board for several European companies.

¶ About First Virtual Communications

¶ First Virtual Communications is a premier provider of rich media web conferencing and communications solutions. The Company's award-winning Click to Meet(TM) product line is enterprise-class software that enables corporate, education, healthcare and government customers worldwide to present, share, sell, train and collaborate. Click to Meet integrates the user's choice of data, audio and multipoint interactive video into existing work environments and into everyday communication tools such as instant messaging, web browsing and e-mail. Click to Meet software solutions are widely deployed in over 1,500 customer locations and excel in challenging environments such as military intelligence, emergency response, disaster recovery, corporate training and geographically dispersed tele-working locations, among others. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, First Virtual Communications has operations in France, United Kingdom, Japan and China. More information about First Virtual Communications can be found at www.fvc.com or by calling 1-800-728-6337 or +1-650-801-6500 outside North America.

¶ Cautionary Statement

¶ 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: the success of and timely release of the Company's Click to Meet(TM) products, the increase in sales of the Company's Click to Meet(TM) and Conference Server products, the Company's variability of operating results, market acceptance of web conferencing technology, potential inability to maintain business relationships with integrators, distributors and suppliers, rapid technological changes, competition and consolidation in the web conferencing industry, the importance of attracting and retaining personnel, 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 three month period ended September 30, 2003.

¶ All trademarks are recognized.

More News in this Category