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The Royal Netherlands Army Deploys First Virtual Communications' Click to Meet Conference Server as Global Conferencing Solution

Posted on: Wednesday, 18 February 2004, 06:00 CST

¶ Over 15 Click to Meet(TM) Conference Servers are deployed over TITAAN, the Royal Netherlands Army's mobile network, winner of the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement's Best Network Centric Warfare Program Initiative from a Coalition Partner 2004

¶ First Virtual Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: FVCX), a premier provider of infrastructure and solutions for real time rich media communications, today announced that the Royal Netherlands Army has deployed over 15 of their Click to Meet(TM) Conference Servers over the Royal Netherlands Army's IP-based mobile network, TITAAN (Theatre Independent Tactical Army and Air Force Network). TITAAN is based on the Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) AVVID architecture and can support data, video and voice over IP (VoIP). The Royal Netherlands Army implemented the Click to Meet conferencing technology as the core server within its global conferencing solution in order to enhance communications between their headquarters and remote mobile units dispersed throughout the world. The Click to Meet Conference Server is First Virtual's leading IP-based multipoint control unit (MCU). ¶ In January, the Institute for Defense & Government Advancement (IDGA) awarded TITAAN with the Best NCW (Network Centric Warfare) Program/Initiative from a Coalition Partner. The NCW Awards honor, recognize and promote initiatives in the US Department of Defense, Coalition Governments and Defense Industry that exemplify the principles of network-centric warfare and support information age transformation. The Institute for Defense & Government Advancement (IDGA)'s mission is to create various forums that promote education, networking and collaboration and the exchange of ideas for the benefit of national security and US interests abroad. ¶ Telindus, a leading European network integrator, managed the global deployment of the audio, video and data conferencing solution within TITAAN, including endpoints, multipoint servers and other network equipment. FVC.COM Benelux, a First Virtual Dutch reseller, developed a customized interface for the global platform for easily controlling all endpoints. ¶"Enhancing communications between headquarters and the remote units was one of the key objectives of the Royal Netherlands Army," commented Gaby Lips, managing director at Telindus Netherlands. "The satellite environment, combined with the specific requirements of the Royal Netherlands Army, makes this project an extraordinary configuration to deploy. The NCW award further validates the significance of this important project for the Netherlands Army. Telindus is honored to have been chosen as the network integrator because of their knowledge of videoconferencing from endpoint to endpoint and their knowledge of making all components work together smoothly over the TITAAN network."¶ Gaby Lips continued, "The Click to Meet Conference Server is the only multipoint server available on the market that could provide complete integration into the customer's existing environment while solving specific technical challenges, especially in terms of bandwidth and usability. Additionally, its open architecture and its deployment by several US defense operations strengthened their selection of this solution."¶ The Royal Netherlands Army faced several network challenges with its mobile network. The main problem was located on the WAN that consists of satellite links with low bandwidth. The Click to Meet Conference Server supports IP multicast that provides huge bandwidth savings. In a multicast-enabled network like satellite networks, the Conference Server sends media between servers via multicast (i.e. a single stream of data instead of sending a stream for every recipient). Further, using First Virtual's unique and proven Intelligent Linking(TM), a technology that results in flexible allocation of system resources and creates a single "virtual conference" across multiple servers, the Conference Server easily facilitates deployments with thousands of users. These features significantly lower bandwidth usage and spread the conference load across multiple servers, providing unlimited scalability. ¶ Marcel Groen, managing director at FVC.COM Benelux commented, "Among other requirements from the Royal Netherlands Army, the capacity to combine multipoint interactive sessions and streaming sessions was critical. The combination of the Click to Meet Conference Server with the FVC Benelux I-Studio Streaming Server enables streaming in real-time or recording for later playback. The interoperability of the Conference Server with any standards-based endpoints (H.323 and H.320 using a gateway) allows the Royal Netherlands Army to invite existing conferencing systems to join online conferences. The Conference Server's compatibility with the Cisco network equipment allows full integration of the videoconferencing solution within the existing infrastructure. Further, the Conference Server offers a web-based administration interface where all commands can be accessed either using a web browser or Telnet. With the Conference Server's API, we were able to develop a customized XML interface (GUI) to control the whole conferencing experience."¶"We are very happy that the Click to Meet Conference Server has been selected by the Royal Netherlands Army," commented David Weinstein, vice president of marketing at First Virtual. "This new contract, as well as the NCW award granted to TITAAN, confirms the market-leadership of our rich media communications solutions in the defense market. In fact, with our reliability, scalability and feature set that specifically addresses sensitive environments, the Royal Netherlands Army deployment further solidifies our commitment to defense and government organizations. Further, rich media web communications solutions empower these organizations by enabling immediate and secure access to people and information regardless of their location, permitting the sharing of information in a collaborative environment."

¶ About IDGA

¶ The Institute for Defense & Government Advancement has established itself as a non-partisan information-based organization dedicated to the promotion of innovative ideas in public service and defense. IDGA brings together speaker panels comprised of military and government professionals while attracting delegates with decision-making power from military, government and defense industries. IDGA's mission is to inform leaders in government and defense of the latest innovations and best practice related to joint transformation, logistics and procurement, operations, strategy and plans, and information warfare. The Network Centric Warfare (NCW) Awards, established by IDGA, honor, recognize and promote initiatives in the US Department of Defense, Coalition Governments, and Defense Industry that exemplify the principles of network-centric warfare and support information age transformation. For more information, visit www.idga.org.

¶ About FVC.COM Benelux

¶ FVC.COM Benelux BV, is the premier FVC distributor for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg since 1998 and second largest FVC distributor in Europe. FVC Benelux staff combines a thorough networking knowledge with years of experience in networked multimedia communications in large and secure environments. Besides distributing FVC products, FVC Benelux provides programming skills for integration of Click to Meet in customer environments, engineering skills for on-site installation and testing and Consultancy services for design of complex networked solutions. FVC Benelux developed special user interfaces and conference recording facilities based on Click to Meet/Conference Server and I-Studio. The company is headquartered in Maassluis, near Rotterdam in the Netherlands and is part if the XperTeam Holding BV group. More information about FVC.COM Benelux can be found at www.nl.fvc.com

¶ About Telindus

¶ The publicly listed Telindus Group (Euronext Brussels, ticker TEL) is a one-stop service partner, solution provider and manufacturer for fixed and mobile networks. Telindus, the Integrator, has extensive expertise, encompassing consulting, integration and managed services, in all areas of modern telecommunications applications and technologies for local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), wide area networks (WAN), virtual private networks (VPN), network access and security, surveillance and networked applications. Telindus is a manufacturer of broadband access and video surveillance solutions. Combined with a large networking product portfolio from strategic suppliers and partners, Telindus is the best route to leading edge technology and best of breed products and services for both operators and enterprises. Since its foundation in 1969, Telindus has made significant investments in establishing a solid footprint of networking and security expertise in Europe and beyond. With a full operational presence in as many as 15 countries across Europe and South East Asia and employing almost 2.300 people, Telindus provides customers with both business and technology focused solutions. Telindus' own products are distributed by an extensive network of agents across the globe. Telindus has its corporate headquarters at Heverlee, close to the university city of Leuven, Belgium. For more information on Telindus' networking solutions and services, please visit www.telindus.com. Telindus Netherlands HQ is located in Utrecht and can be reached by e-mail on titaan@telindus.nl

¶ About First Virtual Communications

¶ First Virtual Communications is a premier provider of infrastructure and solutions for real time rich media communications. 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.

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