New enterprise collaboration technology was on display this week at the DEMO 2004 show in Scottsdale, Ariz., as IMlogic Inc., Convoq Inc., ViewCentral Inc. and ExpertCity Inc. rolled out new offerings for connecting people inside and outside of organizations.
IMLogic unveiled its IM Linkage Preview Edition, a new platform for embedding instant-messaging capabilities into business applications. Convoq meanwhile announced the general availability of its ASAP online meeting service and ViewCentral announced its Replay product for managing recorded content from Web conferences. Expertcity announced a new online meeting service called GoToMeeting.
- IMlogics IM Linkage enables companies to integrate presence and instant messaging capabilities of both public and enterprise instant messaging networks into their business applications, supporting J2EE, .Net and Web-services architectures.
The software includes both a runtime environment and a software developer kit for whatever public or enterprise IM network an enterprise is looking to integrate into their applications.
IM Linkage is based on IMlogics Impulse IM protocol engine, which also powers the Waltham, Mass.-based companys flagship IM Manager product.
- Convoqs ASAP combines instant messaging, audioconferencing, videoconferencing and Web presentations, all in one product, delivered via the Web with Flash plug-ins.
Contacts can be accessed or invited to meetings via instant messaging. They can then click on a link in the instant message to join the meeting, using Windows, Macintosh or Linux systems with no software downloads or installation required. The service also interfaces with e-mail to send follow-up information or links to recorded meetings.
Convoq, of Lexington, Mass., is headed by former Lotus Development Corp. executive Chuck Digate.
- ViewCentrals Replay product is used in conjunction with the companys existing collaboration-management applications to manage and re-use content captured from both in-person and virtual events.
ViewCentral provides registration, payment and attendance-tracking capabilities for these recorded events.
- ExpertCity is jumping on the online meetings bandwagon as well with its new GoToMeeting service. The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company is best known for its remote PC access and support products.
The service does not require installation or configuration of software, with participants able to join by clicking on links in e-mail and IM messages.
GoToMeeting supports desktop viewing and sharing, keyboard or mouse control and chat and integrates with audio conferencing services. The service also support AES encryption.
GoToMeeting will be available on a flat fee subscription model in two separate versions, GoToMeeting, for individuals and small companies; and GoToMeeting Corporate for larger organizations that require central administration and reporting, and multiple accounts.
A free preview of both services will be available in May.
In other news at DEMO 2004, TurnTide Inc., of Conshohocken, Pa., announced its Anti-spam Router product, a network appliance that identifies the network source of each e-mail stream and the sending server or router, then blocks the network paths of suspected spammers. Company officials said the product can stop spam from leaving spammers servers by limiting their bandwidth and resources.
And Toronto-based Eloqua Corp. announced its Conversion Suite Enterprise Edition, which includes applications for lead generation and marketing analytics and online sales tools, and is designed to be integrated with other CRM applications an enterprise has in place.
This version of the software includes the Eloqua Program Builder module, which allows managers to create detailed, rules-based marketing and sales processes that include automated alerts and “next steps” such as personalized email, direct mail and voicemail distributions or manual tasks to be executed by a sales person, Eloqua officials said.
Marketing rules the software can take into account may take into account website activity, promotion results, CRM data and manual categorizations.´
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