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Veodia, which makes Web video software that lets business workers communicate with each other through a Web browser, June 19 said it has purchased screen capture specialist ScreenToaster.
ScreenToaster’s Web software lets consumers capture their screen activity and share it as video with audio on blogs or Websites through Adobe Flash players. While originally geared for consumers, this such capability is something customers told Veodia CEO Guillaume Cohen they wanted from his company.
Currently, customers use Veodia software to add video capabilities to learning management systems, or in collaboration platforms such as Cisco WebEx Connect or Jive ClearSpace. Employees capture videos from cameras or upload existing video content to their computers or mobile phones and share them securely with colleagues.
The ScreenToaster software lets users record computer screen activity to share tutorials, product demos, or document reviews. Cohen envisions employees could click a ScreenToaster button to record a document on his screen, describe the document with his voice and e-mail the session to colleagues for peer review.
Cohen declined to discuss the purchase price, but told eWEEK in an interview that ScreenToaster will give Veodia an entry into the consumer space his 10-employee company hasn’t had before. Cohen added that the ease with which ScreenToaster’s browser-based technology worked was a perfect match for Veodia’s customers. Like Veodia, ScreenToaster software does not require any download or installation.
Cohen said ScreenToaster has seen a 40 percent month-to-month average growth in its user base since its launch only six months ago by co-founders Marco Fucci and Elie Curetti.
Veodia expects to announce consumer service offerings geared around ScreenToaster later this year, though Cohen was circumspect as to the specifics, adding “we expect it to be very viral and based on this technology, but used a different way.”
Video is a major driver of enterprise collaboration platforms, offering knowledge workers an efficient means of getting across corporate messages. Google inserted Web video functionality into its Google Apps Premier Edition suite last September.
Cisco Systems also banks greatly on Internet video; the company makes infrastructure to underpin and facilitate the increasing use of Internet video in corporate offices.
But both Cisco and Veodia realize the untapped potential in offering consumer-oriented video products. Veodia’s buy of ScreenToaster attests to this. Cisco made headlines in March for acquiring Pure Digital, purveyor of the popular, easy-to-use Flip video camera line, for $600 million.
