Akamai Collaborates with Leading Conferencing Providers to Accelerate Business Communications on the Internet
Conference casting involves pairing up traditional telephone-based technology with Internet-based streaming media technology to deliver a more cost-effective solution than traditional audio or video conferencing is today. The signal from an audio or video conference call is then captured and encoded for streaming across the Web, using Akamai's streaming media network. The conference cast is delivered to a dynamically created Web site where participants join in using a standard Web browser.
Conference casting transforms ordinary business conference calls into cost-effective interactive Web conferences designed to meet the needs of both large and small businesses for internal and external real-time communications. Conference casting allows participants to not only see and hear the speaker but also view and respond to presentation slides that supplement the subject matter. The whole session can be viewed on-demand afterward, and because it is broadcast over the Web, business customers get a post-conference report on all participant activity.
"Streaming media is creating new revenue opportunities for conferencing service providers as businesses look to the Internet to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses," said Ed Huguez, senior vice president of Akamai. "Conference casting combines the absolute strengths of the Internet, adding interactivity to business conferences. This is the first killer conferencing application that includes automated features like on-demand replay and instant messaging and polling, which are not available in traditional audio or video conference calls."
Akamai Conference, the company's new family of conference casting solutions, incorporates live audio and video streaming services and interactive components into traditional conference call offerings in a fully automated fashion. Akamai Conference is made available to businesses only through a number of key conferencing service providers who are integrating components of these solutions into their conferencing offerings.
In support of the program, Akamai is launching a television advertising campaign today on CNN News Group television networks, including CNN/U.S., CNN Headline News, CNNfn, CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN Airport Network. The advertising campaign is intended to create awareness of the conference casting category. The commercials demonstrate a whole new way to conduct efficient, cost-effective and engaging business over the Web with streaming audio, video and interactivity.
To support the leads generated from the program's co-marketing initiatives, Akamai has launched a dedicated Web site, www.akamaiconference.com, that will provide businesses with information about the technologies and services available in the conference casting category. The Web site will seamlessly allow businesses to select services from several conferencing service providers, including AT&T TeleConference Services, WorldCom, Global Crossing Conferencing, and ACT Teleconferencing.
About Akamai
Akamai is the foremost provider of global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media, and applications, serving over 1,000 customers. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 4,000 servers in over 45 countries directly connected to more than 160 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool.
| Contacts: |
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| Jeff Young Akamai Technologies 617-250-3913 jyoung@akamai.com |
--or-- | Anjeanette Rettig Akamai Technologies 858-909-3134 anjeanette.rettig@akamai.com |
AT&T, WorldCom, Global Crossing Conferencing, and ACT Teleconferencing Agree to Offer New Akamai Conference Casting Solution
CAMBRIDGE, MA - June 6, 2000 - Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), the foremost provider of global, high-performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media, and applications, today announced a collaborative effort with its conferencing partners to accelerate business communications on the Internet. The initiative entails promoting a new one-to-many interactive communications technology known as conference casting, which combines the ease of the telephone with the power of streamed audio and video across the Internet. As part of this initiative, Akamai will roll out marketing campaigns to promote the conference casting category. AT&T, WorldCom, Global Crossing Conferencing, and ACT Teleconferencing have agreed to participate in Akamai's conference casting initiative and each will offer this innovative technology as a key new business communications service to its customers.Conference casting involves pairing up traditional telephone-based technology with Internet-based streaming media technology to deliver a more cost-effective solution than traditional audio or video conferencing is today. The signal from an audio or video conference call is then captured and encoded for streaming across the Web, using Akamai's streaming media network. The conference cast is delivered to a dynamically created Web site where participants join in using a standard Web browser.
Conference casting transforms ordinary business conference calls into cost-effective interactive Web conferences designed to meet the needs of both large and small businesses for internal and external real-time communications. Conference casting allows participants to not only see and hear the speaker but also view and respond to presentation slides that supplement the subject matter. The whole session can be viewed on-demand afterward, and because it is broadcast over the Web, business customers get a post-conference report on all participant activity.
"Streaming media is creating new revenue opportunities for conferencing service providers as businesses look to the Internet to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses," said Ed Huguez, senior vice president of Akamai. "Conference casting combines the absolute strengths of the Internet, adding interactivity to business conferences. This is the first killer conferencing application that includes automated features like on-demand replay and instant messaging and polling, which are not available in traditional audio or video conference calls."
Akamai Conference, the company's new family of conference casting solutions, incorporates live audio and video streaming services and interactive components into traditional conference call offerings in a fully automated fashion. Akamai Conference is made available to businesses only through a number of key conferencing service providers who are integrating components of these solutions into their conferencing offerings.
In support of the program, Akamai is launching a television advertising campaign today on CNN News Group television networks, including CNN/U.S., CNN Headline News, CNNfn, CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN Airport Network. The advertising campaign is intended to create awareness of the conference casting category. The commercials demonstrate a whole new way to conduct efficient, cost-effective and engaging business over the Web with streaming audio, video and interactivity.
To support the leads generated from the program's co-marketing initiatives, Akamai has launched a dedicated Web site, www.akamaiconference.com, that will provide businesses with information about the technologies and services available in the conference casting category. The Web site will seamlessly allow businesses to select services from several conferencing service providers, including AT&T TeleConference Services, WorldCom, Global Crossing Conferencing, and ACT Teleconferencing.
About Akamai
Akamai is the foremost provider of global, high performance services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media, and applications, serving over 1,000 customers. Akamai has the broadest deployment of servers for content, streaming media, and applications delivery with more than 4,000 servers in over 45 countries directly connected to more than 160 different telecommunications networks. Akamai (pronounced AH kuh my) is Hawaiian for intelligent, clever and cool.
