Business Services Industry

Community Vision Launches "Live" Webcast of IBM Home Director Model Homes in U.S.; Event to Showcase the Community Sites of IBM's Home Networking System

Business Wire, Sept 23, 1998

SUMMERLIN, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 1998--IBM's Home Director Professional intelligent home networking product will be launched in a "live" Webcast event hosted by Community Vision, a leader in the field of Web-site development for community intranets and the creator of IBM's Home Director Web site.

Visitors can participate in the live event, which is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. ET, by pointing their browsers at http://www.communityvision.com or http://www.ibm.com/homedirector. (In addition, the Webcast will be available for download until Oct. 24 at the same location.)

The Webcast will feature a live streaming-video conference among communities where the IBM Home Director Professional home networking solution is installed in new model homes.

During the Webcast, community developers, home builders and IBM Authorized Home Systems Integrators from sites and communities in Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, North Carolina, Oklahoma City and San Diego will share their experience, knowledge and excitement as pioneers in the new frontier of connected homes and communities.

IBM executives will provide a demonstration of the IBM Home Director Professional home networking solution and discuss the emerging community networks.

In addition, there will be a demonstration of a "community intranet" developed by Community Vision, the newest community amenity that community developers are implementing to add value and enhance the quality of life in a "connected community."

"Community Vision brings their experience in corporate networking and automation together with a group of world-class creative talent to deliver a compelling community intranet solution," said Mark Schmidt, director of marketing and sales for IBM's Home Networking Systems.

"They understand how the community intranet, along with a community-level implementation of the Home Director system, can deliver remarkable benefits to consumers and communities."

"The concept of the community intranet is quickly taking hold in advanced community developments across the country, and our underlying technology brings the benefits of networking entire communities to reality," said Doug Blattner, president of Community Vision.

"Our value-added user areas like `NexTropolis' enable entire communities to coordinate and plan activities by linking the individual homes, through tools like IBM's Home Director system, to each other and ultimately to the World Wide Web."

With the increasing awareness among developers and builders that a home lacking a digital infrastructure will have a dramatically lower resale value in the future, Community Vision understands that it is more important than ever to implement a technology infrastructure in new and existing communities.

Through NexTropolis, an innovative community infrastructure product, Community Vision is helping to provide the "connected community" with community information and content that brings homeowners closer together and sets the standard for lifestyles in the future.

To find out more about Community Vision, call 702/933-0000 or visit its Web site at www.communityvision.com.

For more information on the IBM Home Director home networking system, visit its Web site at www.ibm.com/homedirector.> NOTE TO EDITORS: IBM and Home Director are trademarks of International Business Machines. NexTropolis is a trademark of Community Vision. All other trademarks are the respective properties of their owners.