Sales Demos, Marketing Seminars…Even Job Training: More Companies Turn to Centra's eMeeting Web Service for Faster, More Effective Business Interaction

Business Wire, Feb 2, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2001

Robust ASP Infrastructure Provides Greatest Functionality,

Reliability and Global Reach

Responding to swift economic changes, including a stronger focus on top-line results, bottom-line cost cutting, and greater productivity in the race for profits, many companies are turning to technology for answers. And, for Centra (NASDAQ: CTRA), the world's leading provider of software and ASP services for live eLearning and collaboration, that means good business. The company announced today that while its user count swelled last year to over a million within its growing Fortune 1000 installed base, an increasing number of individuals, project leaders, and departmental buyers are also taking advantage of the company's CentraNow(TM) on-demand eMeeting service to manage, market, sell, and support their products and services online.

During the past 6 months alone, Centra has seen annual subscriptions to the CentraNow eMeeting service double, attracting new customers from all industries, including Allegiance Healthcare, Aon Consulting, FileNet, FiServ, Fleet Bank, Ford Motor Company, iGeneration, Maxwell Training, Microsoft, Redwave, Simplex, Softrax, and the Walden Institute.

With CentraNow, subscribers can quickly create business meetings of any size with others inside or outside the corporate firewall: using a personal Instant Meeting Room(TM) for spontaneous meetings, or Centra's Speed Scheduler(TM) to organize a meeting for a later date and time. Using integrated, high-quality IP audio conferencing in place of expensive teleconference calls, CentraNow is the only solution that eliminates the cost and complexities of orchestrating productive, online meetings. And, through on-demand thin client software that can be deployed to the desktop instantly over low-bandwidth network connections, CentraNow removes the IT hurdles and hidden expenses associated with other commercially available Web meeting services.

"We needed a reliable solution that allows us to extend the reach of our business to audiences that include both students and partners," said Karen Carbonnet, vice president of Marketing for iGeneration, a company specializing in creating Internet professionals and connecting them with jobs. "CentraNow enables us to reach our students with a cost effective interactive web-based learning solution, and provides a convenient place for important business meetings with existing customers and potential partners"

Powerful Features

Enhanced by Centra's hallmark IP audio functionality, the CentraNow Web service allows globally dispersed audiences talk to one another, share applications, presentations, and multimedia content through a standard Web browser. Supported by an underlying system for self-service log-in and meeting management, powerful client-side features include:

- Centra SmartConnect(TM) to ensure the best possible network connection with
firewall and proxy server tunneling;

- Thin client works with a Web browser, no plug-ins or software installation
required;

- Live application sharing for software demonstrations and collaborative
business applications;

- Instant, single-click PowerPoint(R) upload before and during a meeting, with
shared mark-up and highlighting of displayed slides

- An intuitive, market-tested user interface that does not require user
training;

- Attendee tools to provide immediate, non-verbal feedback via yes/no polling,
multiple-choice surveys, raise hand, and public or private text chat;

- Easy-to-use Centra Choreography(TM) tools for managing meeting interactions,
including the ability to grant microphone privileges or "promote"
co-presenters;

- Co-branded meeting pages for customized corporate identity.

Value-Added Business Services Make CentraNow "More Than a Meeting"

Unlike other vendors who deliver technology, Centra supports its end users with a choice of professional service options to help them address the challenge of accelerating, interaction-dependent business processes. Building on more than four years of in-market experience helping global organizations to deploy live eLearning and collaboration across the enterprise, a dedicated team of CentraNow Customer Care Managers are available to consult with users on best practices, tips & techniques for successful online meetings and events, session recordings, meeting and event moderation services, and co-branding.

Other optional services include on-site consulting and online education programs. Centra is the only company that offers a full catalog of business transformation courses - from simple PowerPoint tips for beginners to advanced techniques for leading and managing highly successful online meetings.

Robust Infrastructure for Best Quality of Service (QoS)

Developed on breakthrough Web architecture and supported by a multi-million dollar infrastructure investment, including an extensive network of high-performance, fault-tolerant servers with fail-over capability, and a newly completed 24 x 7 Network Operations Center (NOC), CentraNow offers the most reliable service available today for secure, real-time business collaboration on the Web. To ensure quality of service, every customer is backed by first-line technical support provided by three state-of-the-art customer support call centers.