IVT MediaPlatform® 4.0 Creates a New Standard for Enterprise Video Webcasting

IVT adds live and on-demand Flash streaming, complete Web Service APIs and improved reporting capabilities to its patented, industrial-strength webcasting platform
 

Los Angeles, CA - May 19, 2008 - IVT, which transforms the reach and impact of companies’ communications with an industrial-strength suite of rich media webcasting products,today announced the release of IVT MediaPlatform 4.0.

IVT MediaPlatform enables enterprises to broadly produce, manage, distribute and monitor live and on-demand webcasts for audiences scaling to tens of thousands. The platform features dynamic video and multimedia content, interactive polls, quizzes and Q&A functionality, and static visual content such as screenshots or PowerPoint slides. With version 4.0, IVT has answered the requests of the rich media industry for a dual Flash/Windows solution by adding the ability to create and distribute live and on-demand Flash video presentations, along with complete Web Services application programming interfaces (APIs). IVT’s software has the flexibility to be delivered via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or on-site installation.

IVT MediaPlatform 4.0 offers an improved and optimized Flash-based LiveEditor. LiveEditor allows webcast creators to easily and quickly control and direct live webcasts via interactive elements such as slide pushes and instant polling. In the new version, LiveEditor has a completely different look and feel and has been optimized to load faster and work more efficiently.

IVT MediaPlatform 4.0 also contains powerful enhancements to the reporting and statistics functionality. IVT MediaPlatform users have always had the ability to track audience behavior and compile reports on viewing trends. The new version offers a simplified interface with additional functionality. For example, webcast creators can now assemble sophisticated viewer profiles and track the geographic locations of each webcast audience member, broken down by country, region and city and displayed visually through integration with Google Maps.

Complete Web Services APIs are available with IVT MediaPlatform 4.0 as an added benefit for developers and organizations wishing to incorporate video webcasting solutions via application-to-application communication. IVT MediaPlatform users can now input and retrieve data without actually logging on. Virtually anything that a user can do can now be accomplished programmatically without human intervention. For example, customers can create custom user-interfaces that allow for the integration of IVT MediaPlatform into existing systems such as content management systems or learning management systems.

“Creating Flash-based video presentations has become the preferred, technology-agnostic method for us to reach worldwide audiences, regardless of what browser or operating system viewers are using,” said Steve Gogolak, director of media and webcasting at Cramer (www.crameronline.com), an award-winning digital marketing and event solutions agency. “Since webcasting is such a powerful marketing and communications tool for our clients, we were happy to help IVT test their new version 4.0 features and are thrilled with the results.”

Greg Pulier, co-founder and CTO of IVT, recognizes that webcasters can reach a broader audience by leveraging widespread Flash adoption. “Increasingly the rich-media community, including many of our customers, are embracing Flash,” says Pulier, who was recently recognized as a rich media visionary by Streaming Media Magazine as one of 25 most influential pioneers in the streaming media industry. He continued, “As we developed 4.0, our team wanted to expand our enterprise video webcasting platform so that it could stream Flash-based live events and on-demand presentations, in addition to Windows Media and all other major media formats. We’re quite proud of the features in this release and we are fully committed to ensuring that IVT MediaPlatform continues to be the strongest webcasting engine on the market.”

Major enhancements included in IVT MediaPlatform 4.0 are:

• Live Flash video output – users now have the ability to automatically encode and deliver live Flash video in addition to all of the previous encoding choices, allowing corporate executives, marketing directors, training supervisors and sales managers to stream live content to large audiences using virtually any browser or operating system.

• Flash VOD support – besides previously supported formats, users can now automatically publish Flash presentations for video on-demand, so organizations can create libraries of content available 24 hours a day to global audiences using nearly any browser or operating system.

• Flash based control panel, called LiveEditor – LiveEditor has been completely upgraded and is now Flash based, resulting in faster load times.

• Enhanced reports and statistics – the abilities to track audience behavior and compile reports on viewing trends have been expanded via a simplified interface which allows webcast creators to assemble customer reports and “Viewer Profiles.” This enhanced interface displays items like the browser types, operating systems and media players that viewers used so that future presentation templates can be built accordingly. Moreover, the physical location of each webcast viewer can be automatically displayed visually through a built-in integration with Google Maps, broken into groups based on countries, regions and cities. Permission to access reports can be limited to individual users, if desired.

• Web Services-based architecture – IVT now offers the ability for application-to-application communication to IVT MediaPlatform through Web Services. The new programming interface gives users greater flexibility to integrate IVT MediaPlatform with existing systems.

• Improved emailing capabilities – version 4.0 includes upgraded email features, allowing users to share video presentations with specific viewers more easily and to send Microsoft Outlook Calendar entries along with presentation invitations.

Availability and Pricing
IVT MediaPlatform 4.0 is available immediately. It is the first and only software package for enterprise video webcast creation and management that is available both in a SaaS model and a behind-the-firewall, enterprise model. SaaS pricing starts at $1,475 per month for one primary content publisher. Organizations that purchase IVT MediaPlatform in a SaaS model also benefit from receiving ongoing product enhancements.
Separate charges may apply for the use of Web Services API and are determined based on usage. On-site, behind the firewall versions of the software are available and customized based on a customer’s needs and the anticipated scale of deployment.

About IVT(http://www.ivtweb.com)
IVT transforms the reach and impact of companies' communications. IVT's industrial-strength suite of reliable rich media webcasting products is changing how people present, distribute and absorb ideas and information. From easy, self-service desktop applications to complete corporate webcasting solutions, IVT's products are powered by the world's most advanced, patented rich media publishing engine. Using video, PowerPoint and interactive elements, IVT's product suite allows companies of all sizes to create and share both live and pre-recorded communications. Webcasts and podcasts created with IVT software are providing content creators with immediate, detailed insight into audience behavior and message comprehension, closing the loop on modern communications. IVT is making meetings, training, communications and customer service efforts more effective, while increasing information retention and simultaneously cutting costs.

For general inquiries and additional product information, please go to http://www.ivtweb.com/
or email IVT.