Macromedia Goes Beyond Web Conferencing

Media Release
Macromedia goes beyond web conferencing

New rich web communications system simplifies online meetings, eliminates wasted time

AUCKLAND New Zealand - 17 February 2004 - Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) announced a major release of Macromedia Breeze, which enables more than 400 million web users to immediately experience engaging online meetings and rich content without downloading special plug-ins or media players. With Breeze, Macromedia is not only setting a new standard in web conferencing, but also introducing the first true rich web communication system. Now organisations can communicate, collaborate and train via a single, easy-to-use, integrated solution that includes everything from live meetings to on-demand presentations. For more information, visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/breeze/.

"The Internet has brought down the costs of communication, but today's web conferencing solutions still leave a lot to be desired," said Rob Burgess, chairman and CEO, Macromedia. "With Breeze, we want to change how people use the Internet to communicate. Not only does Breeze effectively enable meetings without travel, presentations without meetings and training without delay but, most importantly, it can be deployed seamlessly throughout a large organisation."

Macromedia Breeze solves problems that organisations face every day, from wanting to avoid the expense and hassle of travel to the need to deliver time-sensitive information without the headache of scheduling multiple people across multiple geographies for a single meeting. Online meetings in Breeze allow anyone with a web browser to share information in real time, while a Breeze presentation or "Breezo" adds audio to PowerPoint content to put rich, multimedia presentations within the grasp of the average user.

For example, customers like General Electric, Intel and Nextel Partners use Breeze for training their sales teams and channel partners, delivering live webinars and marketing presentations to customers and prospects and communicating to employees, partners and shareholders. Breeze is also being used in educational settings to enable graduate courses, conferences and virtual communities at the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative, the New Media Consortium and San Diego State University.

"We've only owned Breeze for a few months and it is already resolving our need for the rapid development and distribution of critical business information," said Liviu Dedes, corporate training manager, The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe, and Jack. "As more and more people throughout our corporate headquarters become aware of this new functionality, excitement is growing for new Breeze uses."

"At webqem we have clients all around the globe. Macromedia Breeze allows us to instantly arrange meetings online regardless of whether people are in the next room, interstate or overseas," said Larry Adler, Operations Director of webqem, an Australian Macromedia Breeze reseller partner.

"Breeze is quick and easy to setup and easy for our clients to join in on meetings. Breeze allows us to record the meeting including video, audio and text, enhancing our service offering and provides webqem with a professional, low cost and effective communication strategy," said Adler.

New collaboration features in the release include application sharing, trackable live polls, editable vector-based whiteboards and file transfer. Recorded meetings are now indexed and searchable, along with presentations stored in the content library. New customisation options include a brandable user interface and custom pods for data display or new functionality. This release also exposes the application's web services framework to enable integration with existing portal and enterprise applications.

Because Breeze leverages the ubiquitous Macromedia Flash Player, anyone can instantly access live meetings, presentations and rich content (including video, audio, documents, animations, graphics and Voice over IP) without painful downloads or extensive configuration.

"Web conferencing is gaining a lot of traction as companies use it to streamline costs and communicate more efficiently," said Paul Ritter, program manager for collaboration research, Yankee Group. "While many solutions focus solely on adding value to live meetings, there is a significant opportunity for companies to achieve even greater value from best-of-breed solutions that provide the ability to archive and search content from previous sessions and to maintain persistent online meeting areas for regular meetings."

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Macromedia Breeze Live is available as either a hosted ASP or enterprise licensed solution. ASP annual packages start at NZ$133 /month per user for a complete web conferencing solution, including video and archiving. For more information, visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/breezelive/ or contact Bruce Trevarthan of ZeroOne (04 471 4444) Merryn Goble of Straker Interactive (09 360 5034)

ABOUT MACROMEDIA

Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions of business users, developers and designers to create and deliver effective, compelling, and memorable experiences - on the Internet, on fixed media, on wireless and on digital devices. www.macromedia.com/ap

###

Copyright 2004 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Macromedia, the Macromedia logo, Macromedia Flash, and Macromedia Breeze are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., which may be registered in the United States and internationally. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

ENDS

© Scoop Media