Macromedia Breeze Expands its Global Reach
June 2004
Macromedia Breeze Expands its Global Reach
New localised languages and worldwide hosting facilities make Breeze globally accessible
AUCKLAND, New Zealand- June 8, 2004 - Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) announced that Macromedia Breeze has expanded its global reach through localised versions of the solution and the expansion of its worldwide hosting facilities. With the full Macromedia Breeze solution now available in English, French, German, Japanese and Korean, global end-users (see quote sheet below) are able to select their desired language for content, courses and meetings in order to optimise their communications.
Macromedia Breeze is the first rich web communication system that enables organisations to communicate, collaborate and train via a single, easy-to-use, integrated solution that includes everything from live meetings to on-demand presentations. Breeze has also added enhanced document support, custom forms and fields, and improved voice over IP functionality. For more information on the new features in Breeze, visit http://www.macromedia.com/go/breeze/.
"Macromedia Breeze has already established itself as a global solution which is speeding knowledge transfer within enterprises," said Tom Hale, senior vice president and general manager. "With the expanded hosting facilities and increased language support, Breeze is taking the necessary steps to become a critical piece of how global businesses communicate."
"Corporate buyers are focusing on global web conferencing solutions that are flexible and user-focused to support critical interactions between colleagues, partners and customers," said Robert Mahowald, research manager, IDC. "The newest web conferencing products provide close links to other productivity applications, allowing users to launch, conduct and re-use conferencing sessions without the help of an administrator."
Siemens Medical Solutions, a group of Siemens AG with headquarters in Erlangen, Germany and in Pennsylvania, is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting and support services to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. The Siemens Medical Solutions’ Computed Tomography division, headquartered in Forchheim, Germany, uses Breeze to reduce expensive in-person meetings between employees in Germany and the Joint Venture SSME that produces and develops computer tomography equipment in Shanghai, China.
"The investment in Breeze and all associated investments were very easy to scope. In addition to the software license and server, only web cams and microphones are required for the individual workstations," says Bjarne Erik Roscher, Division Information Officer (DIO), Siemens Medical Solutions, CTI. "Breeze saves us money for in-person training, reduces problem resolution times between the teams and has made us more efficient working together."
Cable & Wireless is one of the world's leading international communications companies providing voice, data and IP services to business and residential customers in more than 80 countries around the globe. The company uses Breeze as part of its multilingual learning infrastructure across the UK, Europe and the United States. After only developing four courses, Cable & Wireless repaid its initial investment in Breeze. The company estimates that Breeze saves them anywhere from six weeks to four months in bringing a course online.
"Breeze provides a valuable addition to complement our e-learning solutions," said William Ward, e-learning manager, Cable & Wireless. "It enables the speedy, cost-effective development of basic e-learning and its successful integration with the learning management system further leverages the investment in both technologies. The multi-lingual support in Breeze will make the solution even more useful to our global employees."
The Ecole des Mines de Douai (EMD) is one of seven schools that develop common actions such as pedagogic methods and exchanges (students and teachers), international actions, training (Master of Science) and strategic guidelines.
"The goal of the NTE cell at Ecole des Mines de Douai is to increase awareness, train and support the teachers in the field of educational new technologies," said Mathieu Vermeulen, ingenieur pedagogue multimedia, Ecole des Mines de Douai. "With this in mind, we chose to deploy Breeze on our servers. Choosing Breeze was done according to three main criteria: the portability of the content on every type of browser, the ease of use for the teachers and especially the integration of Flash animation, video, multiple-choice questionnaires and audio comments within the presentations. The server aspect of the software, which helps us avoid the installation of large components on the authoring computers, was also a decisive factor."
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.
GLOBAL CUSTOMERS BENEFIT FROM POWER OF MACROMEDIA BREEZE
Centro Peruano Americano El Cultural "Breeze allows us to create rich multimedia content very quickly, easily manage this content and use it to build complete courses. It makes the follow-up process very efficient for the teacher to see what content has been reviewed by a student in a glance. Also, we found that Breeze is the best solution currently available in the market to keep our staff up-to-date in the quickest, simplest and most efficient manner." - Carlos Fernandez, director, Centro Peruano Americano El Cultural, a bi-national institution that promotes the cultural exchange between Peru and United States
Deutsche Post AG "Deutsche Post AG uses Macromedia Breeze Live in our sales efforts. We were looking for a cost efficient solution to help us optimise communication between our corporate decision makers throughout Germany. The web conferencing features including audio and video transmission via web applications are of particular importance to us." - Oliver Gentges, IT consulting - project cooperation manager Deutsche Post AG, a global shipping leader
National University of Singapore "Our academic staff find it simple to create media rich and interactive online lecture content using Macromedia Breeze. Furthermore, Breeze allows them to reach out to more students through delivery on multiple platforms such as PDAs, laptops and desktops." - Melvyn Song, systems engineer, Centre for Instructional Technology, National University of Singapore, Singapore's first national university with more than 23,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students
ENDS