FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 3, 2000
Division of Financial Services, Inc.
Contact: Charlie Taylor
703-409-3559
info@vidnet.org
__________________________________________________________________
VIDNET.ORG
ANNOUNCES
AFFORDABLE MULTI - PARTICIPANT VIDEO AND AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS
FOR DISTANCE LEARNING, BUSINESS AND HOME
THROUGH
THE INTERNET
VIDNET.ORG
TARGETS TRAFFIC CONGESTION WITH VIDEO CONFERENCING INNOVATION
STERLING, Virginia - January
3, 2000 – VIDNET.ORG announced today a new innovation in video conferencing
which now makes it possible to communicate with multiple participants through
the Internet with high quality - live, full color video images and audio from
virtually any desktop PC on the planet.
The Vidnet.org website features
free access to more than twenty public access video conference rooms, with more
rooms under development and review.
Private and secure conference rooms for business, personal and
government use are also available through Vidnet.org.
This new innovation removes
the technological barriers, and expense, which previously made it difficult, if
not impossible, to use video conferencing communications software. Now, virtually anyone with a desktop or
laptop PC can connect through the Vidnet.org website with essentially one
click, and view a dozen or more conference participants at the same time.
Through the Vidnet.org
website, it is now possible for just about anyone to connect with live video
and audio with their kids,
neighbor, job, grandparents, or business
associates whether they are in the next office, next door, in the next town, or
anywhere on the planet, for business, distance learning, and personal
communications, said Charlie Taylor, President of Financial Services, Inc.
In addition, this new innovation
could provide tremendous benefits to law enforcement agencies to view live
video of a suspect from just about
anywhere - across the city, county, or across the world - without having to
wait for a fax, video tape, or closed circuit TV feed. What's more, a suspect seated before a
desktop PC could be viewed by multiple
law enforcement personnel within the same agency or by multiple agencies at the
same time from different locations.
Video conferencing software,
and PC Cams are featured on the Vidnet.org website, along with products of leading manufacturers of stereo
headphones, microphones, mice, computers, and monitors. A complete and well organized shopping mall
with over 60 major retail and e-commerce stores, is also featured on the
website. The key here is easy
navigation to get to where you want to go, and I think we have accomplished
that, Taylor said. You can go to work,
or go to the mall without driving a car, or taking mass transit.
Users of the Vidnet.org
website will appreciate the convenience, and savings realized from not having
to drive their cars and buy gas. For
example, assuming a two hour round trip commute, telecommuting just one day
each week using this system could save an average consumer the equivalent of
about 100 hours on the road and about $250 in out of pocket travel expenses
over the year, he said.
Anyone who can plug in and
turn on a PC can install the software in a matter of minutes, and use this
system, it is so easy, said Taylor.
There is no need to spend tens of thousands of dollars, consult with
computer scientists, or hire staff to operate this system. And it doesn't matter whether you are
connecting two PC's, hundreds or thousands of PC's in an organization for video
conferencing. Once the software is
installed and PC Cam attached, you can connect to anyone who is similarly
equipped, through the Vidnet.org website with one click access through the
conference page.
For home, with a small
investment for software and a good PC Cam from Vidnet.org, this new communications
system will become as common as the telephone, TV, and toaster, Taylor
said. For business and government, who
want to help their employees off the highway, and improve productivity,
multi-user licenses are available which slash the cost per unit into double
digits. In fact, already in the tax
code is a provision which allows a tax free payment by employers to employees
to ride buses and take the metro to and from work. Given the potential number of vehicles this new communications
innovation could take off the road, it should also be considered by the
Congress for similar tax free treatment, Taylor said. Can you get 1,000 cars off the road each day? I think the question is why not get 10,000
cars off the road each day, he said.
The Vidnet.org site features
not only a video conference product section, but also a twenty room conference
center where users can connect with each other without having to know another
computer's unique identification information.
Users can connect one on one, or in large groups. More than 20 participants begins to get a
little busy, Taylor said, and is probably a realistic maximum target for a
multi-user conference. Currently,
access to the Vidnet.org conference center and public conference rooms are
provided at no cost to the user. One of
the problems with this technology in the past was ease of connectivity. We have solved that. We do have a little work to do on the audio
delivery portion of the program at a 56K analog modem connection speed, but
we're working on that. It's not quite
telephone quality yet, but the video is very good.
Vidnet.org products featured
on the site include video conference software, color digital PC cameras and
stereo headsets. Other products
featured include a limited selection of color printers, computers, and a mouseworks.
In addition, the Vidnet.org
site employs many new innovative features which are not visible to the
viewer. For example, the site takes
advantage of state of the art credit card verification and payment processing
to prevent credit card fraud.
The team we have put
together to deliver this video conferencing product to the market place
includes some of the biggest, brightest, and best in the business, and
represents billions of dollars in assets dedicated to meeting consumers needs,
Taylor said.
Vidnet.org is a division of
the privately held Financial Services, Inc., headquartered in Northern
Virginia's Silicon Valley East.
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