Anystream today announced a new release of its award-winning presentation capture software that enables users to dramatically improve the clarity and effectiveness of everyday business communications through the use of rich media. Initially launched as Agility Presenter, Anystream Apreso 2003 for PowerPoint now includes an integrated presentation hosting service, Apreso Online, that lets users share presentations with the same one-click simplicity with which they are created.
“Millions of Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 presentations are given every day, and afterward, the slides alone tell only part of the story. The most valuable information in those presentations—the speaker’s remarks—is lost forever,” said Geoff Allen, Anystream president and CEO. “Apreso for PowerPoint solves this problem, with software so easy to use that any presenter can preserve that irreplaceable information without additional effort or learning new skills. And now, with its integrated online service, we take the next step by making it just as easy to share the entire presentation experience in rich media format with virtually anyone on the Internet.”
Apreso for PowerPoint and Apreso Online deliver the first simple and affordable end-to-end solution for capturing and sharing everyday presentations. Apreso for PowerPoint is an add-in to Microsoft® Office PowerPoint 2003 and previous versions that automatically captures any slide show as it is presented, and instantly creates a Web-based presentation with audio, video and a searchable index—viewable with a standard Web browser. With the new, integrated Apreso Online service, users can easily extend the reach of their message with drag-and-drop simplicity to virtually anyone with an Internet connection.
“Apreso for PowerPoint is the easiest way we’ve seen to communicate the full content of important meetings and presentations with employees,” said Pete Pizarro, CEO of Telefonica Data USA, Inc. “With this product, our sales and training teams can also improve their productivity and efficiency by sending Apresos via email rather than jumping on a plane to meet every request,” he said.
Apreso Online will initially be offered as a free trial through March 1, 2004. After completion of the trial period, the Apreso Online service will be available in plans starting as low as $29.95 per month. Unlike expensive ASP– based solutions that can cost thousands of dollars per month, Apreso Online is priced so affordably that even individuals can now employ the power of rich media presentations to sell, train and communicate more effectively.
Users can access Apreso Online through Apreso Workspace™, the presentation management utility included free of charge with Apreso for PowerPoint. Once users have set up their Apreso Online accounts, sharing Apreso presentations is as easy as dragging them to the Apreso Online folder. The service then seamlessly takes care of all of the details of uploading the Apreso presentation to appropriate Web and streaming servers, and returns users a link to the hosted presentation that can then be easily forwarded to others via email. Apreso Online also automatically creates additional versions of the user’s Apreso to provide an optimal experience for each viewer’s Internet connection speed and PC capabilities, including creating lower bandwidth, audio-only versions for viewers on dial-up connections.
Anystream debuted Apreso for PowerPoint and Apreso Online within the Microsoft Office System Partner Pavilion at Comdex. A Microsoft Gold Certified partner, Anystream also garnered top honors in the Microsoft Office System Partner Solution Builder Contest for its application of Microsoft Office 2003 Editions and Windows Server 2003 technologies in the Apreso solution. Apreso also was recently named as one of the three most innovative communications software products in 2003 by PC Magazine.
“Anystream Apreso 2003 for PowerPoint showcases the exciting collaboration possibilities available with Microsoft Office 2003 Editions,” said Gytis Barzdukas, director of Office Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “Anystream’s presentation capture software illustrates the great results that customers can achieve when a client application interfaces with Web services.”
Apreso for PowerPoint is ideal for training, lecture capture, presentation rehearsal and sales and marketing applications. Completed presentations can be viewed on demand with Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser and Windows Media Player. Apreso for PowerPoint 2003 is available at special introductory prices of $99 for the audio-only version and $149 for the audio-video version at www.apreso.com.
