REDMOND, Wash., June 2, 2003 — PlaceWare Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a Real-Time Collaboration Solutions provider, today announced that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the nation’s oldest humane organization, has chosen PlaceWare Web conferencing to streamline communications for its nearly 300 employees across the United States
“As a nonprofit organization, the ASPCA must always look for ways to conduct business more cost-effectively and efficiently,”
said Rendi Williams, director of e-learning for the ASPCA.
“PlaceWare is an exciting addition to our organization — the possibilities are endless. From internal meetings to training, collaborating on documents and holding meetings with our partners and animal shelters that we assist nationwide, PlaceWare is saving us time and money, and most importantly, helping our staff who are spread across the country feel more in touch with each other and with what’s happening at our headquarters in New York. You can’t put a price tag on that.”
Before adopting PlaceWare, the ASPCA’s remote staff, which represents about one-third of its employees, had a more difficult time connecting with each other and accessing the latest information. With PlaceWare, they’re now more in tune with current happenings within all departments of the organization and can stay more informed.
“PlaceWare is a huge step forward for us in effective communication,”
Williams said.
“People across the organization are embracing the technology and what it allows them to do. We looked at other services, but we selected PlaceWare for its responsiveness and interest in our work. It seemed more like a relationship because PlaceWare representatives did all they could to make the service cost-effective for our organization.”
“PlaceWare Inc. is proud to work with a wonderful organization like the ASPCA,”
said Dustin Grosse, vice president of marketing for PlaceWare.
“We’re pleased we can make this incredible technology accessible to nonprofits. If we can help them save money and time, we feel we’re contributing in some way to the great work they’re doing.”
PlaceWare allows anyone with a computer, Web browser and a phone to connect with groups from a few to a few thousand from locations around the world via the Internet at a fraction of the cost of business travel. Web conferencing is quick and easy and can include anything digital, from presenting and demonstrating any piece of software to touring Web sites, conducting virtual polls and even interacting with an audience to run a question-and-answer session.
About PlaceWare
PlaceWare Inc., a Microsoft®
company, is a leader in real-time,
“carrier class,”
multimedia platform and application services for Web-based communication and collaboration both inside and outside corporate firewalls. Enterprise customers prefer PlaceWare Web conferencing because of its scalable, reliable and secure browser-based architecture, which is based on technology developed and tested at Xerox PARC. The company offers unparalleled performance for all types of Web-based communications, from large-scale meetings with up to thousands of attendees through small collaborative meetings, presentations and e-learning sessions. Founded in 1996, PlaceWare Inc. has already attracted more than 3,500 leading organizations that see Web conferencing as a natural evolution in helping their businesses compete more effectively in the global marketplace. PlaceWare Inc. helps companies host thousands of simultaneous Web meetings simply using Web browsers and telephones. More information about PlaceWare Inc. is available by visiting http://www.placeware.com/ or calling (888) 526-6170 to reach the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
PlaceWare Inc. and the PlaceWare logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of PlaceWare Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
PlaceWare Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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