ASHBURN, Va., and REDMOND, Wash., May 11, 2004 — MCI Inc. (MCIA.PK) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq
“MSFT” ) today announced a global strategic relationship to jointly develop and market communication and collaboration solutions featuring Microsoft® Office Live Meeting, beginning with the next generation of MCI’s Net Conferencing services. Integrated with MCI audio conferencing, the service will be offered by MCI across the globe to enterprise and small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, Microsoft and MCI are establishing a relationship as preferred communication and collaboration partners, including Web conferencing services.
This agreement expands on the companies’ existing relationship, and further demonstrates their commitment to providing superior voice and data communication services. Through this strategic relationship, customers will benefit from MCI’s award-winning advanced network service and Microsoft’s leadership in software technologies to deliver innovative new collaboration and communication solutions that enhance employee productivity. These new tools will empower companies, teams and individuals to collaborate in real time from various devices using multiple communications channels, including Web conferencing, security-enhanced instant messaging, audio conferencing and rich voice-centric applications.
“MCI and Microsoft are combining resources and experience to focus on the fast-growing collaboration arena, which is a strategic market for both companies,”
said Michael Capellas, MCI President and CEO.
“As collaboration products and services continue to grow in popularity, MCI and Microsoft are uniquely positioned to lead in the adoption of next-generation communications solutions.”
This strategic alliance commits MCI and Microsoft to co-develop new real-time communication applications in the future, such as access to presence-based services for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Currently, MCI is working with Microsoft on integrating a PC and telephony solution to enable information workers to set up conference calls from within their most utilized Microsoft Office applications.
“Today’s agreement between MCI and Microsoft advances our mutual goal of delivering the next generation of real-time communication and collaboration solutions to businesses worldwide,”
said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.
“MCI’s superior voice and IP services combined with Microsoft Office Live Meeting and other innovative collaboration products and services from Microsoft will help information workers realize the next big leap in productivity.”
MCI Net Conferencing Powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting
With today’s announcement, MCI is bringing Microsoft Office Live Meeting to MCI customers and the communications marketplace. This innovative collaboration service helps information workers conduct real-time, interactive presentations over the Internet using a phone or PC. MCI customers now will have access to a powerful new tool to meet, train, present and collaborate with virtually anyone around the globe without ever leaving their desks. This helps eliminate the costs and hassle associated with many types of business travel, while enhancing remote meeting outcomes through rich multimedia and interactive features.
“Microsoft is committed to providing the easiest-to-use, flexible, reliable and secure technology to build collaborative solutions,”
said Anoop Gupta, corporate vice president, Real-Time Collaboration Group, Microsoft.
“Together Microsoft and MCI are offering customers great new solutions backed by a long history of proven, innovative applications that enhance employee productivity. This relationship leverages Microsoft’s technology strength and MCI’s service and network capabilities to deliver what customers are looking for: intuitive, valuable, reliable solutions that improve business results, and reduce costs and wasted time.”
MCI Net Conferencing powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting delivers a familiar, easy-to-use, reliable, Windows® -based collaboration client with powerful application-sharing capabilities, integrated with MCI’s Instant Meeting audio conferencing service for convenient online call management designed to improve business results, and reduce costs and wasted time. Web conferencing is dramatically improving the way companies train employees, conduct customer seminars, launch new products, demonstrate software and manage virtual teams located in adjacent offices or across the globe. According to the 2003 study
“Meetings in America V,” conducted by Impulse Research Corp. , 75 percent of respondents have participated in a Web conference, 39 percent for the first time within the previous
12 months. Of those who have led a Web conference, 73 percent did so for the first time within the prior year.
Pricing and Availability
MCI Net Conferencing powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting is available immediately. Pricing is available per named-user license, shared seat license and per participant minute. For more service, sales and trial information, please visit http://www.mci.com/conferencing .
MCI is the world’s largest provider of conferencing services, according to TeleSpan Publishing Corp. Its products include audio, video, Web conferencing and related streaming services, which help organizations worldwide to meet more productively without the time and costs associated with business travel.
About PlaceWare Inc. and Microsoft Office Live Meeting
Microsoft Office Live Meeting was developed by PlaceWare Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., and provides a real-time, carrier-class, multimedia, Web-based collaboration application and platform for meeting within and across corporate firewalls. Businesses prefer Microsoft Office Live Meeting Web conferencing because of its easy-to-use, scalable and highly reliable architecture for Web-based collaboration and presentations. More than 5,300 leading organizations already are using Microsoft Office Live Meeting to more effectively compete in the global marketplace. For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/livemeeting/ or call (888) 526-6170.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
About MCI
MCI, Inc. (MCIA.PK) is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With the industry’s most expansive global IP backbone, based on the number of company-owned points-of-presence, and wholly owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today’s markets. For more information, go to http://www.mci.com /.
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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