Microsoft Launches Free eServices For Office Customers on Office Update

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 8, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of eServices for Microsoft® Office customers, to be delivered free* on Office Update ( http://www.office.microsoft.com/ ), the popular companion Web site for Microsoft Office. This announcement is part of Microsoft’s investment in delivering software as a service to provide ongoing value to customers and help them receive the greatest benefits from working with Office. The next generation of Office Update services builds on the original add-in, support and template offerings to deliver integrated eServices including Web publishing, unified messaging, Internet postage, language translation, information look-up capabilities, and file storage and sharing for Office documents.

“Office Update represents an important step toward our ‘software as services’ strategy by delivering services to customers that extend the value of their Office applications,”
said Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president, Microsoft Office.
“The new Office Update services provide customers with powerful new capabilities to help them customize their Office tools and maximize their productivity.”

Office users currently enjoy a variety of services from Office Update, including many popular and free* templates; third-party products; Office multimedia (clip art, pictures, sounds); online reference tools such as an encyclopedia, maps and driving directions; and information on how to start a Web business. Over 2 million Office users currently visit Office Update each month and with today’s announcement, Office Update will expand its current offerings to include a variety of services.

Next Generation of Services Being Offered on Office Update

Office Update now provides a number of eServices for helping users increase the productivity of their daily tasks including Web publishing, Internet postage, unified messaging, file storage and file sharing, and information look-up capabilities. In addition, language translation and other new services will be available early next year.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our Internet postage solution via Office Update,”
said Robert Ewald, president and chief executive officer, E-Stamp Corporation.
“This collaboration results in a convenient and integrated solution for current and new E-Stamp users who also use Office 2000.”
The Internet postage service has been available on Office Update and has already experienced broad usage by Office customers.

Kimberly Paternoster of Fremont, Calif., has used E-Stamp to ship orders to customers from her home-based business, which she conducts on Internet auction sites. She estimates that she saves at least four hours each week by using E-Stamp’s services.
“I love that I can store my client’s addresses and other contact information in Outlook® and print postage to these addresses through E-Stamp’s integration with Office,”
Paternoster said.
“And I’m very excited to be able to use E-Stamp’s services through the Office Update Web site, as it enables me to find a variety of Office-related services, from product add-ins like the Avery Wizard to clip art and directional maps, in one convenient location.”

Estaban Morales is looking forward to using Office Update to access the newly available Internet-based faxing and voice mail services from eFax.com.
“The opportunity to receive my faxes and voice mail in my Outlook e-mail inbox saves me time and lets me stay up to date easily with my messages,”
Morales said.
“Accessing these services from Office Update will let me use other useful services at the same time.”

Below are brief descriptions of the new Office Update eServices. Many companies collaborating with Microsoft on Office Update are offering free* eServices for Office users.

  • Online postage. Users can easily and conveniently print postage from within Microsoft Word or Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration client applications, or through the Office Update Web site by using Office Update’s premium Internet postage partner, E-Stamp Corporation. The E-Stamp starter kit is being offered free of charge* as a special holiday promotion. Stamps.com also offers Internet postage through Office Update.

  • Web publishing. Through industry partnerships with leading community sites such as Tripod Inc., Angelfire and Talk City, Office customers can take a Word document or a slide created with the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program and post it directly to the Internet through the Office Update
    “Your Page on the Web”
    eService. It is the simplest way to save and publish Office documents to the Web.

  • Unified messaging. Users can receive faxes, voice mail, and e-mail — all in their Microsoft Outlook inbox by utilizing the eFax.com unified messaging eService. All voice mail messages and incoming faxes are free of charge,* and there is only a nominal charge for outgoing faxes.

  • Information look-up. Users can get free,* instant access to phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses (including reverse look-up functionality) through this new eService offered in conjunction with InfoSpace.com Inc. Once the correct information has been found, Office customers can add it to their Outlook contacts list automatically with a single mouse-click.

  • File storage and sharing. Users can back up their Office documents or just store them for easy access from any Internet-connected PC through the Driveway.com eService. Users can also give colleagues or friends access to these files on a folder-by-folder basis. The first 25 MB of storage space is free,* with extra space available for a nominal charge.

  • Language translation services. Users will be able to communicate more effectively with their global contacts by enabling the conversion of their documents into different languages. Microsoft has collaborated with Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. to provide users with two levels of translation service: a free* electronic (machine translation) service for quick translation of casual communications, and a personal service for precise translation of business documents at minimal charge.

Online Web publishing, Internet postage, unified messaging, file storage and information look-up services are available now. Translation services will be available early next year. More details on the services available from Microsoft industry partners are outlined in the attached fact sheet.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software 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.

*Connect-time charges may apply.

Microsoft, Outlook and PowerPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries/regions.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.

Microsoft Office Update eServices

Fact Sheet

December 1999

Microsoft Corp. provides a number of eServices on its popular Office Update Web site ( http://office.microsoft.com/ ) for helping Microsoft® Office customers increase the productivity of their daily tasks. These services include Internet postage, unified messaging, language translation services, easy-to-use Web publishing, information look-up capabilities, and file storage and sharing through the Internet. The new Office Update eServices are supported by key alliances Microsoft has established to bring together industry-leading productivity tools for its customers in one easily accessible place.

Online Postage

Users can easily and conveniently print postage onto envelopes, labels or documents created in Microsoft Word or the Outlook® messaging and collaboration client by using the Internet postage eService. Office customers simply purchase postage online through the Office Update eService, then they can print stamps at their convenience. Online postage services on Office Update are being offered by the following companies:

  • E-Stamp. E-Stamp, the Office Update premium Internet postage partner, provides an easy-to-use Internet postage solution that enables customers to purchase, download and print postage directly from their personal computer. The purchased postage can be printed onto envelopes, labels or documents using standard laser or inkjet printers. As a special holiday promotion, E-Stamp is offering Office Update users a free* starter kit valued at $50.

  • Stamps.com. Stamps.com offers a convenient, cost-effective and easy-to-use service for purchasing and printing postage over the Internet. Its core service is designed to enable users to print Information Based Indicia, or electronic stamps, directly onto envelopes or labels using ordinary laser or inkjet printers. No additional hardware is necessary for a user to purchase and print Stamps.com Internet postage; the user’s existing PC, printer and Internet connection are sufficient. Stamps.com is offering Office Update users $35 in free* postage.

Online Faxing and Voice Mail

Microsoft Outlook customers can now receive their e-mail, faxes and voice mail in a single inbox. This method of unified messaging makes it easier for users to stay organized and provides better access to their most important information. Users can also send faxes and voice mail over the Internet from within their Office applications. Online fax and voice mail services on Office Update are being offered by eFax.com:

  • eFax.com. The Office Update premium provider of faxing and voice mail, eFax.com is a leading provider of Internet unified messaging solutions. By providing unique telephone numbers to its more than 1.4 million subscribers, eFax.com has become the leading provider of Internet telephony messaging. Fax documents arrive in the user’s e-mail inbox as attachments that can be instantly viewed, printed or forwarded. Users can receive faxes anywhere they get e-mail. eFax offers several free* services including a personal eFax number with no setup fees, per-page charges or hidden costs.


Language Translation

Users will be able to communicate more effectively with their global contacts by converting their documents into the appropriate language. Office Update will offer two levels of online translation eServices: free* machine translation for the instantaneous translation of casual communications, and a human online translation through the Office Update eService, for cases where precision translation is required. Translation services will be available in January through Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V.:

  • Lernout & Hauspie (L & H). Lernout & Hauspie is the world’s leading provider of speech and language technology products, solutions and services to businesses and individuals worldwide. It is L & H’s mission to break down language barriers through advanced translation technology. L & H has a wide range of translation tools for doing business across the globe, writing a pen pal in another country or translating a foreign phrase. L & H’s translation software produces fast, cost-effective translations of correspondence, reports, foreign-language news, Web sites and more.


Web Publishing

The
“Your Page on the Web” eService provides Office Update users with an automated way for saving and publishing documents to the Web. With a single mouse-click, Office Update customers can save a Word document, slides created with the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program or other Office applications directly to the Web. Web publishing services are available from Tripod Inc., Angelfire and Talk City:

  • Tripod. Tripod is the flagship online-community company of the Lycos Network, providing industry-leading Web site hosting services to more than 4 million members worldwide. Tripod provides home-page-publishing tools, including support for the FrontPage® Web site creation and management tool server extensions, a fast-growing interactive community, stimulating original content and wide-ranging e-commerce opportunities.

  • Angelfire. Angelfire, part of the Lycos network, is one of the fastest-growing, free* Web-page-hosting sites, and is committed to providing cool tools and services for personal home pages. It offers up to 30 MB of disk space for a site as well as fun add-ons like games and polls.

  • Talk City. Talk City is a provider of online communities and interactive services for businesses and consumers. Talk City offers businesses a wide range of services that help them develop and expand online relationships with customers, suppliers and employees. These services include designing fully integrated, customized communities; producing online events; conducting online market research; and facilitating online meetings. For consumers, Talk City operates a network of online communities located at http://www.talkcity.com/ .

Information Look-Up

Office Update users have information at their fingertips with free* online services for easy look-up of customer and associate contact information. Users will be able to access free* phone, address and e-mail listings that can automatically be added to an Office user’s contact files in the Outlook contacts list. Users will also have free* access to the added power of
“reverse lookups.”

Information look-up services on Office Update are being provided by InfoSpace.com:

  • InfoSpace.com. InfoSpace.com is a leading aggregator and integrator of content services for consumers, merchants and wireless devices. By aggregating content from multiple sources and integrating it with related content to increase its usefulness, the company serves as a single source of value-added content. The cornerstone of the company’s content services is its nationwide yellow pages and white pages directory information. Using its proprietary technology, the company integrates this directory information with other value-added content to create
    “The Ultimate Guide”
    to find people, places and things in the real world.

File Storage and Sharing

Office Update users can take advantage of personal file storage or file sharing on the Internet with co-workers and friends by making files accessible any time from any computer through this eService. Users get 25 MB of storage space free* and can use the space to make back-up copies of important Office documents, to store documents for anywhere, anytime access or even to share those documents with other people on a folder-by-folder basis. It’s like having an extra c: drive on the Internet. File storage and sharing services are being offered on Office Update by Driveway.com:

  • Driveway.com. Driveway provides file storage, access and sharing on the Internet. Designed with security, flexibility and scalability in mind, Driveway allows users to access their most important files any time, from any computer, using any platform. Driveway offers Office Update users 15 MB of disk space for free.*

*Connect-time charges may apply.

Microsoft, Outlook, PowerPoint and FrontPage are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, press only:

Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 443-7000, [email protected]

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