Web Conferencing Solution Delivers Engaging
eLearning and Meeting Experiences
SAN JOSE, Calif. — May 5 , 2008 —
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced a new version of Adobe®
Acrobat® Connect™ Pro, the company’s comprehensive Web conferencing and
eLearning solution. The version includes new functionality that enriches online
communication and collaboration, enabling organizations and schools to offer
more engaging rapid training, interactive virtual classes and dynamic online
meetings.
Acrobat Connect Pro includes many new features for Web conferencing
such as options for archiving and editing recorded online meetings; new presence
capabilities that can allow federation with popular instant messaging (IM)
clients; and powerful compliance and usage reporting tools. eLearning
enhancements include break-out rooms to let students in virtual classes initiate
separate conversations online; rapid authoring of video-based content;
integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS) from Blackboard and SumTotal;
and tools that track and organize online classes. Users also can easily tailor
training sessions or meetings that help capture participants’ attention and
increase knowledge retention, resulting in an online learning experience
remarkably similar to an in-person class.
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. (TABS) has been using
Acrobat Connect Pro to provide dealers and employees with training and
presentations ranging from compliance issues to new product introductions. “With
Acrobat Connect Pro, we have been able to reach more people and maintain greater
control over the content, which has given us a much higher degree of training
consistency,” said Steve Bamberger, national training manager, eLearning,
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. “Integrating Acrobat Connect Pro into
our online training initiatives has been enormously instrumental in helping us
enhance communications and grow business lines, and we’ve been able to extend
this enrichment to other teams for use in product launches and customer
meetings.”
Combined with the new version of Adobe Presenter, also introduced
today, Acrobat Connect Pro can enable users to hold engaging online meetings
that incorporate high-impact Adobe Flash® Player compatible presentations. Adobe
Presenter can give virtually anyone the power to easily turn Microsoft®
PowerPoint presentations into multimedia experiences that include video,
narration, animations, interactivity and advanced quizzes. New capabilities in
this release include question pooling and randomization, easy-to-work-with
video, and the ability to publish presentations to mobile devices or within PDF
files.
“Organizations and educational institutions alike are challenged
with reaching highly distributed workforces or student populations, as well as
communicating, collaborating, and transferring knowledge at the accelerated pace
of today’s demands,” said Rob Tarkoff, senior vice president of Adobe’s Business
Productivity Business Unit. “Whether it’s meeting with co-workers across
departments, or conducting virtual classes across continents, Acrobat Connect
Pro can help break through technology barriers by letting virtually anyone
participate in effective online communication and knowledge transfer.”
Deployed using the Adobe Flash Player, already installed on more
than 98 percent of Internet connected PCs worldwide; Acrobat Connect Pro lets
virtually anyone connect to an online meeting or classroom instantly using a
simple Web address, regardless of operating system or browser version, and
without the need to download additional software.
Availability
Acrobat Connect Pro is expected to be available by the end of May
2008, on a hosted or on-premise basis. It will be available in English, French,
German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and
simplified Chinese. For more information, visit www.adobe.com/acrobatconnectpro/
.
About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and
information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information,
visit www.adobe.com .