MADISON, Wis., March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sonic Foundry(R) Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFO) , a leader in automated rich media communications technology, today announced new podcasting and automated scheduling capabilities for its Mediasite(R) family of web communication solutions. The latest release includes Mediasite Podcast which automatically transforms any Mediasite presentation into portable audio content for on-the-go playback with Apple(R) iPods(R), iTunes(R) or any other MP3 player. The release also provides for automated scheduling of presentation recordings by customers who create large libraries of recurring presentations, featuring the industry’s first flexible start-stop functionality. Together, the new Mediasite capabilities streamline recording while distributing the content in multiple formats for today’s media-savvy students and mobile workforce.
“Every week we use Mediasite to record live events we call mCasts, our short term for ‘multiple multimedia webcasts’,” said Nick Laudato, associate director of the Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education (CIDDE) at the University of Pittsburgh. “The mCasts start with the single Mediasite capture and produce multiple versions, including rich media, video, audio and text, of the event and delivers these versions via multiple channels, including streaming, download and subscription,” said Laudato. “CIDDE has produced over 90 mCasts since November of 2005. Mediasite’s automated scheduling will simplify this process, allowing us to easily capture the growing amount of content we create to meet our users’ learning needs. More importantly, we’ve also been manually creating podcasts from Mediasite source content for over a year now. Mediasite Podcast is going to save us hours of production time, which is key as we continue to see significant adoption of podcasting on our campus.”
Mediasite Podcast takes learning beyond the classroom and computer desk
Mediasite Podcast automatically converts any Mediasite presentation to MP3 audio and then generates a convenient email notification for potential listeners with the RSS feed link. Listeners simply use the RSS link to subscribe to the Mediasite podcast from iTunes or other podcast software. They then automatically receive new podcasts in their playlist to either playback on their computer or download to their iPod or MP3 player.
With Mediasite Podcast, organizations extend communication through the increasingly popular podcast communications channel — making the audio from lectures and training presentations available beyond the confines of the classroom and computer desk. Students listen to and review lectures on-demand when it is convenient, and busy employees and remote staff stay up-to-date with important information, wherever they are.
“Social Computing — a set of fast-growing peer-to-peer technologies, like podcasting, blogs, wikis, social networking, and communities of practice — is beginning to have a powerful effect on corporate learning. Universities lead the way in incorporating Social Computing tools to enhance higher education instruction,” writes Senior Analyst Claire Schooley in the September 26, 2006, report released by Forrester Research, Inc., “Social Computing Reshapes eLearning.”
Industry first: scheduling recurring presentations with flexible start-stop control
With Mediasite’s new automated scheduling, users quickly create a master schedule of recurring presentations, defining precisely when to automatically start and stop presentation capture on their Mediasite Recorders. Unique to Mediasite is the ability to choose the level of recording automation most appropriate for their presentations and events. For example, many lectures and training sessions have a defined start time, but will end at variable times. Mediasite users can now automatically start capturing and put the presenter in control of stopping the presentation capture when it’s most appropriate — in the event their presentation runs long.
Users will customize their start-stop times from the options Mediasite provides based on their individual scheduling needs. Organizations can also adjust the lecture recording schedule to specific class schedules, holiday breaks and summer vacations. In addition, once presentations are scheduled, Mediasite can automatically email notifications to both invitees and presenters to ensure all requested attendees are alerted of upcoming presentations.
Other enhancements to Mediasite include:
* Widescreen encoding and playback — Mediasite Recorders now support
widescreen video capture via DV (Digital Video) input and playback in
the popular 16:9 format.* New Viewer option — a new video-only Mediasite Viewer with 640 x 480
resolution supports presentations that require large format video with
crisp detail.* Extended reporting capabilities — Mediasite presentation and user
reports can now be exported to Microsoft Excel or XML for advanced
analysis of viewing statistics.* Presenter import — users can import presenters from their Active
Directory or LDAP-compatible directory.* Mediasite Management Portal — a new welcome page provides convenient
one-click access to popular tasks, last five presentations and live
broadcasts.
“Throughout Sonic Foundry’s history we’ve worked relentlessly to simplify and automate complex tasks as a means for breaking down technological barriers. Mediasite customers generate thousands of hours of rich media content every day and this release not only streamlines their workflow but also gives them new tools to get their knowledge to people where and when they need it,” said Rimas Buinevicius, chairman and CEO of Sonic Foundry. “The complete process of creating, delivering and managing repositories of rich media content, and, ultimately, introducing our advanced search techniques to our solution, positions us very well as our customers look to further their Mediasite deployment.”
The latest release of Mediasite and the new Mediasite Podcast are available now. For more information, visit Sonic Foundry’s website at www.sonicfoundry.com
About Sonic Foundry(R), Inc.
Founded in 1991, Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ:SOFO) is a technology leader in the emerging rich media communications marketplace, providing enterprise solutions and services that link an information-driven world. Sonic Foundry is changing the way organizations communicate via the web and how people around the globe receive vital information needed for work, professional advancement, safety and education. The company’s integrated webcasting and web presentation solutions are trusted by Fortune 500 companies, education institutions and government agencies for a variety of critical communication needs. Sonic Foundry is based in Madison, Wis. For more information about Sonic Foundry, visit www.sonicfoundry.com.
