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Backoffice & OSS
Vyew, FreeConference blend specialties
Strategic partnership combines visual collaboration with free audio conferencing
by Jim Barthold
Vyew, whose misspelled name clearly defines its
purpose as a provider of browser-based visual collaboration
and Web conferencing software, has entered into a strategic
partnership with similarly obviously named FreeConference, a
free audio conference call services company.
Combined, the pair will create new conferencing services using each other’s
proprietary platforms and technologies but remain as separate companies.
Vyew subscribers who want conference calling while
collaborating online can click on a Free Conference Call button
within Vyew and access FreeConference.com’s reservationless
call service. Those coming from FreeConference can find a
Web link invitation to jump into the Web conference.
Partnering, rather than merging, made sense, said Henry
Hon, Vyew’s CEO because “to do a voice portion like
FreeConference we’d have to be a phone company (because)
that’s what they are, a phone company. We’re not going to be
that; we’re focused on the Web side of the collaboration and
conferencing.”
FreeConference feels the same way, but from the opposite
direction.
“Our mission is not to be just a phone company or audio
conferencing company but to provide full service solutions for
our existing users and new users which include both audio
and Web collaboration,” said Nancy King, vice president of
marketing at FreeConference. “We partnered with them to
develop our own back-end systems using pieces of their
technology.”
For now the product is straightforward: audio conferencing with
Web-based graphics, “desktop sharing of applications,
PowerPoint presentations, etc.,” King said. “The product does
not include videoconferencing at all right now.”
It’s a great start, said Hon.
“We get our revenue directly from FreeConference (and)
FreeConference gets the revenue from the users. They
believe the Web conference will generate more revenue for
them and when they (subscribers) use it we get the revenue
as a license directly from FreeConference,” he said. “They
found us and because we’re very easy to use — only browsers
and no downloads — they felt that we’d be a good partner for
them to provide the FreeConference voice service with a Web
service.”
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