Convoq makes the news again by announcing and immediately releasing a free one-to-one version of its cutting-edge presence-centered conferencing and collaboration technology ASAP.
Labeled ASAP Express, the new real-time collaboration tool integrates a link publishing facility which makes it extremely easy to publish presence awareness information in most online communication media: from blogs to emails, the ASAP link is only a cut and paste away.
Luigi.Canali@ikonosnewmedia.com ()
With it, ASAP Express, just like Skype did over a year ago, invites bloggers to open up the doors to extending their asynchronous communications into real-time conversations.
Announced at DEMO@15!, the annual conference focusing on emerging technologies, ASAP Express introduces ASAP Links, which allow users to embed and publish presence-enabled links in e-mails, Web sites, or blogs to provide seamless, real-time communication access without the need to license or install any software.
Catching the blogging phenomenon by the horns, ASAP Express promotes ASAP Links as an easy way for bloggers to extend their communication channels with their online readers. Through ASAP Links, which can be rapidly embedded into blogs, emails, Web pages and possibly RSS feeds, readers can have a constantly updated presence indicator of your online availability. By clicking on any such link bloggers make it possible for their readers to get into a live, one-to-one conversation with them.
ASAP Express, allows unlimited one-to-one sessions between any two users of the service. ASAP Express, just like its bigger brother, ASAP Pro, integrates multi-protocol instant messaging, audio and video over IP, a quality PowerPoint presentation facility and screen and file sharing.
While there is no need to be an instant messaging user to use Convoq ASAP Express, you can seamlessly connect to all major instant messaging networks with it:
- MSN Messenger
- Windows Messenger
- Microsoft Live Communications Server
- AIM
- Yahoo Messenger
- IBM/Lotus Instant Messenger
.
The announcement gives opportunity to highlight the recent release of a new version of the ASAP technology (2.0) which includes many new features, improvements, and bug fixes. Here some of the most important ones:
- ASAP Links: Create and publish a Personal Link or Lifeline Links on which anyone can click to request a meeting with you or a Lifeline resource.
- Scheduling meetings is easier to do. You can now schedule meetings that don't require pre-registration, as well as those that do. In addition, ASAP now supports MS Office Calendar-style (iCal) meeting invitations. You can also re-send registration links and edit and reschedule existing meetings.
- Meetings are now automatically started as long as e-mail addresses are available; i.e., "invite anyway" is now the default.
- Presentations and Screen-Sharing: You can now upload multiple presentations into any meeting and select them at will. You can also select or specify individual slides within the current presentation.
- For a complete list of the new features and improvements, see What's New in This Version?.
The new free service is available for download at: www.convoq.com.
Additional participants can be added at $0.15/minute or by upgrading to ASAP Pro $249.95/year (unlimited meetings of up to 15 people).
ASAP Express - System Requirements
1) Meeting Initiators
Operating Systems Windows: XP Professional Edition, XP Home Edition, 2000 Professional, 98, 98 SE, ME, NT 4 (SP 6)
Browsers Internet Explorer v5.0+, Netscape v4.78+
Flash Version 7.0+
Hardware 400 MHz CPU with 128 MB of RAM (minimum)
Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, XP, and 2003 (except transitions)
2) Meeting Participants
Operating Systems Windows: XP Professional Edition, XP Home Edition, 2000 Professional, 98, 98 SE, ME, NT 4 (SP 6); Sun: Solaris, SunOS; Apple: MacOS9, MacOSX
Browsers Internet Explorer v5.0+, Netscape v4.78+
Flash Version 6.0.79.0+
Hardware 400 MHz CPU with 128 MB of RAM (minimum)
See all of ASAP 2.0 features here.
Compare all three ASAP conferencing solutions on this handy chart.
