Pixion's PictureTalk Web Conferencing Application to Add Conference Podcasting

By Scott Eldredge, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Pixion, Inc., located at 4234 Hacienda Drive in Pleasanton, began in 1995 as a Silicon Valley company creating software to enable collaboration over the Internet, a concept that has come to include Web conferencing for on-line meetings, presentations, seminars, training, support, and event management.

The challenge of sharing content over the Internet has grown. Shared materials may involve voice, pictures, video, and data. Participants may include both Macintosh and Windows users, connecting from multiple locations at varying connection speeds. The host may need to connect to one person for a sales call, ten people for a presentation, or a hundred people for training.

Pixion has kept pace with PictureTalk, a Web conferencing solution that lets people and companies connect on-line to meet, train, and collaborate. PictureTalk capabilities include on-line registration, quizzing and polling, real-time feedback, application sharing, and sophisticated session monitoring.

A feature called CaptureFrame allows a user to share any content or application in real time with other users. Furthermore, the person sharing can confirm that everyone has received the information. The CaptureFrame border changes color, providing the presenter with important feedback. It's yellow when data is being transmitted and green when everyone has it.

"Early on we recognized that when people hosted Web sessions, the most common question was 'what's on your screen now, have you got it yet, do you see it?'" explains Robert Boese, Pixion general manager.

"With the CaptureFrame feature, you know how many people have it and how many don't. I have a really clear indication when I'm doing a presentation or conducting a training session of who's received my content and how fast it is going. I can really pace my sessions based on that clear data."

Pixion offers PictureTalk as either a hosted solution, run from its own servers, or installed on a licensed server at the customer site.

Hosted options make PictureTalk available to individuals and smaller companies without a large initial expense and without the need to install hardware. Cost is tailored to use. For companies that already have an installed infrastructure, installing the PictureTalk Enterprise Conference Server inside their network provides the greatest security and best value. Increased usage doesn't increase cost, and in fact promotes efficient practices such as offering training when it is needed, as often as needed, instead of when it can be budgeted and scheduled.

PictureTalk sessions can also be archived and viewed later just as they occurred. Next for PictureTalk, to be available in March, is Conference Podcasting, the ability to make sessions available via subscription Web feed. Users will be able to subscribe to and receive sessions as they are made available, in either full resolution or optimized for the Apple video iPod. In other words, now no one will ever miss another meeting.

Photo: Robert Boese, Pixion's general manager, demonstrates the company's new Conference Podcasting feature which allows users to receive audio and video of meetings and presentations.

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