Johannesburg, 29 May 2003
Citrix Systems, Inc, the global leader in access infrastructure solutions, has announced the official launch and general availability of Citrix MetaFrame Conferencing Manager, the most productive way for teams, regardless of individual locations, to work concurrently and collaboratively on the same applications and documents. The solution will be available this quarter and can also be viewed at Citrix iForum Gauteng, to be held at Vodaworld on 24 July 2003.
Released in conjunction with the worldwide launch of Microsoft`s Windows Server 2003, MetaFrame Conferencing Manager is fully integrated with Microsoft Outlook to easily schedule and manage meetings.
The new product is launching in tandem with the latest version of the world`s most widely deployed presentation server, Citrix MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, Feature Release 3. MetaFrame XP Presentation Server is the foundation of the Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite, Citrix`s comprehensive access infrastructure for powering the on-demand enterprise, announced last month. MetaFrame Conferencing Manager is fully integrated with all products in the MetaFrame Access Suite, and provides customers with sharing capabilities for any application published by Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server.
According to Chris Norton, Citrix South Africa channel manager: "MetaFrame Conferencing Manager adds significant value to the Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite by eliminating geographical access roadblocks and enabling widely distributed teams to initiate application conferencing from anywhere, using any device, over any connection.
"Now, both local and remote team members have the ability to actively weigh in on key decision-making conferences. Through real-time application sharing, traditional conference calls can be transformed into interactive, hands-on input sessions, all with the advantage of simple set-up and minimal configuration."
"We`ve standardised our enterprise on Citrix, in part due to the company`s demonstrated commitment to customer support," said Greg McKinney, systems analyst for St Vincent Healthcare System. "We`ve already seen the value MetaFrame Conferencing Manager can bring to our Citrix environment - our physicians and nurses will benefit from intuitive application conferencing and real-time collaboration that greatly increase productivity. We look forward to rolling out this new product in a full environment in order to give our end-users unparalleled access and interaction with enterprise applications."
Key benefits of MetaFrame Conferencing Manager
MetaFrame Conferencing Manager can be used with Citrix MetaFrame Secure Access Manager to enable users to share applications in a familiar browser interface. Introduced last month, MetaFrame Secure Access Manager is the most cost-effective way to get secure, personalised access over the Web to a wide range of internal and external information resources, including applications, documents, Web content and services.
"With a growing number of organisations looking to adopt application conferencing solutions that unify distributed workforces as cohesive and effective teams, the value proposition for MetaFrame Conferencing Manager has never been stronger," said Bob Kruger, chief technology officer and senior vice-president of product development for Citrix. "Since users are already familiar with MetaFrame XP Presentation Server, they can immediately extend their core implementation and achieve measurable productivity gains without having to get up to speed on a new communications platform."
New training courses
Citrix will offer two new e-learning courses to support MetaFrame Conferencing Manager. Available next quarter, the first course will target individuals who work for Citrix business affiliates and will focus on selling and marketing MetaFrame Conferencing Manager. The second course, also available next quarter, will offer advanced administration and configuration training for system administrators.
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