ahoo! Jumps Into Videoconference
Market
By Keith Regan, www.EcommerceTimes.com
In a move apparently timed to capitalize on a slowdown in business
travel, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO - news) unveiled a service Thursday
that will provide corporations with Internet broadcasting capabilities.
Yahoo! Broadcast Services are designed to
replace face-to-face meetings for business
conferences, sales meetings and trade shows.
The conference services will allow "companies to continue vital
communications that were centered around large scale meetings, and
maintain critical and focused outreach to customers, sales forces and
business partners," said Yahoo! senior vice president James Fanella.
Fanella noted that business travel has been severely curtailed in the wake of
the September 11th terrorist attacks on the U.S., in which four hijacked
planes were crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Many apparently expect the travel woes to continue, as stocks in the videoconferencing industry were
among those to see gains when the stock markets re-opened following the attacks.
Rapid Deployment
Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo! said its services can be deployed rapidly and offer a low-cost
alternative to travel and meeting planning.
The offerings will initially include the "virtual conference," which offers the ability to make presentations
and interact with distant audiences. For example, audiences will be able to submit questions and
respond to polls during the meetings.
The second service, the "executive communication center," is being promoted as a way to quickly
communicate with far-flung audiences, such as employees or shareholders.
Yahoo! said it will have employees on call 24 hours a day, enabling them to receive and prepare video
transmissions for re-broadcast within four hours.
Adjusting Focus
Yahoo!, which slipped from profitability to fiscal losses as the market for online advertising slumped,
has been relentlessly expanding its reach in an effort to decrease its dependence on advertising.
This month, the portal unveiled an e-book sales site that will be run in conjunction with several leading
publishing houses.
Yahoo! has also announced it will host the Web site of soccer's World Cup, and that it is also going to
create and host a Web site for Sony (NYSE: SNE - news) under a sweeping deal with the
entertainment and electronics company.
Many of Yahoo's efforts have been aimed at the corporate market and seek to leverage the Internet
media company's expertise in Web hosting, design and technical issues.
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