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Centra Software, Inc.
430
Bedford Street
Lexington, MA 02420
(781) 861–7000
www.centra.com
Sales
$43
million
Business Description
We
are a leading provider of application software, services and solutions for
online business communications and collaboration. Our products and services
augment operational business processes to enable real-time, group-oriented
human interaction over corporate networks and the Internet. These real-time,
“live” group sessions can range from ad hoc, one-on-one online meetings to
highly interactive, structured, collaborative learning sessions to
prescheduled Web seminars for larger audiences and are key elements to
business processes that include collaborative learning, Web marketing,
online selling and other interactive activities. We integrate these
real-time, “live” group sessions with: (1) workflow tools we have developed
such as desktop integration software; (2) professional services capabilities
that we or others provide such as content development and (3) leading
third-party enterprise software suites such as customer relationship
management systems. Furthermore, our products and services support content
and user management around the online session to integrate more tightly with
these strategic processes across the extended enterprise. Our customers use
Centra’s products and solutions to accelerate product introductions, deliver
hands-on deployment of software applications, effect change-management
initiatives, expand training and certification to employees and external
channel partners, facilitate customer interaction and online selling and
support project management activities. In addition, we offer consulting,
education and support services that enable our customers to successfully
implement, deploy and support our products and solutions throughout their
organizations.
Our products are available as packaged software applications, hosted
services, and on a subscription or per-use basis through our application
service provider, or ASP, offerings. Based on a common collaboration
framework, our products and services support a wide range of convenient
business interactions online, including real-time virtual learning, large
scale Web conferences and live, interactive Web meetings. Each real-time
collaboration interface includes capabilities for
Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol, or VoIP, audio, Web-based video, software
application sharing, real-time data exchange, and facilities for session
recording and playback. These products and services allow organizations to
increase the productivity of their members and enhance the effectiveness of
knowledge transfer while reducing travel, facilities and telecommunications
costs.
Products
Our products provide multiple functions, including ad hoc and self-service
interactive online meetings, virtual classes and large-scale Web seminars,
and include a robust content management component. They provide access to
users through firewalls and proxy servers, and deliver both half and
full-duplex VoIP audio, live multi-point video, fully interactive
application sharing and record and playback capabilities. They are designed
to function over low-bandwidth network connections through a standard
browser interface that is consistent for all products and easy to use
through a small, downloadable client. Based upon a technological foundation
employing Internet standards and Microsoft platform technologies, our
products can be deployed on a single Microsoft Windows 2000 or 2003 server
and are designed to operate without any special hardware or network
technologies. Our enterprise-class software products are designed to scale,
as a customer’s usage requires, by adding additional servers or Internet
protocol (IP) multicasting capabilities. Centra offers flexible deployment
options including on-premises software deployed behind a company firewall, a
secure full-service ASP, an outsourced server hosting service, and the
option to start with our ASP service and migrate to deploying the software
on-premises, behind-the-firewall as needs change.
Centra 7, our enterprise-class application software, addresses a wide range
of requirements for enterprise adoption of real-time collaboration solutions
and is available in 13 languages (traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese,
Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Iberian Portuguese,
Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Arabic (for our Centra Knowledge Center
product only)). Centra 7 includes integration with desktop applications for
increased ease of use and enhanced integration with departmental business
processes and a system architecture that supports information technology
(IT) requirements for enterprise-wide deployment.
Centra 7 consists of the following products:
Centra 7 for Virtual Classes. Centra 7 for Virtual Classes is designed for
virtual classrooms and highly interactive teamwork. Its real-time
collaboration features include full-duplex VoIP audio, integrated Web-based
video, application sharing, breakout rooms, whiteboards, slide mark-up, Web
touring, text chat, real-time feedback, quizzes, surveys, graded
assessments, and record and playback capabilities.
Centra 7 for Web Seminars. Centra 7 for Web Seminars is designed for
large-scale Web events, such as online seminars and corporate
communications. Integrated capabilities for both VoIP and traditional
teleconferencing audio provide customers with the choice that best suits
their audience, infrastructure, and budget. Additional in-session features
include streaming video, application sharing, record and playback, and
system administration capabilities optimized for managing large groups of
attendees. Pre- and post-event management functionality, including lead
source tracking, online registration and reminders, and post-event follow
up, support overall automation and efficiency of the Web event process.
Centra 7 for Self-service Meetings. Centra 7 for Self-service Meetings
provides an easy-to-use virtual meeting facility where users can schedule,
organize and run their own Web meetings with co-workers, customers,
suppliers, partners, and prospects. Using Centra for self-service meetings,
individuals can hold online business meetings with others inside or outside
their corporate network, using a personal meeting room for spontaneous
meetings, or using Centra’s Speed Scheduler feature to organize a meeting
for a later date and time. In-session features include VoIP audio, Web based
video, application sharing, real-time data exchange and record and playback
capabilities.
Centra Knowledge Center. Centra Knowledge Center is designed to provide
on-demand access to a wide variety of learning resources and activities
stored in a centralized, online content repository. Its capabilities include
content management, personalized learning tracks, and competency management.
Centra Knowledge Composers. Centra Knowledge Composer tools are designed to
enable users to create interactive content, such as Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations, simulations, and other collaborative learning content. These
easy-to- use tools enable business professionals to create “knowledge
objects” in industry standard formats and then store them in the Centra
Knowledge Center content repository.
Services and Support
Professional Services
Our global professional services organization provides comprehensive
customer assistance programs, including consulting, education and training,
content services, Web event services and maintenance and support services to
aid our customers in optimizing the use and experience of our products.
Consulting. We offer a wide range of consulting services to our customers to
facilitate the efficient and cost-effective use of our products and
services, including an Implementation Resource Kit that includes
customer-tested resources and best practices. Centra’s proven deployment
methodology provides a roadmap to help customers become productive quickly.
Based on the unique needs of an organization, Centra offers custom
development projects including business process analysis, customized system
configuration, content migration, best practice audits and ongoing change
management. Our consulting organization is also responsible for assisting
customers with the installation and deployment of our products and offers
extended services such as on-site training.
Education and Training. We provide education programs and courses to assist
presenters, content developers, event managers, systems administrators,
help-desk support professionals, implementation specialists and other
professionals in the use of our products and services. Online and on-site
courses and workshops led by expert instructors provide knowledge and skills
to successfully deploy, use and maintain our products and services. These
courses focus on the technical aspects of our products, as well as business
issues and processes related to collaborative learning, content creation and
management, Web marketing and online business collaboration. Additional
offerings include Professional Certification programs.
Content Services. Centra offers a range of content creation services where
our instructional designers and content specialists design and develop
presentations, courseware and proprietary content based on new or existing
slides. In addition, Centra can offer feedback and best practices on how to
design and deliver content to increase the effectiveness of online sessions.
Web Event Services. Centra offers complete Web event services for the
start-to-finish management of Web seminars including presenter training,
practice sessions, custom Web registration pages, email management,
in-session event moderators, event recordings and attendance reporting.
Maintenance and Support. Our standard maintenance and support agreement
gives customers access to error corrections or bug fixes and rights to
unspecified upgrades and enhancements on a when-and-if available basis, as
well as related technical support. Our technical support organization helps
resolve technical inquiries, is available by telephone, email and fax or, if
necessary, on-site at a customer’s premises and provides various levels of
technical support and documentation for our customers.
Hosting and ASP Services
Centra offers its entire product line accessible through a variety of
secure, outsourced application services and hosting options. These options
are designed to accommodate the needs of buyers who may require the
flexibility of an outsourced service or who lack the information technology
infrastructure and resources to deploy real-time collaboration solutions
on-site. We use a third party Internet Service Provider, or ISP, to provide
the telecommunications, data center and ongoing monitoring of our ASP
services, and we offer our ASP services on a global basis. All options are
backed by our world-class Professional Services team to ensure successful
implementation.
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