Macromedia Extends Breeze 5 with VoIP
Macromedia has cast its Breeze 5 Web communications and collaboration software into the marketplace. Notably, Breeze 5 now has voice over IP (VoIP) Internet telephony on top of its existing on-demand-video and real-time conferencing capabilities.
The upgrade arrives just as rival Microsoft debuts Service Pack 1 for Live Communication Server (LCS) 2005.
Unlike Microsoft's LCS, which can only run under Windows, Breeze is Flash-based and the software will run across multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux and Mac OS X to address the compatibility concerns of customers.
Other deployment features directed at IT workers are specialized APIs and SDKs, as well as directory service integration and custom authentication mechanisms.
Breeze version 5.0 adds tools for sales and marketing professionals to produce Web seminars with customized "meeting rooms," in addition to managing event creation and registration. By design, Breeze can track rich media content created with Macromedia developer's tools.
"The release of Macromedia Breeze 5 moves Macromedia into a horse race with Microsoft, WebEx, and IBM," said Paul Ritter, research director, Wainhouse Research. "In the midst of other major online communication providers, Breeze clearly takes advantage of Macromedia's strong legacy for richness and ease of use. The combination of live web conferencing with seamlessly integrated, on-demand, rich media capabilities provides a comprehensive solution for business users."
Microsoft, meanwhile, has released a free service pack for LCS 2005 that has broader federation tools and enhances real-time communication functionality. The service pack is required to run Communicator 2005. Office Communicator rolls IM, voice, video, telephony and Web conferencing capabilities into a single client interface.
Macromedia was acquired by Adobe last month for $3.4 billion. A hosted version of Breeze 5 is immediately available from Macromedia.