Advanced Reality Boosts Enterprise Productivity by Embedding Real-Time Collaboration in Microsoft Excel.Business/Technology Editors HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2002 Presence-AR Adapter Allows End-Users to Conduct Real-Time Collaborative Session and Edit Spreadsheets from Within Familiar Excel Application Advanced Reality(TM), Inc., the company that makes applications collaborative, today announced the availability of the Presence-AR(TM) Adapter for Microsoft Excel (tool) Microsoft Excel - A spreadsheet program from Microsoft, part of their Microsoft Office suite of productivity tools for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. Excel is probably the most widely used spreadsheet in the world. Latest version: Excel 97, as of 1997-01-14. , which enables enterprises to add real-time collaboration capabilities to any copy of Excel running in their network. The Presence-AR Adapter boosts productivity and speeds document review cycles by allowing end-users to launch a secure peer-to-peer collaborative session from within a standard copy of Microsoft Excel and create, view, and modify spreadsheets in real-time with an unlimited number of colleagues. Unlike traditional collaboration systems that require users to learn a new interface and work in a separate collaborative workspace A collaborative workspace or shared workspace is an inter-connected environment in which all the participants in dispersed locations can access and interact with each other just as inside a single entity. , the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel delivers immediate results by using the existing Excel application while maintaining its familiar look and feel for users. In light of the recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling that shrinks the deadline for filing quarterly financial reports from 45 to 30 days, the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel can be indispensable in helping public companies shorten the review process for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. "In 2002, leading edge enterprises will begin to use new technology that embeds knowledge management and collaboration directly in the applications used most by knowledge workers. Portal vendors beware," said French Caldwell, Vice President, Information and Knowledge Management, with leading analyst firm Gartner. Same Excel Interface, Made Better with Collaboration The Presence-AR Adapter for Excel supports Excel's core functionality during collaborative sessions including the ability to enter data and formulas; edit data and formulas; cut, copy, and paste This article is about computer text editing. For rheological properties of pastes such as toothpaste or putty, see Paste (rheology). In human-computer interaction, cut and paste and copy and paste cells; drag and drop A graphical user interface (GUI) capability that lets you perform operations by moving the icon of an object with the mouse into another window or onto another icon. For example, files can be copied or moved by dragging them from one folder to another. cells; as well as create and insert new workbooks into a collaborative session. In addition, a history of document changes made during a collaborative session is recorded in each cell's comments field, while a history of document changes made within any collaborative session is recorded in a SQL Server An earlier relational DBMS from Sybase and from Microsoft. Sybase introduced SQL Server in 1988 for various Unix versions. In that same year, with help from IBM, Sybase created an OS/2 version that Microsoft licensed and branded as Microsoft SQL Server. database. Centralized Installation For fast and easy deployment in distributed enterprise networks, the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel can be centrally deployed by IT staff without any end-user intervention. Once installed, the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel adds "Begin Collaboration" and "End Collaboration" buttons to the Microsoft Excel toolbar A row or column of on-screen buttons used to activate functions in the application. Many toolbars are customizable, letting you add and delete buttons as required. Toolbars may be fixed in position or may float, which means they can be dragged to a more convenient location in the and enables end-users to create, join, leave, and end a collaborative session. During collaboration, the peer-to-peer based Presence-AR Adapter for Excel allows a session to persist, or fail-over, even when the host signs-off or is inadvertently disconnected. It also provides load balancing The fine tuning of a computer system, network or disk subsystem in order to more evenly distribute the data and/or processing across available resources. For example, in clustering, load balancing might distribute the incoming transactions evenly to all servers, or it might redirect them and supports client/server configurations so that a collaborative session can be hosted by a server to allow participants to join and leave at their convenience. "The ability to add real-time collaboration, virtually overnight, to the familiar Microsoft Excel interface represents a significant opportunity for enterprises to enhance end-user efficiency and productivity," said Derek Ruths, Chief Technical Officer, Advanced Reality. "The Presence-AR Adapter for Excel is the first of many packaged solutions from Advanced Reality that will enable enterprises to instantly add real-time collaboration capabilities to commonly used applications and achieve an immediate return on their investment." Configurable Security To meet enterprise security requirements, the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel encrypts data using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) The leading security protocol on the Internet. Developed by Netscape, SSL is widely used to do two things: to validate the identity of a Web site and to create an encrypted connection for sending credit card and other personal data. as it moves between participants. It can be configured to request multiple authentication (1) Verifying the integrity of a transmitted message. See message integrity, e-mail authentication and MAC. (2) Verifying the identity of a user logging into a network. technologies, including passwords, digital certificates, and token cards, to confirm users' identity before they are allowed to join a session. The Presence-AR Adapter for Excel also enables the owner of a workbook, or an administrator, to specify the regions of each worksheet that each participant is allowed to modify. Extending Excel Collaboration to Other Applications To meet specific customer requirements, the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel can be further customized by Advanced Reality to support additional Excel features. The Presence-AR Adapter for Excel can also be used to integrate Microsoft Excel into collaborative sessions linking several different applications that are interacting with the same data. This is possible because the Adapter is based on the Presence-AR collaboration platform An emerging category of computer software, collaboration platforms are unified electronic platforms that support synchronous and asynchronous communication through a variety of devices and channels. , which uses a "data-centric model" that makes the data itself collaborative, and is not bound to a particular hardware platform, operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. , application, or user interface. By simply developing an adapter for each new application, enterprises can make entire business processes collaborative. For example, a consumer goods consumer goods Any tangible commodity purchased by households to satisfy their wants and needs. Consumer goods may be durable or nondurable. Durable goods (e.g., autos, furniture, and appliances) have a significant life span, often defined as three years or more, and company could integrate Microsoft Excel, a packaged knowledge management system, and a custom project tracking application in a collaborative environment to enable product management teams to respond more quickly to changing market conditions. Pricing and Availability The Presence-AR Adapter for Excel is available immediately from Advanced Reality. Enterprise site licenses for an unlimited number of users start at $50,000. Integration services for customizing the Presence-AR Adapter for Excel and enabling collaboration between Excel and other applications are available from Advanced Reality. Company Background Founded in October 2000, Advanced Reality, Inc. develops software that makes existing and new applications collaborative without the need for complex programming or expensive infrastructure. The company's flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. , Presence-AR, enables real-time collaboration across any computing platform See platform. , operating system, application, and access device. Advanced Reality customers are enterprises, commercial software vendors, and service providers that want to make existing, and new, applications collaborative. Advanced Reality is privately held and headquartered in Houston, Texas “Houston” redirects here. For other uses, see Houston (disambiguation). Houston (pronounced /'hjuːstən/) is the largest city in the state of Texas and the . To contact Advanced Reality call 713.526.4860, visit us on the Web at http://www.advancedreality.com/, or write to info@advancedreality.com. |
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