BoxTop Interactive Introduces iVisit, Breakthrough Video Conferencing Software.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 1997--BoxTop Interactive (www.boxtop.com) introduces iVisit, a cutting-edge advance in multiparty desktop video conferencing, at Internet World Summer in Chicago on July 21-25.

Demonstrations of this breakthrough technology will be given in the BoxTop-sponsored Press Room and in BoxTop's iVisit booth No. 2805.

iVisit is the first multiparty video conferencing application that does not require a reflector, central server or other special hardware. iVisit is supported by Windows 95, Windows NT and Macintosh. iVisit features include multiparty, real-time audio, double-speed video, unlimited "chat rooms," Business Cards, a Directory Server, security and privacy control, Internet and intranet capabilities.

With iVisit software, a camera and a network connection, users can share video, audio and text in real time with any number of on-line users from the convenience and privacy of their own computers. The number of users who can be involved in a simultaneous conference is limited only by the capacity of the network connection, the speed of the computer, the type of media being exchanged (video, audio, text) and the number of video windows that will fit on the computer screen.

iVisit is designed to continually monitor network traffic and adjust its transmission and frame rates accordingly. iVisit was created with a flexible architecture so it's adaptable to future digital protocols and standards, a key factor to support the Internet's explosive growth.

iVisit software will be distributed at the show and can also be downloaded from the iVisit Web site (www.ivisit.com).

"With iVisit, we've changed life on-line forever, and we've done it in a way that's natural, effortless and affordable," said creator Tim Dorcey, head of research and development and director of programming for BoxTop's Advanced Technologies Group.

"We've brought on-line the ability to meet, watch, talk, listen and make decisions -- what you've always done, now just in a different place."

iVisit is the result of a creative and technological collaboration between Tim Dorcey and entertainment entrepreneur Kevin Wall, chief executive officer and founder of BoxTop Interactive. Dorcey came to BoxTop from Cornell University, where he developed CU-SeeMe based on a video compression algorithm he invented.

"The acceptance and integration of video conferencing as a way of life is more a cultural issue than a technological one," Dorcey said. "The entertainment industry is the perfect place to launch iVisit, which is more about opening up new relationships between people than enlarging existing channels of communication."

Wall envisioned BoxTop as the conduit to introduce this technology to a global audience. "In my experience creating worldwide concert events, I saw how bringing people together can make the planet a smaller, friendlier place. With iVisit, the communication barriers between people are gone. This is a huge step on the road to the true global village," said Wall.

Research shows that non-verbal communication, facial expressions, gestures and body language contribute as much to the message being sent as the words themselves. Since Internet users rank "chat" second in the relative importance of net applications (behind e-mail), the potential effect of videoconferencing on human interaction is unlimited.

Currently 8.4 million Americans telecommute, and in three years 60 percent of homes internationally will have access to the Web.

iVisit is being bundled with OEM manufacturers of modems, PCs, cameras and video cards for release, and will be on-line and available to the retail market in mid-September.

Founded by Wall, BoxTop is an industry leader that develops creative interfaces, content and technology solutions to serve interactive communications needs. BoxTop hosts, maintains and creates award-winning sites on the Internet for Fortune 500 and entertainment companies, including AT&T, Microsoft, UPN, A&M Records, Mattel, SegaSoft, Guess? and The Interactive Channel.

BoxTop is an iXL company with offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Charlotte and Memphis.

CONTACT: BoxTop Interactive, Los Angeles

Glenda Mitchell, 310/235-3947

310/235-3999 (fax)

[e-mail]

or

Jane Ayer Public Relations 

Jane Ayer, 310/581-1330

310/581-1335 (fax)

[e-mail]