CUseeMe Networks' Meetingpoint Conference Server Used for Demonstration of IP-based Visual Communications Capabilities Between Russia and the U.S.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2000

U.S. National Response Center, Global Disaster Network, Russian EMERCOM 

Crisis Management Center and Other Agencies Team up at ACCESS

Center to Demonstrate Emergency Communications

CUseeMe(R) Networks (NASDAQ: CUSM), the leading provider of voice and visual communications solutions for the Internet, announced today that its MeetingPoint conference server is being used for a live demonstration of communications capabilities between the U.S. and Russia over IP networks.

The U.S. National Response Center (NRC), the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN), the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies have teamed up with the Russian EMERCOM Crisis Management Center and the Agency for Monitoring and Forecasting Emergencies to simulate how scientific and technical data and communications might be exchanged in a disaster situation. The groups are participating in a series of demonstrations over a 3-day period in which government officials in both countries will have an opportunity to view the capabilities of IP-based voice and visual communications and data collaboration.

"We're pleased that our MeetingPoint server provides such a robust multipoint conferencing solution for this demonstration," said Gary McGuire, director of government sales at CUseeMe Networks. "A demonstration of this scale obviously highlights the importance of being able to communicate live and share data globally, which is a reality over today's IP-based networks."

The demonstration is being hosted by ACCESS (Alliance Center for Collaboration, Education, Science and Software), a part of the National Computational Science Alliance (Alliance) in Arlington, VA. The Alliance is a nationwide partnership funded by the National Science Foundation and led by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that is developing information infrastructure of the future. The demonstration simulates the management and communications process that might take place in the case of either a natural or manmade disaster. It uses the scenarios of both an earthquake and an oil spill to demonstrate how the various agencies might respond. Participants in both countries are using Microsoft NetMeeting clients to connect to an H.323 standards-based conference hosted by the MeetingPoint conference server. A parallel conference is being demonstrated by AT&T using the H.320 standard (leased line ISDN conferencing).

About CUseeMe Networks

CUseeMe Networks puts e-businesses and consumers face-to-face by developing and hosting innovative solutions for interactive voice and visual communications over the Internet. The company's groundbreaking CUseeMe Web technology enables live audio, video, and collaboration capabilities to be embedded in a standard Web page for applications such as visual instant messaging, Internet videochat, face-to-face e-commerce, and dynamic Web-based conferencing. Information about CUseeMe Networks can be found on the web at http://www.cuseeme.com. Visitors can experience voice and visual communications online at CUseeMe Networks' showcase web site http://www.cuseemeworld.com. CUseeMe Networks was formerly White Pine Software.