Centra Selected to Provide Live Web Meeting Services to Members of MSN and Microsoft bCentral.

Business/Technology Editors

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

Centra (NASDAQ:CTRA), the leader in software infrastructure and a B2B marketplace for live Internet collaboration, today announced a marketing alliance with Microsoft bCentral, the leading small business portal on the Web. Using CentraNow(TM), Centra's voice-enabled network service for real-time business interaction, bCentral users can talk to each other, hold live meetings, sell products, deliver services, and manage projects with customers, partners, suppliers and co-workers in a convenient and easy-to-use, online business environment. Launched in October of 1999, Microsoft bCentral serves more than one million customers who use its innovative solutions to get started online, find and retain new customers, and manage their businesses more effectively. In addition, bCentral has a permanent channel link on MSN, one of the top-three portals on the Web.

"As our preferred provider in the Web meeting category, Centra will give our members the tools they need to stay connected with their employees, customers and partners. The ability to collaborate in real-time over the Internet is quickly becoming a necessity for companies who wish to stay competitive in today's rapidly changing business environment," said Jim Kinsella, Vice President of MSN Sales.

Software Infrastructure for Live eBusiness Collaboration

Already in use by more than 250,000 business professionals worldwide, Centra's Web-based services and enterprise software products support a full range of live business interactions on the Web. Every product features Centra's hallmark voice-over-IP capabilities, shared workspace environment, and intuitive user interface. Unlike stand-alone text chat, instant messaging, and screen sharing technologies, Centra offers significant advantages in functionality, performance, and universal connectivity - necessary to support important business processes in globally dispersed organizations.

Using Centra, businesses get closer to their customers, partners, and employees for customer interaction, collaborative commerce, virtual teamwork, and eLearning. Large groups of people can assemble, interact, discuss, share content, and work together in real-time over intranets, extranets, and the Internet. Instead of simply automating information flow, Centra augments human interaction and provides capabilities aimed at generating revenue and improving productivity, while dramatically reducing travel, facilities, and telecommunications costs.

bCentral Agreement Strengthens Centra Relationship with Microsoft

The recent bCentral agreement comes in the wake of Centra 99 for Microsoft BackOffice, the first product in an ongoing relationship between Centra and Microsoft in which both companies have agreed to work together on wide-ranging initiatives to help organizations exploit a new generation of technology to enhance organizational effectiveness and productivity. The integrated solution combines the live eBusiness collaboration capabilities of Centra 99, Centra's enterprise Web application for real-time business interaction, with popular Microsoft desktop and server platforms. Integration of Centra 99 for Microsoft BackOffice with Microsoft's digital dashboard provides users with a single view of their online business collaboration activities as well as email, calendar, and other activities through a unifying interface.

"The power of this relationship between Microsoft and Centra is changing the landscape of how businesses, small and large, will work together in the new Internet economy," said Leon Navickas, CEO of Centra. "It provides further proof that real-time collaboration is not an isolated application within an enterprise, but an integral component of virtually all business processes."

About Centra

Centra (NASDAQ: CTRA) is the leading provider of software infrastructure and a B2B marketplace for live Internet collaboration. Centra's solutions include Centra 99, an enterprise Web application for high-velocity sales, marketing, services and eLearning; and the innovative CentraNow network service - a convenient Web destination for live, voice-enabled business meetings and events. The Centra Business Collaboration Network (CentraBCN), the industry's first real-time B2B marketplace, utilizes this software infrastructure to enable the exchange of live collaborative services on the Internet. Centra's customers include Fortune 1000 companies such as Armstrong, Domino's Pizza, Kraft, Nationwide, Compaq, Sony, and Viacom. Centra has business and software partnerships with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Consulting, Microsoft, Oracle, Ariba, and Global Knowledge. Headquartered in Boston's technology corridor, Centra has sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Visit Centra at www.centra.com.