AARNet Brings Video Conferencing to the Masses with ViVu
Sydney, AUSTRALIA – 20 May 2010 – AARNet, Australia’s Academic and Research Network has partnered with ViVu, Inc. (www.vivu.tv), an emerging leader in creating innovative and easy-to-use solutions for live video participation, to launch a beta version of ‘AARNet Anywhere’ http://anywhere.aarnet.edu.au/, an affordable desktop multi-user video conferencing solution made available today.
‘AARNet Anywhere’ is based on ViVu’s VuRoom, an instant multi-party video collaboration plug in for Skype. AARNet users will be able to run multimedia presentations, desktop sharing functionalities and collaborate in real-time with remote users over Skype. ‘AARNet Anywhere’ is immediately available as a separate discrete beta trial service in addition to the National Video Conferencing Service (NVCS) which AARNet currently offers to its members. As part of this development, NVCS staff will be working with ViVu developers to test ViVu’s access with AARNet’s H.323/IP conferencing bridge platforms.
Chris Hancock, CEO of AARNet said, “AARNet has taken real-time collaboration to the next level by working with ViVu. In addition to making desktop video conferencing available to all our members at no additional cost, ‘AARNet Anywhere’ users can share slides, videos and desktops with many others. This makes it convenient for participants who may need to setup a video session on an ad-hoc basis without the need to book a timeslot or purchase additional hardware or software.”
“We are thrilled to be working with AARNet in our mission to bring quality video conferencing to the masses,” said Sudha Valluru, CEO of ViVu. “By aligning the core ViVu functionality with a leading service provider like AARNet, we can now empower millions of additional individuals and organisations to engage in a more natural, productive and collaborative online experience.”
Guido Aben, Director of e-Research at AARNet said, “The borderless nature of research and education makes face-to-face collaboration and learning expensive and time consuming. With ‘AARNet Anywhere’, our members will have access to a user-friendly solution that delivers significant productivity gains by offering video collaborations for teaching and learning. Users can now collaborate online and enjoy the same advantages as a face-to-face meeting, without incurring any additional expenses or time to get together.”
AARNet has partnered with ViVu using VuRoom to eliminate the need for complicated and expensive software and hardware. This will reduce the barrier-to-entry for video conferencing and enable seamless connectivity to participants outside of the AARNet network. Coupled with Skype, users can now have full video and presentation capabilities offered by a stand-alone web conferencing solution.
ViVu’s VuRoom provides instant multi-user video conferencing through Skype – an exciting new breakthrough previously unavailable to Skype users. Along with its presentation and desktop sharing functionalities, VuRoom is designed to help remote users collaborate in real-time, while also saving valuable time and money. VuRoom’s intuitive user interface and high-quality video experience enables organisations to truly engage in real-time communication.
For further information, visit ViVu at www.vivu.tv and AARNet at www.aarnet.edu.au.
About AARNet
AARNet Pty Ltd (APL) is the company that operates Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet). It is a not-for-profit company limited by shares. The shareholders are 37 Australian universities nd the CSIRO. AARNet provides high-capacity leading edge Internet services for the tertiary education and research sector communities and their research partners. AARNet serves more than one million end users who access the network through local area networks at member institutions. For further information, please visit:www.aarnet.edu.au.
About ViVu, Inc.
Founded in 2008 by startup veterans from Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and a team of IIT graduates, ViVu creates solutions to transform the way people interact using video. ViVu’s VuRoom, provides instant multi-user video conferencing through Skype – an exciting new breakthrough previously unavailable to Skype users. Along with its presentation and desktop sharing functionalities, VuRoom is designed to help remote users collaborate in real-time. VuCast, the company’s flagship offering, enables meeting organisers to create, publish and manage large-scale, high-quality video events as effortlessly as with audio conference calls today. ViVu is headquartered in Cupertino, CA and has offices in Bangalore, India.
ViVu and the ViVu logo are registered trademarks of ViVu Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Media Contact:
Gabriel Wong
Max Australia
+ 61 2 9954 3492
gabriel.wong@maxaustralia.com.au
