Zap Business Communication Systems Adds Wireless Capabilities to Corporate Communications Portal
BERKELEY, Calif. — December 7, 1999 — New Version of (ucone), Announced at Delphi Group Conference, Links to Wireless Devices
In an effort to augment communications with corporate portals for small- and medium-sized businesses and divisions within large corporations, zap business communication systems, Inc. today announced version 1.1 of its (ucone) communications portal. The new version integrates the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and is the first solution allowing users to access their corporate intranet from Internet enabled mobile phones and the 3Com(R) Palm VII(TM).
Wireless technology is the infrastructure behind the handheld Internet appliance movement. WAP is an open, global standard for the delivery of wireless information and telephony services to mobile phones and other wireless appliances. WAP enables the use of World Wide Web capabilities on the limited screen space of Internet-enabled devices with a reduced amount of key input. According to the Strategis Group, there will be more than 530 million wireless subscribers by the year 2001. WAP capabilities include the ability to retrieve Email, and push and pull information from the Internet. Understanding that access to information is the key to today's business environment, (ucone) users can now connect to their corporate communications portal in and out of the office.
"We developed (ucone) in response to customer requests asking for more effective communications in the workplace," said Anke Zimmermann, zap bcs CEO. "Our customers must have access to the workplace from the road and adding WAP features is the next step. Whether using an Internet cell phone or the 3Com(R) Palm VII(TM) , time and money is saved as users remain current on company activity."
WAP utilizes standard Internet markup language technology (XML). The user will log onto the Internet via a WAP link server that acts as a gateway from the wireless telecommunications network to the Internet. As users update and modify content on the (ucone) communications portal, wireless users can receive and respond to their corporate environment.
"Wireless applications represent the next major movement in IT," said Nathaniel Palmer, The Delphi Group. "Leveraging its contributions to the advancement of wireless applications, zap bcs is poised to capitalize on two of the hottest trends in technology — portals and wireless devices."
The (ucone) system enables two-way communications capabilities along with news and intelligence gathering and organization of corporate data (HR, IR, etc.). The (ucone) system also provides groupware capabilities, project management, event management, repositories, calendaring and centralized administration. All modules are available to enhance existing portal offerings and proprietary corporate environments, or as an integrated communications system. (ucone) supports WML for wireless applications, HDML for handheld applications and HTML for the Palm OS(R).
"One of the biggest trends moving into the 21st century is mobile and wireless devices," said Jemel Hatcher, Mobile Coyote CEO, a wireless service provider. "There is a demand for wireless communications by corporate users who can't be cut-off from the workplace. Integrating (ucone) with handheld PCs and mobile phones turns Internet appliances into corporate communication tools."
Product Overview
The (ucone) portfolio is comprised of multiple communications modules — which have been developed to serve the business needs of corporations, individuals and administrative personnel. In all cases, the solution and its modules provide users with knowledge management tools enabling the organization corporate documents so that companies can take advantage of their vast resources of information in a cost-effective and time-sensitive manner. (ucone) modules include news, projects, events, profiles, libraries, calendar, tracker and administration.
CONTACT: zap business communication systems
Dan Fernandez, 408/975-9701 dan@zapbcs.com
or
Voce Communications
Matthew Podboy, 650/321-9403 mpodboy@vocecommunications.com