ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a keynote address at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando, Skype today announced a strategic partnership with Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS), a global leader in virtual computing and Web collaboration. The partnership will enable Skype to introduce new, easy-to-use, Web and audio conferencing capabilities enabled with GoToMeeting® technology from Citrix. It will help expand Skype’s business offerings by providing powerful collaboration features for businesses of all sizes to set up and hold meetings. Based on Citrix’s successful GoToMeeting product, Skype’s new Web conferencing and audio features are expected to become available towards the end of the year.
The Web and audio conferencing features are expected to supplement the Skype for Business desktop experience, which already offers Skype users instant messaging, voice and video calling, group video calling, conferencing, file sharing and more. Adding the GoToMeeting capability will also allow Skype’s business users to quickly set up online audio conferencing meetings that users can join via Skype or through public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone numbers. It will embed Skype’s SILK audio codec, which means Skype users can expect audio quality that is practically crystal clear. In addition, it will enable rich and interactive screen sharing, whereby meeting hosts can easily walk through, annotate and highlight whatever they would like to show on their computer screen, such as a presentation or demonstration.
“GoToMeeting is used by millions of people around the world, which is testament to our unrelenting focus on ease of use and delivering a superior customer experience,” said Brett Caine, senior vice president and general manager of Citrix's Online Services Division. “Teaming with Skype further extends our high quality capabilities, enhancing the collaboration experience for business users and workshifters everywhere.”
GoToMeeting is an intuitive, easy-to-use, real-time Web conferencing service. With GoToMeeting, organizations can reduce travel costs and increase productivity by enabling connections for people to meet with almost anyone, anywhere. The product has been designed so that users can easily schedule meetings or meet immediately; no training or other assistance is required.
“We are thrilled to partner with Citrix, which offers one of the most popular and easy to use Web conferencing solutions on the market today,” said David Gurlé, vice president and general manager of Skype Enterprise. “Web and audio conferencing has been among the top requested features by our business users. This represents a significant step towards broadening our enterprise offerings, while adding features that will enable business people to collaborate even more efficiently and effectively.”
Pricing details for Skype’s new audio and Web conferencing will be available when the feature becomes available.
Note to Editors: To view the keynote announcement streamed live from Enterprise Connect 2011, including remarks by David Gurlé, Skype’s vice president and general manager of Enterprise, and a guest appearance by Brett Caine, senior vice president and general manager, Online Services Division, Citrix, visit tv.enterpriseconnect.com. In addition, visit the Skype-Live micro-site at www.skype-live.com to access all of Skype’s news announcements and presentations from Enterprise Connect and see archived video snippets of the keynote.
About Skype
Skype is a communications platform provider whose purpose is to break down barriers to communication. With an Internet-connected device, families, friends and colleagues can get together for free with messaging, voice and video. At low cost, they can also call landlines or mobiles virtually anywhere in the world. Skype has recently introduced group video, allowing groups of more than two people to do things together whenever they're apart. Skype was founded in 2003 and is based in Luxembourg. Skype can be downloaded onto computers, mobile phones and other connected devices for free at www.skype.com.
About Citrix Systems
Citrix Systems (”Citrix”) is a leading provider of virtual computing solutions that help companies deliver IT as an on-demand service. Founded in 1989, Citrix combines virtualization, networking, and cloud computing technologies into a full portfolio of products that enable virtual workstyles for users and virtual datacenters for IT. More than 230,000 organizations worldwide rely on Citrix to help them build simpler and more cost-effective IT environments. Citrix partners with more than 10,000 companies in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion. For more information on Citrix, visit www.citrix.com.
Citrix®, GoToAssist®, GoToMeeting®, GoToManage®, GoToMyPC®, GoToTraining® and GoToWebinar® are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
###
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6629955&lang=en