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Let's Take an eZ
By Bob Woods
Sigma Designs, which normally develops computer-aided design (CAD) software, is branching out into the online-meeting arena with its new eZ software.
Sigma's new eZ uses text-based instant messaging and adds a visual component that allows up to up to 32 people to simultaneously share, view and mark-up virtually any document or design, and see the changes and additions made by others. All of this happens in real time, officials also said.
Sigma's eZ was three year in the making, officials said, and is effective with most any type of Internet connection, including 56Kbps dial-up modems. can double as both an Internet and network communication environment for any Windows-based business network with or without firewalls, including LANs, VPNs and WANs.
eZ also supports a wide variety of file formats, including Microsoft Office documents, PDF files, popular digital camera and graphics formats, simple and complex 3D models, and industry standard CAD documents. Users can also take an instant screen shot of anything on their computer and then share the information with others in one click.
Sigma said eZ also has "a unique and `pure' peer-to-peer architecture" that allows individuals to bypass central servers and form direct person-to-person connections over the Internet and/or corporate networks. At that point, all participants can collaborate on the same information at the same time. eZ also gives users the capability of collaborating on multiple documents, all at once, from different locations.
If a person wants to discuss a document online, yet doesn't want to distribute copies of the original, eZ has a "host-in-control" design, Sigma said. Keeping conference documents at the computer and organization from which they originate, mark-ups and annotations made by conference members are saved on the host's computer with the original data in a single document. A user cannot download, copy, or print another user's shared file unless given permission. In addition, only a single copy of a document is stored on one computer, so unnecessary duplications are also avoided, freeing up a company's computing and data management resources.
eZ is currently available for all Windows versions, except for Windows 3.1 and below for $199. eZ is also being offered free to schools and educational institutions for use in classrooms. Full-time students and educators can purchase the professional version for $20, a 90% discount.
A fully functional 90-day trial version can be downloaded free, officials added.
Bob Woods is the managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com.
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