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FaceTime Builds on Skype's Business Offerings
[February 06, 2007]

FaceTime Builds on Skype's Business Offerings


FOSTER CITY, Calif., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- FaceTime Communications, the leading provider of solutions for securing and managing IM, P2P and Web-based greynets, today announced a new partnership with Skype to deliver end-to-end security, management and control of Skype to ensure its safe and productive use within organizations.



FaceTime Internet Security Edition lets businesses manage how Skype is used across their networks, by combining gateway security and control with comprehensive endpoint management of Skype software. The FaceTime solution uses open application programming interfaces developed and made available by Skype for its business partners through Skype's IT management framework.

With 171 million registered users worldwide, Skype's growing popularity and inherent cost savings have made it very attractive to businesses looking to provide the advantages of presence and real-time Internet communications to their employees. FaceTime's managed Skype solution provides IT and network administrators with the ability to manage the use of Skype on their network with granular controls to choose which elements of Skype software their employees can use. For example, a company may allow voice services but not file sharing or supernode capabilities.


Skype recently announced new features in Skype for Business that make it more powerful for business users, including easier installation and management. These enhanced management controls, when combined with FaceTime's service, provide a compelling option for businesses looking to control and manage security, telecommunications costs and employee productivity.

"Today, 33 per cent of Skype's users in North America are utilizing Skype for business purposes," said Kurt Sauer, Skype's Chief Security Officer. "As a result of our work with FaceTime, network administrators now have centralized management capabilities in addition to the cost savings, simplicity and productivity advantages Skype offers to businesses."

According to the Second Annual Greynets Survey conducted by FaceTime and NewDiligence Market Research in October 2006, two-thirds of IT managers recognize that IM and P2P have benefits, but they know that these applications must be managed by IT. From the user point of view, four in 10 employees believe they have the right to install greynet applications, such as IM, Skype and P2P applications, on their work computer; and more than half the end users are at work locations where policies governing IM and P2P usage are disregarded. This underscores the need for IT visibility and control as these real-time communications applications proliferate throughout the corporate network.

"Skype is a powerful example of the employee demand for real-time collaboration," said Frank Cabri, vice president of marketing for FaceTime Communications. "IT managers are recognizing that a simple 'block or allow' scenario is not a workable solution for securing their networks, because Internet communications software -- such as Skype -- has become integral to the work culture of today's employees. Partnering with Skype, FaceTime provides the security measures required to provide visibility and control in a way that meets the needs of employees and an organization's IT staff."

FaceTime and Skype
Using the Skype IT Management Framework, FaceTime offers new IT-oriented controls to manage Skype in an enterprise environment, as part of FaceTime Internet Security Edition. Centralized policies can easily be set and controlled at the systems administration level and applied transparently to each employee's desktop so that his or her Skype experience adheres to IT policy. For example, IT managers can choose to allow or disallow various Skype elements for the entire company, for groups or departments, or on an individual basis, including file transfer, voice calling, video calling, voicemail and voice recording.

In addition, proxy settings and listen port settings can be calibrated and turned on or off for users. Administrators can also prevent users from broadcasting their presence online. Web presence settings can also be enabled or disabled, to prevent users from exposing their availability to potentially malicious users. IT can set parameters to deny users from becoming supernodes or relay nodes, and a real-time bandwidth usage indicator provides a constant measure for IT to determine Skype's impact on network traffic.

About FaceTime Internet Security Edition
FaceTime Internet Security Edition consists of two components: Greynet Enterprise Manager (GEM) which manages end-point policies on the LAN, and Real-Time Guardian, which resides at the network gateway to stop inbound malware threats, as well as outbound information leaks. This architecture enables the secure enforcement of all Skype policies at the desktop, while constantly evaluating network traffic to prevent against rogue Skype use at the network edge by employees attempting to circumvent company policies. This powerful combination allows IT managers to set and enforce central policies for the specific traffic that is permitted to cross the network.

About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime enables the safe and productive use of greynets like instant messaging, Skype, Web conferencing and P2P file sharing. Ranked number one in market share among instant messaging management vendors for the third consecutive year, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by more than 800 customers including nine of the 10 largest U.S. banks. FaceTime Security Labs delivers the industry's first IMPact Index, which assesses "point-in-time" risks posed by viruses, worms and other malware propagating through greynet applications. FaceTime supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and private IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, IBM, Reuters and Jabber.

FaceTime is headquartered in Foster City, Calif. For more information visit http://www.facetime.com/ or call 888-349-FACE.

NOTE: FaceTime, FaceTime Communications, IMAuditor, RTGuardian, GEM, FaceTime Enterprise Edition, FaceTime Internet Security Edition, FaceTime Security Labs, IMPact Index, SpywareGuide.com and the FaceTime logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of FaceTime Communications, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Skype is an eBay company . To learn more visit skype.com . Skype is not a replacement for your traditional telephone service and cannot be used for emergency calling. Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut, Skype Me, Skype Certified, Skypecasts, associated logos and the "S" symbol are trademarks of Skype Limited.

Contact:
Emily Chamberlin
650-762-2945
[email protected]

FaceTime Communications, Inc.

CONTACT: Emily Chamberlin of Edelman, +1-650-762-2945, [email protected], for FaceTime Communications

Web site: http://www.skype.com/http://www.facetime.com/

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