Sightspeed Inc., a provider of Internet video communications, is teaming up with Dell (News - Alert) to deliver “Dell Video Chat,” an easy-to-use communications application being bundled with Dell’s new Studio laptops.

 

Video Chat is gaining acceptance as a great way to stay in touch with friends and family across the country or globe. SightSpeed has been recognized by the industry for delivering best-in class video chat capability that works across multiple platforms, including Windows, Apple (News - Alert) and Linux.

 

“Dell went out and got the best-of-breed video-communications service – SightSpeed – to be included in their newest laptops. This is as easy-to-use, wherever-you-go, as it gets,” SightSpeed CEO Peter Csathy (News - Alert) said. “Their stamp of approval means that video conferencing is becoming a part of everyday communications and they picked the best company to provide it.”

 

The application also includes instant messaging and Internet voice phone capability for a full suite of communications options. It’s pre-installed on the systems and is activated with one mouse click. SightSpeed has also made it easy for users to share the application with their friends and family who can download the “invitee” client program by visiting http://www.sightspeed.com/dellvideochat.

 

Dell Video Chat powered by SightSpeed will include a completely redesigned and streamlined Dell user interface; free, unlimited video, voice and text chat worldwide; four-way group chat; low-rate worldwide calling to ordinary phones, with 2 cents per minute in the United States and Canada; and five minutes of free phone calling is included with every Dell system.

 

Other features are: the ability to purchase custom phone number and area codes; presence indicators; a message center; high-quality video mail; video mail recording of up to three minutes; storage of an unlimited number of video mail messages; notification of missed calls and receipt of voice/video mail and e-mail; and reporting of video/voice call history.

 

“Dell is excited about the opportunity to provide enhanced video chat services to our customers,” said Michelle Pearcy, director, Global Client Software Marketing. “The partnership with SightSpeed allows our customers to quickly and easily communicate with friends and family in a variety of ways by combining both text and video chat features into a simplified customer communication experience.”

 

Because SightSpeed is based completely on the Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) and global standards for setting up and ending voice and video calls over the Internet, it can work across a wide variety of computing platforms. As a result, users will easily be able to conduct video, voice and/or text chat with users of devices on any platform. 

 

SightSpeed offers high-quality, full-motion, 30-frames-per-second video with clear audio and no delay; it delivers a superior video and audio experience with low to no latency over variable bandwidth conditions. SightSpeed’s patented technology provides superior rate control for any bandwidth, handling of firewalls and video-codec optimization.

 

SightSpeed Inc. is a provider of Internet video communications for the consumer and business user. These include, SightSpeed Free, SightSpeed PLUS and SightSpeed Light, a consumer-focused video chat service, which turns a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world. In addition, SightSpeed Business is the world’s first high-quality, cost-effective and hardware-free videoconferencing service for all businesses, including SMBs.

 

SightSpeed’s services are SIP-based and standards-compliant. The company’s human perception-based technology is patented and based on more than 10 years of R&D originating at Cornell University. Among the awards SightSpeed has received are Frost & Sullivan’s (News - Alert) “Company of the Year” award, PC Magazine’s “Editors’ Choice,” PC World’s “100 Best Products,” and a 2008 “Codie” from the Software & Information Industry Association.

 

Founded in 2001 and based in Berkeley, Calif., SightSpeed is a privately held company funded by The Roda Group, best known for launching Ask Jeeves and PolyServe. For more information visit www.sightspeed.com.

 

 Eve Sullivan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Eve’s articles, please visit her columnist page.