Echo360(R) Introduces First Cloud-Based Indexing and Search for Lecture Capture

DULLES, VA--(Marketwire - July 30, 2009) - Echo360, higher education's first choice for reliving the classroom experience on demand, announced that it has pioneered cloud-based indexing and search capability for lecture capture. By doing so, Echo360 streamlines the identification of desired rich media educational content for students while providing the industry's first fully scalable approach to lecture capture search.

Research indicates that student viewing of rich media lectures occurs in short spurts focused on particular topics. "Search simply makes a good thing better," noted Chris Bellerjeau, director of multimedia services at the Columbia University School of Business. "The ability to search makes the consumption of rich media Echoes much easier for our busy, time-strapped students."

While highly beneficial to the learning process, search presents a variety of challenges for institutions. Creating an accurate search engine for the rich media content requires a complementary process called indexing. Indexing rich media content is complicated and potentially expensive as a variety of technologies -- including OCR, speech-to-text, natural language processing and phonetics -- may be necessary to achieve optimal results.

Echo360 addresses these challenges by combining its advanced search technologies with the latest cloud-based computing models. When a lecture recording is complete, the EchoSystem sends lecture content to the cloud for fast and secure indexing. Identified keywords are time-synchronized, ingested by the EchoSystem and automatically applied to presentations. The externally managed cloud-based model reduces the complexity of search implementation as all Echo360 customers receive the latest updates through the cloud automatically. This approach also eliminates the need for customers to assume the ongoing cost and effort required to manage this technology onsite.

"Echo360 continues its heritage of lecture capture innovation -- this time with a progressive approach to indexing and search," said Geoff Allen, chairman and founder of Echo360. "We've developed an indexing and search model that is technologically and financially sustainable for campus-wide lecture capture. Best of all, as advancements are made to the solution, students reap the benefits with immediate improvements to their on-demand learning experience."

"Universities are under mounting pressure to reach more students in smarter and more efficient ways," noted Echo360 CEO Fred Singer. "Echo360's video and information technology heritage allows us to integrate a sophisticated indexing and search capability for campus-wide lecture capture that allows institutions to expand student services without expanding costs."

About Echo360

Echo360 envisions an opportunity for every student to be freed from traditional barriers to learning with an on-demand education experience. Full-time, part-time, distance, continuing, and online all describe today's student living in a 24/7 world. On-demand media and education converge at Echo360, helping colleges and universities engage students on the students' terms with full and unbounded access to classroom-based content via multiplatform replay. Developed in partnership with the University of Western Australia, Echo360 means scalable and affordable lecture capture solutions that can provide institutions of all sizes with universal availability of lecture content.

Contact Information: Contact: Mary Young Director of Marketing (703) 963-2467