ANAHEIM, Calif. - EDUCAUSE Booth #915 -- Sonic Foundry, Inc.(NASDAQ: SOFO), the recognized market leader for rich media lecture capture, webcasting and knowledge management, today announced a technology partnership with TechSmith, the leading provider of screen capture and recording solutions, to automate the ingestion, cataloging and management of Camtasia Relay course content within Mediasite, a powerful platform for delivering and managing your multimedia presentations.
The new feature will be previewed at EDUCAUSE. This announcement is the culmination of both Sonic Foundry and TechSmith customer requests to more tightly integrate the two best-of-breed lecture capture solutions. Specifically, it allows faculty who create course content with Camtasia Relay to automatically upload their recordings to Mediasite's centrally managed, scalable and secure knowledge library.
"We just purchased the Mediasite webcasting platform for lecture capture, and I've been an avid user of Camtasia Relay. I see how these two systems complement each other, and I'm excited we'll now be able to manage the content in one centrally located repository," said Kate Conners,
Instructional Technology Coordinator.
According to Alan Greenberg, Senior Analyst and Partner at Wainhouse Research, "This type of integration partnership is good for the lecture capture industry - but even more important - for Sonic Foundry and TechSmith customers and higher education in general. Many e-learning and distance education programs are challenged to scale. Universities need the ability to provide automated rich media lecture capture in their classrooms and to place tools for recording user generated content in the hands of their faculties and - over time - learners. We're pleased that this announcement shows how two leading suppliers can work together, taking their respective strengths to address a market need."
Since 2003, Sonic Foundry's lecture capture platform and services have set the standard for delivering exceptional instruction and sharing knowledge online. Trusted by more than 800 educational institutions worldwide, Sonic Foundry has been recognized by industry analyst Frost & Sullivan with the Global Market Share Leadership Award in Lecture Capture Solutions every year the firm has reported on the market; in 2010, 2009 and 2007. The patented Mediasite lecture capture and content management system automates the recording, delivery and management of multimedia presentations that combine video and accompanying visual aids for live or on-demand viewing. Mediasite is a cornerstone in the design of many smart classrooms on today's college campuses.
TechSmith provides screen capture and recording software for individual and professional use in more than 30 countries. Since the initial release of Camtasia Relay, more than 2,000 organizations have requested trials of the product, which allows instructors to easily record lectures from their desktop, capturing audio and screen content, and publish them for an on-demand audience.
"As leaders in educational technology, TechSmith and Sonic Foundry have shared many of the same customers who have expressed a desire to make our solutions more interoperable, streamlining the content management of Camtasia Relay on-demand materials, alongside Mediasite's live and on-demand rich media lectures," said Rich Boys, Camtasia Relay product manager.
"Lecture capture continues to rise in importance on campus, driving the need for online repositories that can accept and manage multiple forms of course content. Mediasite's ability to ingest content created at the desktop through Camtasia Relay is an advantage to both Mediasite and TechSmith customers who need a centrally managed, scalable knowledge catalog where students can access all recorded course content," said Rob Lipps, executive vice president of sales for Sonic Foundry
