Adobe announces Acrobat Connect Pro

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Adobe Systems Inc announced a new version of Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, the company’s web conferencing and eLearning solution.

The version includes new functionality that enriches online communication and collaboration, enabling organizations and schools to offer training, interactive virtual classes and dynamic online meetings.

Acrobat Connect Pro includes many new features for web conferencing such as options for archiving and editing recorded online meetings; new presence capabilities that can allow federation with popular instant messaging (IM) clients; and powerful compliance and usage reporting tools.

eLearning enhancements include break-out rooms to let students in virtual classes initiate separate conversations online; rapid authoring of video-based content; integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS) from Blackboard and SumTotal; and tools that track and organize online classes. Users also can easily tailor training sessions or meetings that help capture participants’ attention and increase knowledge retention, resulting in an online learning experience remarkably similar to an in-person class.

Combined with the new version of Adobe Presenter, Acrobat Connect Pro can enable users to hold engaging online meetings that incorporate high-impact Adobe Flash Player compatible presentations.

Adobe Presenter can give virtually anyone the power to easily turn Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into multimedia experiences that include video, narration, animations, interactivity and advanced quizzes. New capabilities in this release include question pooling and randomization, easy-to-work-with video, and the ability to publish presentations to mobile devices or within PDF files.

“Organizations and educational institutions alike are challenged with reaching highly distributed workforces or student populations, as well as communicating, collaborating, and transferring knowledge at the accelerated pace of today’s demands,” said Rob Tarkoff, Senior VP—Business Productivity Business Unit, Adobe.

“Whether it’s meeting with co-workers across departments, or conducting virtual classes across continents, Acrobat Connect Pro can help break through technology barriers by letting virtually anyone participate in effective online communication and knowledge transfer.”

Acrobat Connect Pro will be available by the end of May 2008. It will be available in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese.