Readers who've followed here for any length of time know that I'm a huge SightSpeed fan. Initially I had a free trial account, but within a week of testing I oaid for the premium service offering. Since that time, Peter Csathy and the SightSpeed team have become good friends, and I've given them a lot of feedback and ideas, many of which have rolled into the current product. In short, for the consumer, small business, and many others, I view SightSpeed as the peremier video conferencing and collaboration solution in the market. I use SightSpeed for almost all my video conferencing needs.

Today I learned that SightSpeed has been selected by Microsoft as the video chat solution of choice in the new Windows Home Server offering. For a small company like SightSpeed, this is huge news. For an industry leader like Microsoft, it really shows that they're focused on the best in breed solutions.

Congratulations to both SightSpeed and Microsoft for a very smart move. A good move  for both.

MICROSOFT SELECTS SIGHTSPEED TO PROVIDE VIDEO CHAT SERVICE FOR WINDOWS HOME SERVER

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 5, 2007-– SightSpeed Inc., the leading provider of Internet video communications, today announced that Microsoft will feature SightSpeed’s award-winning video chat service with its new Windows Home Server product.

Delivered on hardware from leading manufacturers and system builders, Windows Home Server helps families with more than one PC easily protect, organize and share their digital pictures, music, documents and videos.  High quality video and audio content from SightSpeed’s market-leading video chat service will now be centralized and accessible throughout the home. With Windows Home Server running SightSpeed, talking face-to-face to anyone in your network, anywhere in the world -- for free -- is now easier than ever. 

“Windows Home Server provides an ideal platform for solutions to meet the needs of households with multiple PCs,” said Steven VanRoekel, director of Windows Server Solutions at Microsoft.  “We are pleased to work with SightSpeed to help our mutual customers get more out of their Internet video chat experience.”

As the use of digital media devices and broadband continues to grow, consumers are looking for new ways to communicate with friends and family. With SightSpeed, families can share their most significant experiences and “connect” more effectively by communicating over the Internet, intimately, in real-time. SightSpeed video communications service will now be available for use with Windows Home Server-based systems.

“SightSpeed is pleased to provide its award-winning video chat to families using Windows Home Server,” said Peter Csathy, chief executive officer of SightSpeed. “SightSpeed’s best-in-class video chat service makes it easy for everyone in your network to communicate face-to-face, anyplace.”

Named 2007 Company of the Year by industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, SightSpeed offers best-in-class video and voice over IP (VVoIP) that is easy to set up and use. Beyond video calling and multi-party video conferencing, users can easily record and send video mails and publish videos to blogs and Websites and can also make voice only calls to other PCs or to any landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world.

To learn more about SightSpeed or to download award-winning SightSpeed 6.0 for Windows Home Server, visit www.SightSpeed.com.

About SightSpeed 

SightSpeed Inc. is the award-winning provider of Internet video communications for both the business user and consumer.  The company offers two services: (1) “SightSpeed Business”, the world’s first high quality, cost-effective and hardware-free video conferencing service for all businesses (including SMBs); and (2) “SightSpeed 6.0”, the  most widely praised consumer-focused video chat service that turns a PC or Mac into an easy-to-use video phone to communicate with friends and family around the world.  SightSpeed's services are SIP-based and standards-compliant, and the company’s revolutionary human perception based technology is patented and based on more than ten years of research and development originating out of Cornell University.

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