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Open Text's FirstClass Division Announces FirstClass 7.1, Latest Version of Advanced Messaging Platform
Offers New Features for Handling Spam, Managing Email
Chicago, IL—February 25, 2003—Open Text™ Corporation’s (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSX: OTC) FirstClass division today introduced FirstClass® version 7.1, the latest version of the FirstClass Communications Platform, an integrated suite of messaging and communications software. The new version includes new spam management capabilities and advanced features that allow users to set rules to automate the handling of their email messages. FirstClass provides an important extension of Open Text’s collaborative offerings into the domain of email, voice mail, and fax mail, giving Open Text the most complete range of tools for collaboration and knowledge management available today.
The newest version of FirstClass delivers powerful new capabilities that provide FirstClass customers with the kind of leading edge features they need to more effectively manage today's mission-critical messaging and communications.
Clark County School District in Nevada, one of the largest in the U.S., is among the first to deploy FirstClass 7.1 and take advantage of the new features. "FirstClass provides us with the reliability our school district needs,” said Chris Squatritto, Manager of Internet-InterAct Operations for the District. “With over 20,000 employees and over 250,000 students to service, we need high availability and scalability without breaking the IT budget. With the new features in version 7.1, like mail rules, users have even more control over the information in their mailboxes, from automatically sorting messages into folders on receipt, to having specific messages forwarded to a pager. The best messaging and collaboration software got even better."
"We worked closely with our customers to define the new features of FirstClass 7.1," said John Myers, Vice President and General Manager of the FirstClass Division of Open Text. "This has enabled us to deliver a suite of high-value enhancements for both FirstClass system administrators and FirstClass users, including advanced spam management facilities and powerful automatic personal mail management tools. This reflects our ongoing commitment to taking a customer-centric approach to drive the evolution of FirstClass.”
What's New in FirstClass 7.1
Major enhancements in the FirstClass 7.1 release include:
· Advanced message-handling rules for FirstClass mailboxes and conferences. Users and conference owners can use this extremely flexible and powerful new capability to automate the processing of incoming and outgoing messages. Mail can be automatically filed, sorted, responded to, forwarded, and deleted through the creation of mail rules that can be triggered by a wide range of conditions such as sender, subject, time of day, day of week, priority, media type, and attachment type.
· New spam management features, including support for the use of RBL (Real-time Blackhole Lists) to block incoming mail from IP addresses that are known to be senders of spam. In addition, support for the SMTP AUTH protocol has been added to enable administrators to selectively manage the use of mail relay on FirstClass. Also, FirstClass 7.1 now has a full "No Relay" setting that can be used to prevent all SMTP relay activity.
· Support for an expanded range of computing platforms. FirstClass has always provided organizations with flexibility and choice with respect to supported computing platforms. This has enabled FirstClass customers to avoid being locked into a single platform or operating system. Traditionally, FirstClass has supported Microsoft Windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, and XP versions), Apple Macintosh (OS 8 and OS 9 versions), and the web. FirstClass 7.1 extends this tradition by delivering support for Apple's Macintosh OS X platform with OS X versions of the FirstClass Client and FirstClass Server. In addition, a Linux version of the FirstClass Client is also included in this release.
· A new Webmail interface that provides a simplified web browser interface to FirstClass. This new interface is ideally suited for "web-only" users who may not be familiar with the more powerful FirstClass client software interface.
· An enhanced web browser interface option. This new web interface option displays a user's FirstClass environment in a fashion very similar to that of the FirstClass Client interface. This makes it very easy for the millions of users who enjoy using the FirstClass client software as their primary messaging interface to now have the same experience through a standard web browser. This is very useful when accessing FirstClass from public computers such as those found in airports, hotels, Internet Kiosks and cafes.
· The FirstClass® Lotus Notes/Domino Connector provides enhanced connectivity between FirstClass servers and Notes/Domino servers. This enables users on one server to access users from the other server's directory and exchange messages, meeting requests, and delivery notifications in an integrated fashion. Organizations with an installed base of Notes/Domino servers can seamlessly deploy FirstClass for their power users who want to take advantage of the advanced collaboration and unified communications features of FirstClass. This complements the Exchange Connector released in FirstClass 7.0.
About The FirstClass Communications Platform
FirstClass combines award-winning collaborative groupware and unified communications technologies into a single software system. The core FirstClass Communications Platform provides users with the ability to effectively communicate and share information through email, conferencing, directories, calendars and instant messaging. FirstClass Unified Communications brings voice mail and fax messages into the FirstClass Communications Platform to create a truly unified messaging system. This provides FirstClass users with a high degree of flexibility to use the device of their choice at any given moment to access their messaging and collaboration environment including cell phones, telephones, personal computers, web browsers, and personal digital assistants. FirstClass is a product of the FirstClass Division of Open Text Corporation. For
more information, visit www.firstclass.com.
About Open Text Corporation.
Since 1991, Open Text Corporation has delivered innovative software that brings people together to share knowledge, achieve excellence, deliver innovation, and enhance processes. Its legacy of innovation began with the successful deployment of the world's first search engine technology for the Internet. Today, as the leading global supplier of collaboration and knowledge management software for the enterprise, Open Text supports fourteen million seats across more than 6000 organizations in 31 countries and 12 languages throughout the world. As a publicly traded company, Open Text manages and maximizes its resources and relationships to ensure the success of great minds working together. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.
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This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the deployment of the FirstClass Communications Platform by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks involved in the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company's customers and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the final prospectus for the Company's initial public offering of common stock in January 1996, Form 10-K for the years ended June 30, 1996, June 30,
1997, June 30, 1998, June 30, 1999, June 30, 2000, June 30, 2001, and June 30, 2002, and 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2002. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.
Copyright © 2003 by Open Text Corporation. FIRSTCLASS COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM, and OPEN TEXT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Open Text Corporation or other respective owners.
Margaret Dobbin
Director, Industry Analyst Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-519-888-7111 ext.2410
mdobbin@opentext.com Richard Maganini
Director, Media Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-847-267-9330 ext.4266
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