 |
| |
OPEN TEXT SECURES DEAL WITH LARGEST FULLY-ACCREDITED U.S. SCHOOL DISTRICT
Broward County Selects FirstClass Over Top Competitors to Replace Outdated System
Chicago, Il—March 13, 2003—Open Text Corporation’s (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSX: OTC) FirstClass Division today announced that the School Board of Broward County in Florida has purchased the latest version of the FirstClass® Communications Platform, an integrated suite of messaging and communications software. After an intensive evaluation process, Broward County selected the FirstClass system from Open Text over top competitors.
“We have a responsibility to taxpayers that is always foremost in our minds when making investment decisions. Total cost of ownership was a tremendous influencing factor for our final selection of FirstClass, however it’s important to note that the three vendor finalists were selected based on features and functionality. From a technological point of view, the FirstClass system meets our requirements and costs significantly less money than the other systems we tested,” said Dr. Frank Till, Superintendent oVf Schools, Broward County School District.
The nation's fifth largest—and the largest fully-accredited—school district, Broward County, will consolidate and replace several different email systems across the school district which were slow, inefficient and ineffective, often resulting in lost messages. Connecting approximately 28,000 teachers, principals, administrators and other employees at more than 250 locations, FirstClass’ highly scalable and efficient architecture makes it possible to serve such a large organization cost effectively, providing core collaboration functionality, email, instant messaging, calendaring, and the ability to retrieve messages remotely.
The district required a system that would be able to support both Macintosh- and Windows-based personal computers efficiently and effectively. Although Broward County schools are largely Macintosh-based, many of its public counterparts operate Windows as well, requiring the district to invest in a system that would enable them to communicate simply and easily without creating confusion for the end-user. FirstClass is designed to be a true cross-platform solution that will enable the district to leverage its current multi-platform investment.
“It is critical that we provide a simple, easy-to-use system for parents with varying levels of computer skills. Via the FirstClass system, all users will be able to access information from any Web-enabled device—be it at the local library or on their home computer,” said Dr Till.
“The School Board of Broward County has a strong vision to enhance the ability of its extended community to work together effectively through the deployment of an advanced messaging and collaboration solution,” said John Myers, Vice President and General Manager of the FirstClass Division of Open Text. “Open Text is excited to provide Broward with the latest version of FirstClass to build a powerful online community for its organization. FirstClass is a proven solution that greatly enhances communication and collaboration amongst teachers, principals, administrators, students and parents to enable Broward to attain its vision for the education community in the county.”
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.
# # #
This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the deployment of Livelink and Livelink MeetingZone 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,V 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 of 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 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
Richard Maganini
Director, Media Relations
Open Text Corporation
+1-847-267-9330 ext.4266
|