Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced significant updates to its Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro Web conferencing solution, enabling organizations to provide rich communication and collaboration experiences for their employees, partners and customers. Now, organizations can improve their customer interactions through more collaborative meetings, training sessions, and Web seminars that increase real-time participation and bring people together when and where needed.

“Communication and collaboration are absolutely vital to the success of enterprises and individuals,” said Arun Anantharaman, vice president, Acrobat Connect Pro at Adobe. “Acrobat Connect Pro is easy to use, technically flexible, highly secure and it fits seamlessly with an organization’s IT infrastructure. We’re helping our customers succeed in the dynamic transfer of knowledge and ideas.”

The new version of Acrobat Connect Pro will integrate with any audio conferencing provider, allowing organizations to leverage existing investments. Telephone audio can be recorded along with a Web conference and streamed to VoIP-only meeting participants. Advanced integrated audio teleconferencing capabilities include call controls, participant management and synchronized recording. Additionally, a new integration with InterCall, the world’s largest conferencing and collaboration services provider, will offer customers the ability to deploy Acrobat Connect Pro with InterCall audio conferencing.

Alcoa, the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, is using the Adobe solution to facilitate frequent, cost-effective and productive collaboration among the company’s executives. “People struggle to create dynamic, engaging meetings. The new features in Acrobat Connect Pro will give birth to new ideas in collaboration, on-demand learning and virtual meetings once people engage with the functionality,” said Rob Morrison, manager, eCommunications at Alcoa, Inc. “Acrobat Connect Pro is a catalyst for innovation, leading to better interaction and more fruitful meetings.”

Increased webinar capacity will enable users to engage up to 80,000 participants in high-impact sessions that can incorporate rich media demonstrations, live and recorded video and interactivity. This new capacity will support use cases ranging from large marketing events and product launches, to global town hall meetings and effective eLearning programs.

Further enhancements to security and compliance functionality in Acrobat Connect Pro includes more secure desktop sharing that offers increased control and enables regulation compliance. New administrative tools allow customers to define which applications can be screen-shared; users can collaborate with ease without the risk of an inadvertent breach.

With this release, Adobe will offer a new implementation model. In addition to current hosted and on-premise deployment options, Acrobat Connect Pro will be available as a managed service, offering customers the ability to outsource IT support while realizing the benefits of security and control.

Other key areas of additional functionality include: native support of PDF that offers advanced document controls and improved workflow through increased integration with Adobe Acrobat; functionality that enables users to schedule and manage Acrobat Connect Pro meetings directly from Lotus Notes; easy account migration for installed customers who wish to change deployment configurations; and certification that offers on-premise customers the ability to run Acrobat Connect Pro on VMware infrastructure. Additionally, work is currently underway on the Acrobat Connect Pro Mobile application, which will enable meeting participation from mobile devices. The first devices that Adobe is working to enable are the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

Deployed using the Adobe Flash® Player -- installed on more than 98 percent of Internet-connected PCs worldwide -- Acrobat Connect Pro is truly cross-platform compatible. The solution lets virtually anyone connect to an online meeting instantly using a simple Web address and without the need to download additional software.

Availability

Acrobat Connect Pro is available immediately on a hosted, on-premise or managed-service basis. Language support includes English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Turkish, Russian and simplified Chinese. For more information, visit www.adobe.com/acrobatconnectpro.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

© 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat Connect and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.