  |
|||||||||||||
|
ALTAVISTA ANNOUNCES ABCD – THE FIRST 'INTER-DIRECTORY' SERVICE ON THE WEB ...business card information provided directly by member companies... LITTLETON, Mass. -- March 12, 1997 -- AltaVista Internet Software, Inc., a subsidiary of Digital Equipment Corporation, today unveiled its newest free technology showcase on the World Wide Web, ABCD -- the AltaVista Business Card Directory. Located at http://altavista.directory.digital.com, ABCD is the first directory service to perform inter-directory searching, finding people within its own directory or in partner directories, including InfoSpace, Four11 and WhoWhere. A reliable, master address book for the business community, ABCD listings are updated by businesses using AltaVista Directory 97. Accessed through a Web browser or through the address book function of popular email programs, ABCD consolidates the information from multiple directory services in a simple, easy-to-use solution. Users can instantly find people using a single piece of data, such as company name, title or location. A technology showcase for AltaVista Directory 97, ABCD is an integral part its worldwide address book. Companies with AltaVista Directory 97 installations can maintain links in ABCD to selected employees, uploading information from their internal directories to the ABCD directory on the Web. Information is accurate and up to date, and the business remains in control of the contact data. In addition, AltaVista will offer its Visionary Club members the option for a free listing on ABCD. The announcement of ABCD is another step forward in the AltaVista business model, which originates with state-of-the-art public Web services, and extends to worldwide technology partnerships, businesses and private intranets. ABCD joins the AltaVista Search service and AltaVista ForumForum as technology showcases on the World Wide Web. "ABCD is a simple, fast and powerful way to provide access to information about people," said Ilene H. Lang, president and CEO of AltaVista Internet Software, Inc., and vice president of Digital. " It makes external company contact information visible to customers and partners, but it keeps the published data under the control of the business, making the information timely, accurate and easily updated." Users access names and addresses in ABCD directly from the Web or through the address book function of most common mail clients, including Exchange, MS Internet Mail, cc:Mail, Netscape Communicator or Eudora. Using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) technology, ABCD searches through multiple directories, using any fragment of information to find the contact in moments. ABCD weeds out duplicates and presents the user with up to the first 25 true matches from the millions of entries in its combined directories. The ABCD Web site includes detailed information on how to publish contact information on the directory. It also includes links for downloading a 30-day free trial or purchasing the AltaVista Directory 97 product. AltaVista OnSite Computing Solutions provide secure, simple and direct access to information and people over the Internet and private intranets. AltaVista Search, Directory, Tunnel, Firewall, Forum and Mail products give users a competitive edge, enabling productive business to take place from anywhere. Further information on AltaVista OnSite Computing is available at http://altavista.software.digital.com, or by calling 1-800-336-7890. Digital Equipment Corporation is a world leader in open client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha and Intel platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.
Note to Editors: Digital, the Digital logo, AltaVista and the AltaVista logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.
CORP/97/577
  
| |||||||||||||
