Adobe advances Web conferencing

Adobe has announced a new version of Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, its Web conferencing and e-learning solution.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro includes many new features for Web conferencing such as options for archiving and editing recorded online meetings, new presence capabilities that can allow federation with popular instant messaging (IM) clients, and compliance and usage reporting tools. E-learning enhancements include break-out rooms to let students in virtual classes initiate separate conversations online, rapid authoring of video-based content, integration with learning management systems (LMS) from Blackboard and SumTotal, and tools that track and organize online classes. Users also can easily tailor training sessions or meetings that help capture participants' attention and increase knowledge retention, resulting in an online learning experience remarkably similar to an in-person class, says Adobe.

Combined with the new version of Adobe Presenter, introduced on the same day, Acrobat Connect Pro can enable users to hold engaging online meetings that incorporate high-impact Adobe Flash Player compatible presentations. Adobe Presenter can give virtually anyone the power to easily turn Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into multimedia experiences that include video, narration, animations, interactivity and advanced quizzes. New capabilities in this release include question pooling and randomization, easy-to-work-with video and the ability to publish presentations to mobile devices or within PDF files.