WebCasts Offer Real-Time Training

Microsoft customers who value the opportunity to interact with Microsoft on a difficult IT topic should keep their eyes on the company’s WebCast program. Using real-time streaming media, what Microsoft is calling “Support WebCasts” give customers direct, live access over the Internet to presentations delivered by support professionals. With WebCasts aimed at audiences ranging from end users to developers, these presentations are potentially a valuable corporate training resource. Since the WebCasts are archived after initial transmission, over time a library of useful presentations will become available.

For Microsoft, the main objective of WebCasts is to offer yet another support option that helps customers use their software more successfully and that can steer them around problems they could encounter later, says Heidi Moeller, content program manager for Support WebCasts.

Technology Delivers Interactive Presentations

Microsoft uses Windows Media Format to deliver audio and PowerPoint slides to viewers who tune in to the WebCasts. Interactive feedback collected by Intervu’s NetPodium software lets viewers submit questions for a question-and-answer session at the end. On the client side, viewers need Windows 95, 98, or NT, a recent Java-enabled browser that accepts cookies (Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape 4.06 or later), Windows Media Player, and at least a 28.8Kbps connection to the Internet.