Industry Segment:       Government
Customer:      United States Army

Overview:
Even prior to September 11, 2001, there had been a growing mandate to increase the speed and ease with which diverse, distributed personnel within the military, DoD, homeland security and the intel community can find, collaborate and communicate with one another, for ongoing projects as well as to respond to sudden emergencies. That is why Bantu provides secure Enterprise Instant Communication and Collaboration technology for the government and is addressing mission critical problems across both commercial and government customers.

Operational Need:
Provide the right information to the right person at the time in a cost effective and scalable manner.

Solution:
Bantu is part of Army Knowledge Online (AKO), which was awarded the Best Internal Portal by Digital Consulting Institute (DCI) 2003. The portal is the world's largest collaborative intranet, serving more than 1.4 million registered users worldwide. When the Army decided to add instant messaging and presence to the AKO, it determined that only Bantu’s, IM Enterprise product, had the security and robust scalability they required. Bantu was integrated and deployed into the AKO portal in just two weeks.

Benefits
"Presence and IM will be integral components of the Army's online knowledge-management initiative," said Colonel Robert Cox, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Army. "Bantu's highly secure tools will enable AKO users worldwide to share enterprise information instantly and easily in a fully encrypted environment." By integrating presence technology into AKO, portal members will be able to see which colleagues are online and available to communicate. The AKO portal is one facet of the Army's effort to use information technology to leverage system-wide innovation in services, processes and knowledge creation.

Industry Segment:       Government
Customer:      United States Air Force

Overview:
Even prior to September 11, 2001, there had been a growing mandate to increase the speed and ease with which diverse, distributed personnel within the military, DoD, homeland security and the Intel community can find, collaborate and communicate with one another, for ongoing projects as well as to respond to sudden emergencies.  That is why Bantu provides secure Enterprise Instant Communication and Collaboration technology for the government and is addressing mission critical problems across both commercial and government customers.

Operational Need:
The Air Force needed a cost effective and efficient way to collaborate in critical emergency issues and drive innovation through collaboration within 300 communities of practice.

Solution:
The Air Force deployed Bantu EnterpriseIM  to worldwide users of its Air Force Portal (AFP) system, which features more than 600K users that use Bantu to collaborate on time-critical, emergency issues and drive innovations that support Air Force operations. Deploying Bantu EnterpriseIM within Air Force Portal helps team personnel immediately and easily find relevant sources and tap their expertise. Bantu’s proven security-including its ability to work behind the AFP’s firewall, and the ease with which it integrates into key applications, make it an ideal, real-time way to collaborate on urgent operational matters and increase critical learning.

Benefits
The Air Force is transforming and improving the way the military and civilian staffs work. This includes ensuring they have immediate access to the right contacts from anywhere in the world. Bantu’s EnterpriseIM product and Presence Platform provides the ability to see who is online throughout the Air Force community, and instantly collaborate with them, this will benefit Air Force personnel by keeping them informed and enable them to make better decisions.

Industry Segment:       Government
Customer:     Depart of Homeland Security - Federal Emergency Management Agency

Overview:
Even prior to September 11, 2001, there had been a growing mandate to increase the speed and ease with which diverse, distributed personnel within the military, DoD, homeland security and the intel community can find, collaborate and communicate with one another, for ongoing projects as well as to respond to sudden emergencies.  That is why Bantu provides secure Enterprise Instant Communication and Collaboration technology for the government and is addressing mission critical problems across both commercial and government customers

Operational Need:
FEMA needed to connect 4 million first responders to enable communication and collaboration in real time.  The solution needed to be provided through the Disasterhelp.gov portal

Solution:
FEMA (now part of the Department of Homeland Security) deployed Bantu’s real-time EnterpriseIM Exchange and EnterpriseIM to federal, state and local agencies involved in disaster preparedness and response via the Disasterhelp.gov portal. This enabled the network of 4 million first responders - including fire, law enforcement and emergency medical services personnel - to communicate and work together instantly as critical part of the federal government’s Disaster Management e-Government Initiative.  FEMA chose Bantu for its security, scalability and 'always-on' emergency alerting capabilities.

Benefits
By deploying Bantu’s EnterpriseIM and EnterpriseIM exchange products FEMA was able to quickly and cost effectively deploy a communication capability to all first responders.  Even with the geographic dispersion of the users FEMA was able to leverage the Disasterhelp.gov portal as a central connection point tying all the first responders together under one platform with one instant messaging capability.

Industry Segment:       Government
Customer:     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Overview:
Information sharing, collaboration and business social networking are not just hyped phrases but business initiatives that enable companies to compete on a global basis. That’s why Bantu is focused on enabling communication through creative concepts such as secure instant messaging and portal technologies.

Operational Need:
Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) has a program called 360vu which is an initiative of NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).  This program helps small and medium sized manufacturers compete more effectively in the global marketplace and NIST needed the ability to facilitate real-time communications among small and mid-sized manufacturers aiding them in effectively competing in the global marketplace.

Solution:
NIST deployed Bantu’s Enterprise Instant Messaging solution in conjunction with YellowBrix’s Portal Solution, to facilitate real-time communications among NIST certified 360vu advisors   throughout the United States.  This portal enabled them to share information and best practices. “MEP and 360vu wanted to give staff and consultants every advantage in helping small manufacturers grow successful businesses, and enhancing their 360vu portal with real-time collaboration was critical to this effort,„ said Jace Wieser, senior vice president and CTO of YellowBrix. “After exploring different options, it became clear that integrating Bantu into our Portal Solution was the right decision because it had the scalability, integration and security NIST’s MEP initiative needed-as well as key communication functionality that would continue adding value to its users well into the future.„

Benefits
NIST’s 360vu is a management resource center offered exclusively to the certified MEP Centers nationwide. Certified MEP specialists and staff use www.360vu.net to share insights about best manufacturing practices, collaborate on client projects, and stay updated on new developments that can help them give clients a competitive edge against large, global manufacturers.  Time sensitive projects are now managed more efficiently, collaboration is increased and exchanging vital information has been expedited.

Industry Segment:       Government
Customer:     International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)

Overview:
Web 2.0 and collaboration are now engrained in government practice and people expect 7x24 connectivity requiring engineering support to react in real time and insure communication is never interrupted.  Round the clock internet access with more media and news content available in real time challenges even the most robust engineering teams.  That is why Bantu is focused on professional services that support engineering teams and creative technical approaches such as secure Instant Messaging.

Operational Need:
IBB provides the engineering support for U.S. government-funded non-military international broadcast services.  Because people around the world depend on IBB for ‘round-the-clock news, IBB needs to ensure its programs are continually available. IBB needed a way to enable IBB broadcast engineers to immediately communicate about critical events, while providing the security, reliability and easy access needed for 24x7 collaboration.

Solution:
IBB chose to deploy Bantu as an application service hosted and provided by Bantu. This subscription service is a highly secure, reliable and low-overhead deployment option that appeals to government agencies that want the benefits of Enterprise IM without having to apply resources to managing it.

IBB broadcasts, including Voice of America, Worldnet Television and Film Service, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and Television Marti, Radio Sawa and Radio Farda, are translated into 53 languages and relayed around the world. To help ensure broadcasts reach all intended audiences, engineers responsible for ensuring transmission of the programs will use Bantu’s EnterpriseIM Alert (instant notifications) and EnterpriseIM exchange (see who is online by viewing names or job functions) to immediately become aware of and respond to problems, thereby enabling the highest levels of broadcast reliability.

Benefits
IBB can reduce broadcast interruption and recover from downtime by shortening the time to trouble shoot technical problems.  The result is that their broadcasts have improved performance levels and their audience satisfaction ratings are higher.

Industry Segment:      Education
Customer:     Embry Riddle

Overview:
Educational environments demand collaboration to enable creative thinking and new idea’s but with the internet as the delivery platform, students and faculty are geographically disperse spanning many different time zones and often in remote locations.   That’s why Bantu offers new social networking solutions combined with Instant messaging and presence to enable real time collaboration and information sharing.

Operational Need:
Embry-Riddle is focused on moving course offerings and day-to-day business operations to an online model and enhancing the online course experience while maintaining the standards of education and student support that Embry-Riddle is known for. The university was looking for an integrated instant messaging client as a key component for its online virtual campus, ERAU Online, and into administrative applications across the 20 Embry-Riddle campuses.

Solution:
Bantu’s Secure Enterprise Instant Messaging and Presence Platform will be used to deliver real-time messaging and presence management to students, faculty and staff. Bantu is integrated with Embry-Riddle's Blackboard e-Education suite as a pre-defined Blackboard extension module, known as Blackboard Building Block.  Bantu’s application enablement solution called EnterpriseIM plus can integrate instant messaging (real-time text communication) and presence (the ability to see who’s on-line) into virtually any software or web-based service

Benefits
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is able to provide quality on-line content with real time secure communications for students, faculty and staff while having a flexible platform that will keep up with future demands.

Industry Segment:     Education
Customer:     The George Washington University

Overview:
Educational environments demand collaboration to enable creative thinking and new idea’s but with the internet as the delivery platform, students and faculty are geographically disperse spanning many different time zones and often in remote locations.   That’s why Bantu offers new social networking solutions combined with Instant messaging and presence to enable real time collaboration and information sharing for students, faculty and family.

Operational Need:
How to enable secure real-time communication for the members of the George Washington University community so they can share information and collaborate on projects in a timely manner.

Solution:
More than 25,000 students, faculty and staff have access to the Bantu EnterpriseIM through The George Washington University’s GWeb intranet portal. Bantu’s EnterpriseIM and EnterpriseIM Exchange enable GWeb users to interact dynamically and collaborate more efficiently on everything from team projects and research discussions, to online office hours and administrative activities. Bantu is integrated into the GWeb online IM directory, enabling users to display their online status and availability to others within the portal. GWeb members can search the directory for students, faculty, and staff, and if the parties sought have chosen to appear as visible, they can be sent an IM with a simple mouse click.

Benefits
George Washington’s Interactive Media applications group was able to implement a cost effective IM capability quickly and efficiently enabling communications in real time.

Industry Segment:     Education
Customer:     Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Overview:
Educational environments demand collaboration to enable creative thinking and new idea’s but with the internet as the delivery platform, students and faculty are geographically disperse spanning many different time zones and often in remote locations.   That’s why Bantu offers new social networking solutions combined with Instant messaging and presence to enable real time collaboration and information sharing.

Operational Need:
Determine a way in which 3,500 faculty, students, researchers, and staff who are geographically disperse can cost effectively collaborate on academics and research in real time.

Solution:
Bantu’s professional services team integrated Bantu’s Presence and Instant Messaging application into Citrix  XPS ™ Portal service for the Bloomberg Schools entire faculty, staff and students.

Benefits
“Bantu’s Instant Messaging and presence technologies bring a powerful new dimension to our academic and research collaboration programs,„ said Rodd McKenzie, director of information systems for BSPH.  “Members of our educational community will now be able to see which of their professors, students, or colleagues are present online, and instantly communicate with them in real time - whether they’re here in Baltimore, across the country, or around the world.„

Industry Segment:     Finance
Customer:      Stock-Borrow.com

Overview:
Financial services companies must have secure real time information available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year in order to succeed in today’s demanding market environment.  With the challenging market conditions and real time requirements that financial services companies require, information sharing and collaboration are everyday tools the financial community depends on.   That’s why Bantu offers new social networking solutions combined with Instant messaging and presence to enable real time collaboration and information sharing for financial service companies and all their trading partners.

Operational Need:
Create a capability for Stock-Burrow to securely enable its member companies to quickly communicate about and negotiate loans on available securities.

Solution:
Stock-Borrow.com, a financial services Web site displays securities available for loan, integrated Bantu’s Presence and IM capabilities to enable member companies including American Express Financial Advisors, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and UBS PaineWebber, to more quickly communicate about, and negotiate loans on securities - in a fully secure environment. Through the Bantu Presence Application Programming Interface (API), names of traders associated with a security available for loan appear throughout Stock-Borrow.com (for example, on message boards or on a stock needs list). Wherever their names appear, they can be instantly contacted by a borrower or lender. Through Bantu’s technology, all messages sent between users are fully encrypted. In addition, the Bantu platform enables Stock-Borrow.com members to comply with regulations by saving time-stamped transcripts of trader dialogues.

Benefits
“Bantu’s platform will significantly speed up transactions between our member traders,„ said Damian Henry, President and CEO of Stock-Borrow.com. “Throughout the Stock-Borrow.com site, presence technology enables traders to see which other members are currently online, and simply click on an icon to initiate real-time IM conversations with them,„ said Henry. “By having instant access to one another for questions and exchanging information, borrowers and lenders can quickly resolve issues and close deals.„

Bantu ’s Instant Messaging, presence and API technologies improve trader’s response times for transaction completion, aids in complying with regulations and insures a level of security demanded within the financial industry.

Industry Segment:     Technology
Customer:     Sprint

Overview:
Technology companies are faced with rapid technical advancements and global competition.  Often technology companies have development teams and manufacturing plants all over the world.  Communication and collaboration on a real time basis is critical to the success of their business and Bantu’s solutions are tailor made to support technology companies with our advanced, secure Instant Messaging platform and creative social networking solution’s.

Operational Need:
Sprint required an instant messaging platform that could be integrated into their Internet Collaboration Center (SM), which is a web based multimedia conferencing service.  With this IM capability Sprint Internet Collaboration Center (ICC) was one of the first web-based voice and data conferencing services to offer free IM service interoperable with nearly all other major instant messaging (IM) products.

Solution:
Bantu supplied Sprint with instant messaging technology that delivered a secure IM capability that provided encrypted and secure communications.  By providing Sprint ICC customers with secure, compatible and easy-to-use instant messaging technology Sprint enables businesses of all sizes to increase collaborative efforts and improve productivity.

Benefits
"With Sprint's instant messaging technology, Sprint ICC users now have the freedom to hold real-time, Web-based conversations while collaborating on everything from remote training to presentation development," said Arthur Chaykin, vice president of strategic development for Sprint's Global Business Markets Group. "In addition, this instant messaging technology ensures Sprint users that instant messaging conversations with other Sprint IM users will be encrypted and secure."

Bantu’s IM solution combined with Sprint delivers an IM capability that works outside of corporate intranets, uninhibited by firewalls and proxies, allowing easy connectivity amongst companies that require secure networks, yet want to freely interact with those outside the company in real-time. In addition, this easy-to-use instant messaging technology requires no software downloads - enabling ICC customers to easily contact individuals using any instant messaging system.

Industry Segment:     Technology
Customer:     Texas Instruments

Overview:
Technology companies are faced with rapid technical advancements and global competition.  Often technology companies have development teams and manufacturing plants all over the world.  Communication and collaboration on a real time basis is critical to the success of their business and Bantu’s solutions are tailor made to support technology companies with our advanced, secure Instant Messaging platform and creative social networking solution’s.

Operational Need:
TI, the world leader in digital signal processing and analog technologies - the engines of the Internet age - needed an instant messaging (IM) solution that would work across multiple computer platforms and provide enhanced, real-time communications in a hassle-free environment to its worldwide employees and TI's extended community of partners and suppliers.

Solution:
Texas Instruments is using Bantu to improve communications among global employees, partners and suppliers. TI selected Bantu because it works across multiple computer platforms, is easy to use and deploy, offers the security and scalability they require, and enables employees to communicate with people outside the company since Bantu interoperates with other messaging services such as Yahoo! and MSN Messenger. Available to all TI employees, the messenger allows for fast and easy collaboration between the global manufacturing plants and offices.

Benefits
Texas Instruments deployed a communication tool that did not require any download which reduced the deployment costs and increased adoption.   Also by leveraging the power of IM they were able to extend their business community and improve communications for their employee’s worldwide.

Industry Segment:     Technology
Customer:     webMethods

Overview:
Technology companies are faced with rapid technical advancements and global competition.  Often technology companies have consultants, development teams and manufacturing plants all over the world.  Communication and collaboration on a real time basis is critical to the success of their business and Bantu’s solutions are tailor made to support technology companies with our advanced, secure Instant Messaging platform and creative social networking solution’s.

Operational Need:
webMethods Professional Services organization needed a tool that would enable instant communication between multiple people at multiple companies in order to collaborate on projects.  Often employees are working at remote client sites and need to collaborate with other consultants, clients themselves and with partners who are integrating webMethods products into customer environments.

Solution:
webMethods deployed the Bantu Platform to its Professional Services organization, enabling instant communication between multiple people at multiple companies, in multiple locations.  Bantu was selected because of it’s products high security, ability to be easily integrated into webMethods’ partnership management application, and the fact that consultants and partners can access Bantu’s platform from anywhere, whether at the client’s facility, a hotel room, or the webMethods main office.

Benefits
webMethods consultants are enabled to communicate and collaborate in real time with their clients, partners and peers which improves project management and their effectiveness to deliver quality to their customers.  Better communication and improved quality reduces project expenses, potential increases profitability and delivers higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Industry Segment:     Technology
Customer:     SAIC

Overview:
Technology companies are faced with rapid technical advancements and global competition.  Often technology companies have consultants, development teams and manufacturing plants all over the world.  Communication and collaboration on a real time basis is critical to the success of their business and Bantu’s solutions are tailor made to support technology companies with our advanced, secure Instant Messaging platform and creative social networking solution’s.

Operational Need:
Science Applications International Corporation's (SAIC) Strategies Group needed a tool that would enable real-time collaboration among its 500-person staff.  SAIC employees provide integrated solutions and consulting services to government and commercial companies around the world. They required a secure IM platform that is available for a globally dispersed user community on multiple platforms.

Solution:
Bantu’s secure Instant Messaging was deployed to enable SAIC’s Strategies Group to communicate daily through an end-to-end message encryption platform through a web-based client that works across multiple platforms, including PC, Macintosh, Linux and WAP enabled wireless devices.

Benefits
SAIC users saw productivity gains by facilitating daily team communications that were unable to occur prior to the deployment. "The SAIC users involved in the pilot relied on the Bantu IM platform for daily team communications, and we saw that those productivity benefits would be useful to our entire organization," said Michael Pritz, program manager of SAIC's Strategies Group.