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Groundbreaking New Version of Simulation and Authoring Solution
Improves Developer and Learner Experience; Increases Ease of Platform
Integration and Content Delivery
SumTotal Systems (NASDAQ:SUMTE), the largest provider of learning
and business performance technologies and services, today announced
the availability of ToolBook Service Pack 2, the newest version of its
award winning simulation and content authoring solution. Responding to
customer demand and evolving industry trends, SumTotal has added
significant new capabilities to the product, including Java-free
deployment, support for SCORM 2004 content, browser support for
Firefox and Mozilla, tighter integration with the SumTotal platform
and enhanced online tutorials.
ToolBook helps organizations create compelling content and
simulations that are a critical success factor in any organizational
learning initiative. Using ToolBook, companies can create
professional, standards-based simulations, tutorials, assessments,
courseware and other interactive learning content without in-depth
programming skills. Based on AICC and SCORM standards, ToolBook also
makes it easy to launch and track ToolBook content through a
standards-compliant learning management system (LMS).
ToolBook Service Pack 2 represents the most powerful version of
the solution ever brought to market, delivering an easier, more
flexible user experience to learners and content authors alike. With
enhanced usability features and greater automation of redundant tasks,
ToolBook Service Pack 2 significantly increases content development
speed and productivity, enabling authors to get critical training and
just-in-time information to learners more quickly. New, advanced
capabilities in Service Pack 2 include:
Java-free Deployment
Responding to growing customer demand, this ToolBook release
enables users to launch and interact with ToolBook's rich Web content
without the need for Java in their Web browsers. This decreases
restrictions on content development and delivery, making it much
easier for a broader user audience to access and use courses and
learning activities.
SCORM 2004 Support
ToolBook Service Pack 2 adds support for SCORM 2004, the latest
version of the "Shareable Content Object Reference Model" learning
standard. This support strengthens the integration of ToolBook content
with SumTotal's TotalLMS or other SCORM 2004-compliant learning
management systems. It also ensures the smooth deployment of learning
content through an LMS, reducing cycle time for content authors and
the total cost of learning initiatives overall. In addition to SCORM
2004, ToolBook continues its support for the SCORM 1.2 and AICC
standards.
Expanded Browser Support
Providing increased flexibility and options for the ToolBook user
community, ToolBook Service Pack 2 incorporates new support for
Mozilla and Firefox browsers in addition to its ongoing support for
Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape. Now larger audiences of
users can run ToolBook content through a broader variety of Web
browsers without having to install new applications or worry about
incompatibility of the content with their systems.
Enhanced Online Tutorials and Developers Exchange
ToolBook Service Pack 2 improves the content development
experience by incorporating new tutorials designed to help reduce the
learning curve for new ToolBook users and to help long-time users
familiarize themselves with some of the newer or more complex ToolBook
capabilities, such as creating simulations. Content authors can also
locate and help develop new tools in the Developer's Exchange, one of
ToolBook's extensibility features.
MedStar Health, which uses ToolBook to develop learning content
and critical regulatory compliance training for more than 22,000
employees, was one of more than 500 SumTotal customers that
beta-tested ToolBook Service Pack 2. "ToolBook is the easiest solution
we have found for content development, particularly because it doesn't
require us to know complicated back-end coding or to bring in an IT
expert," said Amy E. Uranachek, e-learning specialist/ coordinator at
MedStar Health. "The Java-free deployment in ToolBook Service Pack 2
is incredibly important to us, as we have such a diverse population of
computer systems throughout our hospitals and other businesses. Our
users will now have trouble-free access to training and we'll save the
significant time and legwork that used to go into modifying content or
individual desktops to be able to run our learning activities."
Dave Carter, senior training and development representative at
Eastman Chemical Company, agrees. "We're creating a wide variety of
training, development and compliance content for more than 10,000
employees worldwide, many of whom may have different Java versions on
their computers," said Carter. "We are looking forward to not having
to worry about whether content will run easily and consistently on
everyone's machines. We can now create and deliver our content once
and move on to other critical projects."
For Cornell University, which uses ToolBook to create accounting
process training for faculty and accounting certification for the
school's finance staff, it is essential that ToolBook content be
compatible with the Firefox and Mozilla browsers. "The two new
browsers and Java-free capability are the two biggest pieces for us in
ToolBook Service Pack 2, because they make it much easier to deliver
content to our users," said Steve Jackson, manager of customer
training and development in the Financial Affairs Division at Cornell.
"Our department doesn't have control over how computer systems roll
out in each department. What matters to me is whether content will
load onto a user's machine and run with little or no tweaking. As
training professionals, we always keep our eyes open for new solutions
on the market. But we always keep coming back to ToolBook, because it
enables us to easily develop content that works the way we need it
to."
"Our primary focus in developing ToolBook Service Pack 2 was to
address the end-user experience. We spend considerable time talking to
the active, dynamic ToolBook user audience, which includes more than
13,000 organizations around the world," said R. Andrew Eckert,
SumTotal CEO. "We have a deep understanding not only of their
organizations' overall business objectives, but of what it's like to
have the day-to-day, in-the-trenches job of supporting learning
initiatives for global, multi-divisional, multi-geographical companies
with thousands of employees. We know that's no small task. So we
continue to develop ToolBook and our other products to make it easier
for training and development professionals to do their jobs and, as a
result, empower them to make a greater contribution toward achieving
the bottom line goals of their organizations. "
For more information on ToolBook Service Pack 2, or to download a
30-day trial version of the product, visit the SumTotal Systems Web
site at www.sumtotalsystems.com.
About SumTotal Systems
SumTotal Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:SUMTE) is the largest provider of
learning and business performance technologies, processes and
services. Formed by the merger of industry pioneers Docent and
Click2learn, the company is uniquely focused on helping organizations
harness and manage mission-critical intellectual power to solve
real-world business problems and produce significant bottom-line
results. SumTotal has helped accelerate performance and profit for
more than 675 of the world's best-known companies and federal and
local government agencies, including Microsoft, United Airlines, US
Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, Vodafone, Aetna, Accenture,
Cendant, Harley-Davidson, Wyeth, Wachovia and D & B. SumTotal Systems
is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, with offices throughout the US,
as well as in London, Paris, Heidelberg, Sydney, Tokyo and Hyderabad,
India. For more information on SumTotal and its solutions and
services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.
Safe Harbor Statement/ Forward-Looking Statements
"Information in this press release contains forward-looking
statements. These statements represent SumTotal Systems' expectations
or beliefs concerning future events and include statements, among
others, regarding SumTotal Systems' new product, SumTotal Enterprise
Suite 7.1. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of
future performance or events and are based on current expectations,
estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals and objectives, and involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results to be materially different from the results
expressed or implied by these statements. Readers of this press
release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual
results to differ include, but are not limited to (i) unknown errors
or bugs in SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1; (ii) inability to fix in a
timely fashion unanticipated bugs, errors or defects that materially
impact the functionality or usability of SumTotal Enterprise Suite
7.1, or unanticipated problems in customer upgrades to SumTotal
Enterprise Suite 7.1 from prior SumTotal products (iii) unexpected
shipment problems or delays of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1; (iv)
customers or partners delaying purchasing or upgrade decisions until
there is widespread market acceptance of SumTotal Enterprise Suite
7.1; (v) the acceptance of SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 and future
product offerings; (vi) the ability to successfully implement SumTotal
Systems' solutions; (vii) the ability to successfully address
technological developments and standards; (viii) ability to
successfully manage growth, significant current and expected
additional competition, and the need to continue to expand product
distribution and services offerings; and (ix) other events and other
important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in
SumTotal Systems' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the quarterly report filed on Form 10Q on November 15, 2004
and its Form 8-Ks filed on February 2, March 8, 10 and 17, and April
6, 20 and 28, 2005. SumTotal Systems assumes no obligation to update
the information in this press release."