Press Release
FaceTime Secures Skype and IM for WaterAid
Stand 249, IP08, Earls Court, London - October 1, 2008 - FaceTime
Communications announced today that international charity, WaterAid, has
implemented FaceTime's security appliance and Greynet Enterprise Manager (GEM)
to secure its use of instant messaging and Skype. The need to use real-time
communications within the charity has been driven by WaterAid's partners who
help to deliver aid to the world's poorest countries in Africa, Asia and the
Pacific and who appreciate the associated benefits of low cost and presence.
"Many of our local partners across the globe use real-time applications to
communicate," says Peter Heather, Head of IT for WaterAid. "We wanted WaterAid
staff to be a part of that conversation, but not expose our networks and data
to spyware and other types of malware, which is becoming an increasing threat
on real-time networks. FaceTime has enabled us to make the most of cost
effective communications in a way that protects WaterAid, our data and its
workers."
WaterAid, which enables the world's poorest people to gain access to safe
water, sanitation and hygiene education, has over five-hundred employees around
the globe, with one-hundred and thirty based in the UK. FaceTime allows the
charity to control which employees can have access to specific real-time
communications applications and disable functionality where appropriate.
In an organisation that has a large disparate workforce, applications such as
Skype and instant messaging enables staff and partners to easily see when
people are available to chat, helping to resolve issues quickly and providing
much needed ongoing support, in a cost effective manner. FaceTime's appliance,
which allows organisations to manage security policies and aggregate reporting
for IM, P2P and spyware traffic, will enable WaterAid to work more effectively,
without compromising security.
"Presence is a strong driver for organisations to implement real-time
communications, but security must not be overlooked in the bid to improve
productivity and realise cost benefits," comments Nick Sears, VP EMEA, FaceTime
Communications. "By allowing some employees access to applications such as
instant messaging and VoIP, but blocking other features such as file transfer,
WaterAid is able to realise the advantages of real-time communications, without
putting its network at risk."
About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of instant
messaging, Web usage and Unified Communications platforms. Ranked number one by
IDC for four consecutive years, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by
more than 900 customers – including nine of the 10 largest U.S. banks – for
security, management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime
supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and enterprise
IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit
http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE.
The FaceForward blog, at http://blog.facetime.com,
offers thoughts and opinions about the changing nature of Internet communications.
PR Contact:
Sara Claridge
Marylebone Media Relations
sara@marylebone.co.uk
+44 (0) 20 8133 5572
+44 (0) 7968 626838 (mobile)
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