Information Today
               Volume 17, Number 1 • January 2000		 Winstar Releases Office.com

Winstar Communications, Inc. has announced the launch of Office.com, an online business service for small- and medium-sized businesses at http://www.office.com. A unit of Winstar, with a one-third equity stake held by CBS Corp., Office.com is a Web destination for business-relevant content, as well as commerce, community, and communications services from best-of-breed partners and in-house experts, according to the company.

“Helping thousands of professionals across dozens of industries find useful information and tools to get their jobs done is a serious and complex undertaking,” said Stuart B. Rekant, president of Winstar New Media Company, Inc. “Office.com delivers completely integrated, relevant, and comprehensive content and services for the business customer that are unmatched on the Web today.”

The site features free access to news and information spanning nearly 150 industries and professions. Office.com utilizes a three-tiered revenue model of deep advertising sponsorships, transactional revenue from e-commerce sales of goods and services, and i-commerce sales of premium information.

“There’s no margin for error when it comes to customer loyalty on the Web. That’s why each of our partners underwent a rigorous best-of-breed vetting process,” said Jeffrey S. Cutler, Office.com’s senior vice president and general manager. “Not only will businesspeople find the site compelling from a content perspective, but also a standout in terms of ease-of-use. We look forward to a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship with all of our partners.”

Office.com’s list of content partners includes COMTEX, Data Broadcasting Corp., Knight-Ridder/Tribune, L2S, Multex’s Market Guide, Marketwatch, and Stockpoint. Companies providing additional tools and databases for corporate research include Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Gale Group, Responsive Database Services (RDS), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Classroom, and Winstar Telebase, Inc. The Office.com SmartShop has been developed with leading e-commerce partners including barnesandnoble.com, Hello Direct, Inc., MasterCard, OfficeMax, RoweCom, and Stamps.com. Finally, the Office.com infrastructure has been developed with technology partners including Aeneid Corp., Blue Barn, Cambridge Technology Partners, CommTouch Software, Digital River, and Transium Corp.

According to the announcement, many Office.com features were created based on research and testing among the site’s target audiences. Prospects were involved with all phases of development, providing in-depth assessments of their current Internet use, as well as their “wish lists” of new tools and resources that would enhance their businesses’ operations.

According to the announcement, Office.com’s proprietary Universal Business Search engine powers the site’s Fast Find feature—returning only the most relevant, business-focused information from a diverse set of resources, including the site’s own expert writers and producers; carefully selected and organized third-party information; and sites from the Web.

Within Office.com’s Business Management sections, interactive Business Tools provide how-to guidance on a variety of business matters. Assessment Tools in the Office.com SmartShop and Communications e-commerce areas take users through complex purchasing decisions step-by-step, to help simplify and speed up the buying process.

“Office.com embodies Winstar’s ‘Brave New Business’ vision,” said William J. Rouhana Jr., Winstar’s chairman and CEO. “We want to make the Internet, which is today’s version of the broadband network, relevant and useful to small- and medium-sized businesses. With Office.com’s unmatched depth of content and ease-of-use, any size business can take full advantage of cutting-edge communications, tools, content, and commerce via the Internet today—with an eye toward their business growth tomorrow.”

Source: Winstar Communications, Inc., New York, 212/792-9053; Fax: 212/792-9622; http://www.winstar.com.

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