News

Netop, one of the leading administration software providers, today released Netop Remote Control 9.5 with advanced functionality for more flexible, powerful and secure remote control, management and maintenance in a simpler to manage solution. With version 9.5, Netop Remote Control offers support for the Windows 7 operating system in all 32-bit and 64-bit versions as well as the high-end 64-bit server platform Windows Server 2008 R2.

Netop Remote Control 9.5 is equipped with the new ActiveX Guest, which offers users improved access options and integration capabilities. Companies can now embed the essential remote maintenance functions of the Netop Remote Control Guest into their own applications and Web sites. In addition, version 9.5 has expanded support for Intel's vPro technology to more easily manage PCs that are equipped with this chipset from a central console.

"Remote Control is a business-critical solution for many companies whether they are in retail, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing or the public sector," said Kurt Bager, CEO of Netop. "With Netop Remote Control 9.5, we are now offering companies a solution they can use to achieve the best possible performance on a new platform such as Windows 7 and, at the same time, receive the maximum benefit from their technology investments."

More secure, more flexible and more efficient support through WebConnect and ActiveX Guest

Netop Remote Control 9.5 offers users improved access options and integrationcapabilities with the new ActiveX Guest, which comprises the core functions formanagement and control of the Netop Guest. Companies can embed the essential remote maintenance function of the Netop Remote Control Guest into their own applications and Web sites, for example in CRM applications or in Internet Explorer.

With Netop WebConnect, a Web-based remote control service, the Guest and the Host can connect simply and securely via the Internet from all possible locations without a company having to configure security-critical firewalls, routers or proxies. Netop WebConnect is an additional module for companies that want to offer their home-based and traveling users a Web-based remote control connection at the same security level as in the internal network. IT administrators can support their users or devices from any location and from any device, provided an Internet connection exists.

Netop WebConnect can now be more easily managed by administrators byidentifying a domain administrator for each WebConnect domain created, creating separate sections for their customers. This enables hierarchical structures for more flexible account management and higher security.

Advanced vPro functionality simplifies centralized administration

Netop Remote Control 9.5 has expanded support for Intel's vPro technology.Computers that are equipped with this technology can now be more easily managed from the central Netop Guest console. In addition to remotely installing an operating system, editing BIOS and forcing a reboot, the IT administrator can take advantage of improved network scanning, an updated inventory module, improved diagnoses, adaptable commands and updated event descriptions.

For more information on Netop Remote Control software please click here

Monday 2nd November 2009
Guardian Web Filter Takes Online Games out of Play

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In recent years, flash-based online games have become extremely popular. According to Comscore, online game sites pull in over a quarter (28%) of the total worldwide Internet population with the average online gamer visiting gaming sites nine times in every month.

Organizations need to block online games to prevent users wasting time and preserve valuable bandwidth. Schools also have more serious concerns about the depictions of graphic violence, gore, criminal behavior and even virtual sex, which many popular games contain. Even seemingly innocent games like Neopets aren't beyond suspicion, since their online interactive forums are also becoming popular places for pedophiles looking to find and groom young victims, according to the UK-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

Filtering online games is a complicated science. Most web filters have a 'gaming' category, where known sites are listed and blocked. But such methods are a long way from foolproof. Game site operators are now going to increasing lengths to hide sites and offer users more 'discreet' ways to play. Determined gamers have learned how to outsmart school filters with less obvious searches (such as searching for just "swf") and by embedding their favorite flash games into legitimate looking sites.

Although many filters offer the option to block flash files altogether, this is rarely a practical fix. According to the Opera Browser Development Center, over a third of all websites now use flash and schools are increasingly reliant upon a variety of flash- and video-based learning resources.

"I'm very relieved that Smoothwall is going to have Flash-filtering capabilities; they were reading my mind!" said Rachel Dombrowski, Director of Technology, Governor Mifflin School District of Shillington, Pennsylvania. "Our students are very good at finding Flash game web sites. It is increasingly difficult to monitor if we don't have our 'helpers' out there watching. Our teachers and my tech team are phenomenal about finding the sites to block; however, it is nice to know that Smoothwall is truly on the same page as its users."

Web filtering vendor SmoothWall says the only viable solution is to inspect the actual content of flash files so they can be blocked or allowed based on what they contain. Product Manager Tom Newton said:

"In recognition of the filtering challenges online games pose, we have extended our Dynamic Content Analysis technology to encompass flash files, so we can rapidly scan their content and accurately block or allow them in exactly the same way. We can also identify a number of different flash applications (including malformed flash files) and we hope to include more categories as the technology matures."

Released today, the latest version of SmoothWall's Guardian web filter also benefits from outbound (egress) filtering, more frequent updates and a number of flexibility and scalability improvements. Existing users will get the new functionality via a feature pack download. For more information, visit www.smoothwall.net.

"There are many CIOs and technology directors who are in the same position I am with my school system in when it comes to the idea of 'to filter or not to filter,'" said Dyer. "With the new Flash-filtering capabilities included in SmoothWall Guardian, I will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief."

Find out more about SmoothWall here.

The latest version of Netop School6 (version 6.02) includes a compatibility update for Netop ProtectOn Pro, as well as a number of minor bug fixes. See details in the modification notes, posted to the Netop School support page.

Support for Microsoft Windows 7 coming soon! Netop will release an update to Netop School with support for Windows 7 in Q4, following the official release from Microsoft.

New feature
Version 6.01 of Netop School, released in May 2009, included a number of minor bug fixes, and one important new feature. Netop School student computers can now act as Netop Remote Control hosts, enabling a second teacher or an administrator to take control of a student computer and assist with problems, even while the class is in session.

Two teachers at once?
Yes, this new release means that if you share your classroom with a student teacher, or a teacher assistant, you can enable them to assist students at the same time that you are teaching the entire class. The teacher remains in control of the classroom, but the second teacher can do any or all of the following functions:

•Observe one or more student computers in individual windows
•Take remote control of any student computer to assist with a problem
•Chat with the student (text, audio and/or video)
•Transfer files to / from the student computer
•And more ... (learn more about Netop Remote Control)
What's required?
The only requirement is that the second teacher or administrator have the Netop Remote Control guest software installed. They do NOT have to purchase an additional Netop School6 license.

Great for school IT administrators and tech support
Your school IT administrator or tech support team will love this new capability. It lets them take remote control of any student computer in your classroom and solve complex technical problems quickly, while your class is still in session.

Save big on Netop Remote Control
Netop Remote Control is the industry-leading solution for remote maintenance and user support, but in the past it was prohibitively expensive for many schools. Now, however, the full Netop Remote Control host capability is included for free with each Netop School student license. For the price of a single Netop Remote Control guest license your school administrator will have the best remote control software that money can buy. Additionally, should you wish to equip other computers in your school with Netop Remote Control, you can do so at a substantial discount.

Find out more about Netop School here.

Crisp®, the online child protection specialist, has deployed its NetModerator™ software into a new educational virtual world based on the popular television series, The Zula Patrol®, which airs Saturday mornings on NBC as part of the qubo programming block as well as on qubo, Telemundo (Spanish) and many public television stations.

Crisp® has worked closely with site creators, Zula USA, LLC, to integrate NetModerator™ into the virtual community to ensure safe interaction between all users and provide peace of mind to teachers and parents that ZulaWorld.com is consistently and effectively moderated.

With the ability to monitor thousands of interactions simultaneously, NetModerator™ provides virtual communities, social networks and UGC portals with the increased power needed to efficiently and effectively deal with everything from inappropriate content to online bullies and sexual predators.

ZulaWorld.com is an immersive virtual environment for 6-to-10-year-old children and their parents and teachers to aid learning in science, math, and literacy. Featuring challenging games, quests and missions, ZulaWorld.com unites classroom teaching, social networking, scientific discovery and critical thinking!

In addition to the U.S., The Zula Patrol is broadcast on Discovery Kids in Canada and more than 50 countries internationally. It is the only animated series focusing on a combined science, math and astronomy curriculum.

NetModerator™ is a unique, intuitive system that allows developers, publishers and their moderating staff to ensure online safety through a single system that both blocks in real-time and offers ongoing in-depth analysis of online communications.

The software’s fast and automated examination of online chat content provides a more refined approach than existing keyword-matching techniques. NetModerator allows moderators to get an immediate understanding of which users are breaking website rules so that judgements and action can be taken quickly and efficiently.

By assessing and ranking risk, the system alerts moderators whenever the threat level rises and individuals may be in danger. In urgent cases, moderators can be alerted in real-time and can put an immediate block on the accounts of rule breakers.

Deborah Manchester, PhD, creator of The Zula Patrol, said: “The Zula concept has always been an extremely interactive one. With the development of ZulaWorld.com we created a platform for children, parents and teachers to share experiences and immerse themselves in the fun world of science while at the same time being extremely conscience of the security issues involved in creating such an environment. We want parents and educators to know that security is, and will continue to be, our top priority as we develop engaging games and missions for children in the years to come!”

“To ensure that ZulaWorld.com is as safe as it is educational, we are utilising NetModerator™. The program’s ability to provide moderators with live assessment of chat content, coupled with the knowledge Crisp has of the online child safety issue, makes NetModerator™ an ideal partner for ZulaWorld.”

Andrew Lintell, Chief Executive of Crisp®, said: “Virtual Worlds and Social Networks are becoming an ideal tool for education. Educators utilising online environments should follow Zula’s lead to ensure that the safety of their users is equal to the quality of educational resources they provide.

“Parents and educators will be more encouraged to let their children interact within a virtual community that demonstrates its safety commitment and employs NetModerator™ to protect its users.”

Find out more about NetModerator School Edition here.

Harpenden Hertfordshire - Bluebeam Security, Netop's only Gold Partner in the UK, announced last week that they are making their "Train the Teacher" and "Expert Setup for IT Admin" training courses available to schools, businesses and other suppliers in the UK.  Bluebeam have invested heavily in gaining the technical and user experience necessary to allow them to deliver first rate training that allows customers to get the most out of their investment in Classroom Management Software and Remote Control Software.  Previously this training was only available to current Bluebeam Security customers, but it has been decided to expand this to any UK Netop customer or supplier that feels they want to really understand how to maximise their investment in these solutions. 

Neville Gibbons, Bluebeam’s Managing Partner, said: “We’ve been providing this service to our customers for some time now, but the rate of enquiries from other organisations keeps going up, so we’ve decided to make this training more widely available.  The training itself focuses on the strategies, tips and techniques for really getting the most out of your investment.  These days it’s not good enough just to buy some software and hope it solves your problems, you need to work with people who can help you set up and drive IT tools to make a real difference to you.”

For more information on  Netop School Classroom Management Software please click here
For more information on Netop Remote Control software please click here
For more information on Bluebeam Security's training packages for Netop please click here

SmoothWall, 23 June 2009. In 2008, a CBI survey showed UK workers spending over an hour and a half surfing the web for personal reasons, at an estimated cost to the economy of £10.6bn.

This week, a similar national survey conducted by SmoothWall indicated a massive 50% hike in timewasting trends, with a third of workers admitting to spending more than 2 hours a day in addition to paid breaks.

Both men and women were found to be as equally as guilty of cyber skiving with surfing the web cited as the most popular non-work activity (44%) followed by emailing friends (21%) and booking holidays online (13%).

Full details of the SmoothWall 'Bored Report' survey results will be issued next week.



Find out more about SmoothWall here.

The new version 9.4 of Netop's award-winning print management software, PrintLimit Pro, is now available. This new version is a major upgrade with a substantial number of new features and more than 90 enhancements. Some of the new features include:

• Support for 64 bit installations of Novell OES2 Linux
• Native support for 64 bit Linux installations
• Load balancing: Spread print load over fleets of group printers
• Find-Me Printing: Intelligent routing of print jobs to release stations at large sites
• Ten new reports covering printer usage, environmental reports and more
• Administrators can now query and list serial numbers for most networked printers
• Across-the-board performance improvements
• Greatly improved scalability. Now supports tens-of-thousands of simultaneous user clients even when running on standard 32-bit server hardware


Find out more about PrintLimit Pro here.

Crisp Thinking, the UK-based online user protection specialist, today announced the rollout of its groundbreaking new NetModerator™ version, NetModer™ for User Generated Content (UGC), the first comprehensive, self-learning product capable of dealing with the full range of UGC (Image, Video and Text).

The latest in Crisp's long line of award-winning online safety solutions, NetModerator™ for UGC extends C's existing market leading NetModerator™ platform to cover image, video and text submissions such as brand abuse, griefing, spam, pornography and obscenity. UGC is exploding, but the moderation costs are becoming a headache for many organisations and businesses.

NetModerator ™ for UGC is the fastest, largely automated moderation interface available. Set to become the industry standard moderation tool, it allows moderators to process the greatest number of videos and images per hour alongside highly developed text analysis engine that can block inappropriate or dangerous content instantly.
NetModerator™ for UGC not only uses the best individual engines to analyse image, video and text but, because 99 per cent of bad content comes from just one per cent of users, it also profiles user behaviour in the short, medium and long term giving moderators a complete, comprehensive picture across all types of submission.

Find out more about NetModerator School Edition here.

DRAPER, Utah, U.S.A. - StorageCraft Technology Corporation, a provider of innovative disaster recovery, system migration, data protection and security solutions for servers, desktops and laptops, announced that StorageCraft ShadowProtect™ was na"Best SMB Technology Solution 2008-" by the Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group. StorageCraft ShadowProtect received the award because it demonstrated clear leadership in providing the best solution for the channel.

"Since StorageCraft introduced themselves to the SMB IT Pro community a few short years ago they have revolutionized the way most of us do backups, migrations and recoveries," said Mark Crall, president and CEO of Charlotte Tech Care Team and founder of Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group. "Their passion for an excellent product combined with a great channel program has made them a hero to many of us. In fact, over 50% of the Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group already uses StorageCraft ShadowProtect to protect their customers' data."

StorageCraft ShadowProtect is the award-winning line of disaster recovery, system migration and data protection solutions for Windows servers, desktops and laptops. It allows solutions providers and IT professionals to perform bare metal recovery of their hardware, restore a server, desktop or laptop to brand new systems with Hardware Independent Restore, or migrate to or from physical and virtual environments. ShadowProtect is complementary to virtualization solutions such as VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtual Iron and Xen.

"StorageCraft is really pleased to accept this award from the Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group," said Curt James, vice president of marketing and business development at StorageCraft. "So many solution providers are discovering that ShadowProtect can allow them to provide their customers with simple and reliable disaster recovery, data protection and system migration."

More than 400 members in the Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group choose one technology every year to win their award. For more information about the Charlotte SMB IT Pro Group, visit http://charlotte.smbitpros.org.

Visit our StorageCraft pages for more information on StorageCraft ShadowProtect.

Crisp Thinking, Leeds, May 09 - Crisp®, the online child protection specialist, has announced that NetModerator™ has been selected by new online destination, Webosaurs (www.webosaurs.com), as a key element in creating a safe, comprehensively moderated environment for children.

NetModerator, which is the most comprehensive cyber-bullying and anti-predator technology available to virtual communities and social networks, will form an essential component of Webosaurs human and technological moderation mix for its virtual world and social network capabilities.

Webosaurs, created by US-based studios, Reel FX Entertainment, will offer safe social networking, fun-filled, prehistoric-themed gaming, educational content, and action-packed entertainment from wildlife expert Nigel Marven. The site is designed for children aged between 5 and 10-years-old.

Central to the site is the ability for children to create customizable 3D avatars, which can interact within Webosaurs 13 landscapes and 20 hangout rooms. Crisp NetModerator will ensure this environment remains safe and constantly-monitored through its comprehensive next-generation monitoring, analysing and reporting technology.

With the ability to monitor thousands of interactions simultaneously, NetModerator provides security and peace of mind to children and their parents. It provides virtual communities and social networks, like Webosaurs, with the increased power needed to efficiently and effectively deal with online bullies and sexual predators.

By assessing and ranking risk, the system alerts moderators whenever the threat level rises and individuals may be in danger. In urgent cases, moderators can be alerted in real-time and can put an immediate block on the accounts of rule breakers. NetModerator's fast and automated examination of online chat content provides a more refined approach than existing keyword-matching techniques. Crisp allows moderators to get an immediate understanding of which users are breaking website rules so that judgements and action can be taken quickly and efficiently.

Jacques Panis, Director of Reel FX/Webosaurs, comments: "Alongside the exciting and exhilarating space we have created for children is an overriding commitment to their safety. Parents can be reassured that the same efforts that have been put in to generating a fantastic environment for children to explore, play and learn is matched by comprehensive safety protocols and NetModerator™, which is the highest-level technology of its kind available to us."

Andrew Lintell, Chief Executive of Crisp, said: "We have worked very closely with Reel FX Entertainment to ensure Webosaurs exists as a completely safe environment for children. NetModerator is now established as the safety tool of choice for a growing number of virtual worlds, social networks and MMOGs, which represents a growing understanding of the potential dangers to children that exist online and the responsibility of site operators to provide safe and monitored spaces for young people."

Find out more about NetModerator in it's School Edition here.

Netop will be releasing version 6.0.1 of Netop School on Tuesday, May 19th. This is primarily a maintenance release but does include one new feature that will be important to customers. Netop School student computers can now act as full Netop Remote Control hosts, enabling a second teacher or an administrator to take control of a student computer and assist with problems, even while the class is in session. Additionally, the graphic elements of Netop School have been updated to match the new company rebranding, a number of minor bug fixes have been completed, and a Portuguese version of Netop School is now being made available. The documentation for Netop School has also been updated to reflect the rebranding.

Visit our Netop Education pages for more information on Netop School.

Crisp®, the online child protection specialist, is deploying NetModerator™ to provide a safe online environment within Medikidz, a new website for children living with health conditions.

Medikidz, due to launch in the second half of 2009, explains often complex information about illness, health, medicines and treatments in a child-friendly style. It was founded by 2 doctors who, after working in paediatrics, had become frustrated that there were few resources for their young patients to help them understand their new diagnoses and resulting treatments. Most paediatric medical information was targeted solely at the parents.

Central to Medikidz will be an immersive 3D virtual world of the human body, Mediland, which will provide education, entertainment and the chance for children to safely interact with their peers.

Crisp® NetModerator™ will ensure this environment remains safe and constantly-monitored through its comprehensive next-generation monitoring, analysing and reporting technology.

With the ability to monitor thousands of interactions simultaneously, NetModerator™ provides security and peace of mind to children and their parents. It provides virtual communities, like Mediland, with the increased power needed to efficiently and effectively deal with online bullies and sexual predators.

By assessing and ranking risk, the system alerts moderators whenever the threat level rises and individuals may be in danger. In urgent cases, moderators can be alerted in real-time and can put an immediate block on the accounts of rule breakers.

NetModerator's™ fast and automated examination of online chat content provides a more refined approach than existing keyword-matching techniques. Crisp® allows moderators to get an immediate understanding of which users are breaking website rules so that judgements and action can be taken quickly and efficiently. Also part of Medikidz will be a first-of-its-kind social network, which will give children living with health conditions the opportunity to share their experiences and information with their peers worldwide. The social network will also be monitored by NetModerator™.

Andrew Lintell, Chief Executive of Crisp®, said: "Medikidz is a fantastic concept and we are delighted to be able to support it with the introduction of NetModerator™. NetModer™ provides the high standard of support to human moderators with its ability to judge the intent of online conversations as well as their content. Parents can be assured that Medikidz is supported by NetModerator and is a suitable environment for their children to interact online."

Dr Kate James from Medikidz, said: "We have created Medikidz to provide a one stop destination especially for children to come and learn about medicine and health. We explain medicine to young people in a way they can understand. We want to provide children with a resource that breaks down barriers about health conditions and helps them realise they are not alone. Utilising NetModerator™ ensures that children visiting Medikidz and interacting in Mediland are able to do so in a totally secure and safe environment."

Birkerod - May 4, 2009 - Companies can take customer service to the next level with today's launch of the new version of Netop Live Guide, an easy-to-use, flash-based interface with live chat, audio and video. Part of the worldwide leader's family of software solutions for desktop management, unified communications, advanced training and instruction, Netop Live Guide allows companies and their customers to engage in real-time communication by placing a call through the Web site.

Offered as a software-as-service solution hosted by Netop, this unique platform is based on the pervasive Adobe Flash Player so companies can be assured that it will work on any computer - no download or extra hardware is needed. A customer visiting a company's Web site simply starts a call by clicking on the "call" button. Netop Live Guide then launches a new window and opens a dialogue. With Netop Live Guide, companies can communicate with their customers, sell their products and services and resolve issues quickly without exchanging phone calls, emails or faxes. "Netop Live Guide allows companies to quickly and effectively communicate with their customers, turning Web site visitors into customers, increasing their order size and cross-selling their products and services," said Netop CEO Kurt Bager. "Our new unified communications solution allows organizations to lower costs while upgrading the quality of their customer service."

The largest airline in Scandinavia and recognized around the world, Scandinavian Airlines turned to Netop Live Guide to use the power of Web 2.0 to improve its customer service. "Netop Live Guide has increased our efficiency by a minimum of 100 percent," said Stephan Rosenkilde from SAS e-Commerce. "We can manage an average of five to six chats in the time that it takes to conduct one telephone conversation."

With Netop Live Guide, companies have a wide range of communication features, including two-way text chat, two-way audio and two-way video, as well as redirects that allow them to control the Web browser and guide the customer to the correct Web page. Netop Live Guide became a part of the Netop family of software solutions with the company's June 2008 acquisition of Medianet Innovation's sales organization and development division and the execution of a worldwide exclusive contract with Medianet.

We pleased to say we've had to move to new offices to accomodate our growing staff. For those who've visited us before we're still in the same building, but have moved across the balcony to 70d. Please drop by and see us, we'll give you a cup of coffee and a guided tour. Phone numbers, fax, emails etc will all remain the same.

A wealth of new features have found its way into this Netop Live Guide release. Netop have focused on optimizing the work flow for both administrators and operators and on gathering valuable information about the customer.

Please spend a few minutes and have a look at this new release (click here).