Commack, NY, May 14 — A first-in-category master chat server from market leader eShare Technologies, Inc., ushers in a new era in the business and personal use of Web chat, in which colleagues and buddies can instantly find each other across the Internet as well as locate affinity groups and other interesting chat rooms based on detailed information about their subject matter.

eShare, creators of the eShare Expressions Communications Server, the industry benchmark for easy-to-use and install Internet chat software, has designed the eShare Midway server to act as a "meta" server, capable of connecting a virtually unlimited number of eShare software users. Through this central clearinghouse, chatters can enter a new world of inclusivity, in which all it takes is a click of a button to find a business associate, or locate a chat room dedicated to the latest in software development tools, or participate in a chat session with an office in another state.

The eShare Midway server makes possible the widespread use of chat "channels," in which chatters can search for chat sessions running on servers anywhere on the Internet and instantly participate through a technology eShare calls "teleporting." For the first time, chatters are no longer restricted to chatting at one particular Web site.

eShare Expressions, already in use by major corporations and Web sites, includes innovative database links that allow users to create and modify their profiles as well as create buddy lists. The most recent version of this easy-to-install and use chat software, Expressions1.1, was announced last week. In just the past few months, eShare's chat software has been adopted by leading corporations and Web sites that include: Lotus Development Corp. for its LotusSphere site; GeoCities, the seventh most trafficked site on the Web and a leader in cyber community building; and OnLive! Technologies, as a complement to its voice chat. More than 1 million people chat using eShare's innovative technology.

"The Midway server represents a tremendous advancement of chat technology and the use of chat as a business tool," said James Tito, CEO of Commack, NY-based eShare. "Now colleagues can find each other online and users can check the master server to find chat rooms that they can learn from and participate in."

Anyone using eShare Expressions has the option of linking to a midway server, which can hold information from hundreds of Expressions servers. A chatter can type in a search for a buddy or colleague, or search for c categories of subjects that are of interest. In a company with eShare Midway on its intranet, or with chat servers for various offices, anyone could search for the Human Resource chat server, or the RD chat server, or the Atlanta office chat server. In effect, eShare has created a distributed intranet computing environment that can integrate all users. Individuals can seek chat sites with other soccer enthusiasts or fellow parents with toddlers.

These categories, or chat channels — analogous to TV channels — will significantly increase the use of Internet chat, Tito predicts.

To list a chat room by category or subject matter on this meta server, a user just clicks on one of literally scores of categories, which are set up by eShare Expressions administrators. A user perusing the category lists can also see a profile of those chatting on any given server. Never before has this much information about chat and its users been available.

Through Midway, chat users can find their "buddies," send them direct messages behind a firewall, and even teleport to another server to participate in a chat session. This ability to span servers elevates chat from Web-site based, which chatters need to be on the same server, to Internet based, to where they can be anywhere Midway is running.

"Midway will take community building on the Web to a whole new level, in which the community is not restricted to any one server or any one site," said Tito. "Communities can reach out to potential members by being including on the Midway server's category listings."

Clearly, Midway holds tremendous potential for advertisers who continually seek to target their ads to the most appropriate audiences. A chat room dedicated to soccer, for example, may receive ads or ticker-tape messages about upcoming televised games, or athletic equipment. Who got the ads, how many were clicked through — that's the kind of centrally-archived information that the Midway server provides. Expressions users have the option of not accepting ads — the way that local TV stations have the option of not accepting ads from the national station.

"We foresee that big companies will purchase Midway servers so they can have an easy method to communicate with all the employees using chat for business purposes," said Tito. "A Midway server is the only place to easily send out messages to a vast number of chat servers."

The cost to purchase of eShare Midway server is $995. eShare will operate its own Midway server for use by Expressions customers who seek to be linked to the broadest group of Internet chatters.

eShare Technologies, Inc., (www.eshare.com) is the only company focused on creating powerful Web-based interpersonal communications software that can be readily and easily deployed by corporations, organizations, and individuals seeking to create highly interactive "inclusive" worlds that promote productivity, participation, and partnership. With early-stage financing from SOFTBANK Ventures, Inc., Chase Capital Partners, and Flatiron Partners, the Commack, NY, software developer has launched Expressions, a breakthrough product that is redefining the chat market. The pioneering company has a blue-chip client list that includes Lotus Development, Sony Music, OnLive! Technologies, GeoCities, and Hit the Beach.

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