Press Release
FaceTime Appoints Instant Messaging Visionary, Jonathan Christensen, Chief Technology Officer and VP of Products
Former Microsoft Real-Time Communication Group Manager To Lead FaceTime's Next Generation of IM Solutions
FOSTER CITY, CA -July 14, 2003 -- FaceTime Communications, the leading provider of security, management and control solutions for Instant Messaging (IM) and other forms of real-time communications in the enterprise, today announced it has appointed Jonathan Christensen its vice president of Products and chief technology officer (CTO). Christensen, one of Microsoft's early instant messaging visionaries and group managers on the "Greenwich" Real-Time Communications team, joins FaceTime to head the company's next-generation technology efforts and help further its market leadership in developing solutions for real-time communications that complement the company's technology partners.
Christensen brings more than a decade of experience helping shape strategy for the growth of real-time communications and delivering technology solutions for major corporations such as Microsoft Corporation and Time Warner. He will report to FaceTime President and CEO, Glen D. Vondrick.
"The IM industry has long respected Jonathan Christensen's knowledge and experience with real-time communications technology," said President and CEO of FaceTime, Glen D. Vondrick. "We are thrilled Jonathan has chosen FaceTime for the next stage of his career. His passion and vision for the future of the industry will help expand on our strategy to continue to complement all IM networks and maintain our strategic product positioning with our partners. We look forward to leveraging Jonathan's expertise to continue our long history of providing customers with the most advanced real-time communications solutions available."
Christensen is coveted as a key visionary for his work at Microsoft Corporation where he spearheaded Real-Time Communications (RTC), as group program manager working with global technology partners for the past two years and was a founding member of the "Greenwich" project for enterprise IM. Notable among his achievements, Jonathan had overall program management responsibility including designing features and specifications of the RTC product. He also led the development of the large community of ISV's around the Microsoft RTC APIs. Christensen also held group manager roles in the Network Solutions Groups and MSN Voice Services groups where he was responsible for business and product development.
"FaceTime pioneered the technology that has enabled enterprises to harness the power of instant messaging," said Jonathan Christensen, FaceTime's newly appointed vice president of Products and CTO. "I've been a long time admirer of FaceTime's vision and ability to deliver products that have gained such rapid adoption. I was attracted to the company because of its clear technical and market leadership as well as its customer and revenue momentum. Given the breadth of my experience in this space, I am confident that FaceTime is uniquely positioned for continued leadership in the industry," said Christensen.
Prior to joining Microsoft Corporation, Christensen held management positions at Time Warner, pioneering commercial Internet services including access, hosting, and web design. While at Time Warner, Jonathan was very instrumental in bringing to market the first generation of consumer broadband services (e.g. data over cable).
Christensen has a Master's Degree in International Business Administration (EMBA) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
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:
Emily Chamberlin
650-762-2945
echamberlin@ar-edelman.com
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