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WITH BANDWIDTH increasing,resistance to browser plug-ins diminishing, and vector graphics standards arriving, 1999 is shaping up to be the year that multimedia becomes a normal part of browsing the corporate Web.
Some IT managers still think of multimedia as a dirty word, but there are more and more examples of multimedia technologies being used effectively to convey information in a corporate setting.
For example, Cisco Systems' Web site has exhaustive online demonstrations authored with Macromedia's Flash technology. These demonstrations illustrate how to set up Cisco's Catalyst 8510 and 8540 Campus Switch Routers from assembly through installation. IBM also uses Flash on its Web site to explain how some technologies work.
According to Cisco, feedback about the online animations has been positive.
"The main objective is to give someone a total picture of what's involved in getting the switch up, running, and installed," said Jim Hatlo, Web product projects manager at Cisco, in San Jose, Calif. "We're hoping to have something a little more customizable in the future, where we can serve up installation information specific to their configuration."
Hatlo said multimedia enables Cisco to better illustrate methods than is possible in print. For example, in the print documentation, there is a warning to have three people lift the switch into the rack. Online, this can be shown using animations.
"It engages people and makes them want to come back and retain what...