SightSpeed, which in July, announced version 5.0 of its personal video services platform, has added even greater functionality to its popular Internet-based communications service. In fact, Sightspeed CEO Peter Csathy says all SightSpeed users — whether they are free or premium users — will find something to their liking among the latest enhancements.

 

Click to call is among the most popular new features being incorporated into voice and video calling platforms, and though SightSpeed is already offering the capability, its click to call video buttons will be more prominent to increase their functionality, including the capacity to be easily pasted into Web pages and social networking profiles (e.g., MySpace). With this increased visibility, SightSpeed users enable others to easily contact them via a Web interface, as opposed to requiring a software download.

 

The most innovative of release 5.0’s features, SightSpeedTV, a video place shifting capability, has been given a more prominent face on the SightSpeed interface, making it much easier to find — the SightSpeedTV is now featured front and center on the interface.

 

Video bloggers and others looking to share their video messages are now able to copy and paste their HTML script directly into a Web site or blog for a considerably easier experience. For its small business and power users (SightSpeed Pro customers), SightSpeed also has extended the recording time of video messages to three minutes from two (free users are allowed 30 seconds of recording time). Also, video message notifications have been redesigned, and are now cleaner and more attractive.

 

For international SightSpeeders, SightSpeed has upgraded its billing and payment processing system so that its global users will more easily be able to pay for fee-based services, like placing voice calls to landline or mobile phones, or subscribe to SightSpeed Pro services.

 

With the enhancements to its platform, SightSpeed has made it more convenient for family and friends to stay in touch, despite being separated by highways, mountains, or oceans. In fact, existing users can easily introduce relatives, colleagues, and friends to SightSpeed by sending them starter kits that can be shipped anywhere in the United States through the company’s upgraded online ordering system. The starter kit includes everything new users need to become SightSpeeders — a Webcam, headset, and a yearly SightSpeed Pro service plan.

 

Once they’ve activated the service, users will be able to make video calls to relatives during the holidays and stay in touch with colleagues and family members while on the road. They’ll be able to post videos to their blogs or Web pages, make free PC-to-PC calls, and make calls to and receive them from non-IP phones. And, with SightSpeedTV, they’ll be able to watch TV programming from their home while on the road anywhere (all they need is a home computer equipped with a video capture card).

 

“Based on feedback received from users and bloggers, we’ve been working on a lot of improvements,” said Csathy. “Now we’re announcing them all at once as part of Enhanced SightSpeed 5.0.

 

With the enhancements to an already robust platform — including compatibility with both PCs and Macs — SightSpeed is making its Web-based service more compelling than ever. Perhaps most importantly for existing SightSpeed users, they have to do nothing to benefit from these enhancements, as they are all SightSpeed’s server-side changes that require no software upgrades.