Dear Blackboard® Commerce Clients,
2008 is off to an incredibly fast start for Blackboard Commerce. We’ve been diligently preparing for our users conference, BbWorld® Commerce ’08, which we expect to be the largest and best client event yet.
We’ve also been working to integrate Blackboard’s recent acquisition of Connect-ED®, a premier mass notification engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily record and send time-based notifications to thousands of people (via voice, e-mail, and text message) in minutes using just a telephone. Connect-ED will enable our clients to address several key challenges and trends taking place within the education community including the need to quickly and effectively communicate with an entire campus in the event of school and campus incidents, severe weather or other safety concerns.
On the product side, we recently released the Blackboard Transaction System™ - Universal Edition version 2.9, and will be launching Universal Edition 3.0 later this spring and our development effort to build a new family of “contact less” readers is well underway.
We look forward to seeing you at BbWorld Commerce, where you can learn more about each of these exciting initiatives – including progress made on the Universal Edition. BbWorld Commerce offers our clients the best opportunity to connect with peers, learn from industry experts and interact with Blackboard training and support staff. More information is available at www.bbworldcommerce.com.
In this edition of the Blackboard Commerce Bulletin, you can read more about the Connect-ED acquisition and BbWorld Commerce '08. Also included is a new case study about how Grand Rapids Community College has successfully utilized Blackboard technology to improve their operations as well as another case study about Western State College of Colorado’s successful migration from the Unix Edition to the Universal Edition.
Enjoy the newsletter and I look forward to connecting with you in Phoenix in March.
Regards,
Russ Carlson
President, Blackboard Commerce