CallWave Inc., a provider of mobile and Web-based unified communications services, has introduced Fuze, a new collaboration and conferencing service.

Now available in beta, the new hosted service can be accessed from any computer or smartphone. CallWave claims that Fuze enables meetings to happen anytime, anywhere by bringing advanced collaboration capabilities to traditional conferencing.

"We've re-cast the company into the unified communications space, including collaboration and conferencing, which is an underserved market," said Jeff Cavins, CEO of CallWave, San Francisco. "There are frustrating aspects of conference calls such as having to type in a passcode, and we wanted to do away with all that."

Found online at http://www.FUZEmeeting.com, the service provides synchronized high-definition video collaboration with audio conferencing, along with secure instant messaging and managed presence.

Fuze also incorporates local and international Internet calling and a unique "Fetch" feature that allows the Fuze moderator to bring attendees directly into meetings on-the-fly.

Fuze enables Web collaboration and conferencing over both computers and mobile devices.

The beta version of FUZE will currently support BlackBerry and Nokia devices, with support for the iPhone and Windows Mobile-based phones available soon.

This is made possible by WebMessenger technology, which CallWave acquired in August 2008.

WebMessenger enables seamless integration with Microsoft Office Communication Server, allowing enterprises to extend desktop functionality to mobile devices.

"We have a product that can remake the face of collaboration," Mr. Cavins said. "Fuze is targeted and designed specifically for the mobile professional who's traveling a lot and wants to use his mobile phone to invoke a collaboration session."

CallWave claims that Fuze is the first truly interoperable browser-based collaboration service, allowing meetings to be conducted in high-definition video, and with documents and images shared in sync over virtually any Internet-enabled device.

Fuze syncs with Microsoft Outlook, so the user can schedule conferences and send invitations from within Fuze, as well as add Fuze meetings to his or her Outlook calendar.

Fuze's "Fetch" feature automates bringing participants into the conference, thereby eliminating the need to dial into a conference and program passcodes.

With Fuze, users can initiate and visually manage conference calls from handheld devices.

They can initiate a call, Fetch attendees, and soon they will be able to present or view presentations, images and video content on their mobile handsets.

Image capabilities for mobile devices are slated for release later this year.

Fuze is browser-based, secure and requires no software downloads.

Fuze was designed to support enterprise users, incorporating 128-bit SSL encryption as well as single-session tokens to maximize the security of each meeting.

In addition, the hosted service provides .9999 uptime and unlimited scalability.

Fuze is available for a free trial and instant access at http://www.fuzemeeting.com.

Introductory pricing is set at $29 per month and $228 for an annual subscription.

CallWave has a three-pronged distribution strategy for Fuze that includes online marketing, a direct sales forces including a tele-sales organization selling directly to corporations as well as small and medium business, and distribution partnerships with companies that want to bundle or resell the Fuze product.

"Fuze supports all mobile platforms, so it's device agnostic, device and browser agnostic and content agnostic," Mr. Cavins said. "Whether it's a Word document, PowerPoint presentation or video, Fuze automatically converts it to high-definition.

"We set out to build what we thought would be the future of collaboration, and Fuze is a category-definer in the segment of mobile collaboration," he said.