When Wave Three Software approached the Geology department at San Diego State University, Dr. Eric Frost and his colleagues were looking for a communications and collaboration solution to solve several problems. Dr. Frost's foremost objective was to enhance teaching and research capabilities by extending their primary software application, ESRI (an advanced topography and mapping application), into the field. Not only did Dr. Frost want ESRI available to researchers in remote locations, he wanted it available in real-time, in both wired and wireless environments. He also wanted a complimentary communications tool to connect professors and graduate students whether in the office, the field, the laboratory, or working from home.

To meet this challenge, Wave Three introduced Dr. Frost to its Session communication software. Session integrates Voice over IP, Video over IP, data application sharing and media sharing into a single desktop solution. Session was designed to provide the highest quality IP communications over a variety of standard broadband networks, including Ethernet, DSL, cable modem, and –yes, even wireless networks.

Dr. Frost and his colleagues at San Diego State University's Geological Sciences Visualization Laboratory currently use Session to enhance research decision-making, data monitoring and interactive education. Session's application sharing tool, ShareApp™, is used to share ESRI with researchers in the field, extending real-time, collaborative Internet mapping to the physical world by connecting remote researchers and graduate students, and alleviating the need to import field data to the laboratory. They also use Session's real-time audio and video tools to facilitate face-to-face communication in a variety of contexts, from field data collectors working with laboratory analysts to graduate students connecting from their respective homes.

Whether the goal is to deliver field data over a wireless connection from an ecological reserve or train remote graduate students in the features of a sophisticated software application, Wave Three Software provides Dr. Frost and his colleagues with the necessary tools to make their work more efficient and effective.