IMJ.L Regulatory News (IMJ)

13 Dec 2007 15:09

Amteus PLC13 December 2007 13 December 2007 Amteus PLC ("Amteus" or the "Company") Statement regarding the Government's Children's Plan Amteus PLC, the AIM listed software company which provides instant communicationnetworks for education and business announces today that it intends to offer abasic free system in January 2008 to schools that will allow teachers, parentsand students within a school community to communicate in 'real time'. The basicsystem is to be made FREE to every school in the country under the brand name'IMjack'. The Directors believe that this product addresses a number of the issues raisedearlier this week by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools andFamilies. He announced in his Children's Plan a number of initiatives foreducation, aiming to deliver 'a step change in the way parents and families aresupported to deal with the new challenges faced by young people in the 21stCentury'. As part of this initiative, he announced that the Minister for Schoolswould be consulting with parents and schools to ensure that 'every parentreceives up to date information about their child's progress, attendance andbehaviour, using 'real time' reporting and new technologies such as mobilephones and the internet'. As IMjack provides a 'protected' network that is both private and secure,schools will be able to control the identity of everyone on the system. Thiswill help schools to prevent both online bullying and inappropriatecommunications within the school community. This FREE system also allows schools to send instant 'announcements' toeveryone, or particular groups within the school community, whether it be aboutupcoming events or for example an update to parents from a subject teacher. Inaddition, Amteus will also offer file share and transfer, and secure Voice overIP ("VoIP") via the 'IMjack' package which will be a software bundle to all UKschools. A number of schools are already using the IMjack system and enjoyingthe benefits that it delivers. For an additional charge, Amteus will also be able to provide other services,including providing alerts onto the mobile phones of everyone in the schoolcommunity through SMS messaging, or Instant Messages onto palm top devices. Amteus' Chief Executive, Chris Holt MBE said 'Amteus is committed to supportingthe government in meeting the challenges faced by young people in the 21stCentury, and we believe that 'IMjack' provides a fantastic way to enable schoolsto harness the benefits of modern technology, while protecting children againstpotential dangers.' For more information: Chris Holt: 07734 888888 John Rawlings: 01756 770376 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange