InSoft Inc.

Insoft, Inc.

Industry	Computer software
Founded	1992
Defunct	1996
Fate	Integrated into Netscape Communications in 1996
Headquarters	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania United States
Key people	Daniel Harple Richard Pizzarro
Products	Communique InSoft Network Television CoolTalk CoolView ICEMaker InSoft ICS ICE suite
Number of employees	70+ (1995)

InSoft Inc. was a United States-based software company established in 1992 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, focusing on multimedia applications and communication solutions over networks. Its premier offering, Communique, provided capabilities for desktop videoconferencing and collaborative work.

Acknowledged as a trailblazer in desktop videoconferencing, InSoft created early-stage Internet streaming media and Voice over IP technologies that later evolved into NetscapeConference and NetscapeMedia Server, which were instrumental in forming the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) standard. The firm was acquired by Netscape Communications in April 1996.

History

Daniel Harple (chairman and CEO) and Richard Pizzarro (chief engineer and vice president), the company's founders, initially met while working at AMP Incorporated in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There, they conceived the idea of enabling real-time video collaboration using standard personal computers paired with affordable camera hardware. They departed AMP to establish InSoft in 1992, securing venture capital financing from Adams Capital Management, Philadelphia Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Edison Venture Fund, and Newbridge Networks.

The product Communique gained recognition as a "killer application" by SunWorld magazine in 1992 due to its ability to operate across multiple platforms on high-end workstations and varied network environments. By 1994, InSoft had positioned itself as a dominant force in desktop videoconferencing, with prominent clients such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, AT&T, Sprint, Digital Equipment, among others entering into bundling agreements.

By the year 1995, InSoft maintained eight regional offices staffed by over seventy employees and reported annual revenues exceeding $7 million from its distributed digital video solutions and conferencing software products. The company also attracted international expertise by sponsoring researchers from Russia and India.

Despite reservations from the board regarding the potential impact on direct sales, CEO Harple foresaw the Internet’s transformative potential. He spearheaded an internal innovation group tasked with developing low bit-rate compression techniques for audio and video optimized for limited Internet bandwidth. This breakthrough drew the attention of Netscape founder James H. Clark and ultimately led to InSoft’s integration with Netscape.

InSoft is widely recognized for pioneering commercial Voice over IP services based in the US, Internet media streaming technologies, real-time telephony solutions, and collaborative software—foundations that supported Netscape’s conferencing products and contributed significantly to industry standards such as RTSP.

Online customer network

InSoft was a trailblazer in establishing online customer communities, initiating a web-based forum within its inaugural year to collect user feedback for product enhancement. This direct interaction with users expedited the release of updated product versions and boosted the company’s presence in the market. Prospective clients had the opportunity to download trial versions and provide input, while a dedicated liaison ensured efficient communication between customers and developers, strengthening InSoft’s position in competitive technology sectors.

Sale to Netscape

Netscape acquired InSoft in 1996 for $161 million, incorporating essential technologies such as Communique (desktop collaboration and videoconferencing), InSoft Network Television (digital video delivery), and CoolTalk/CoolView (Internet audio, video, and data communication tools). The integration by Netscape unfolded in two stages: initially focusing on creating the LiveMedia framework alongside promoting the OpenDVE architecture and associated development kits; subsequently embedding real-time audio and video functionalities directly into Netscape Navigator and server platforms, encouraging third-party developers to create add-ons.

Communique

Released in 1992, Communique was a teleconferencing application designed for Unix systems, supporting up to ten participants. It featured application sharing, audio management, text messaging, graphics, and whiteboarding capabilities. The software operated over Ethernet as well as diverse network types including ATM, frame-relay, ISDN, and SMDS by utilizing InSoft’s proprietary Digital Video Everywhere (Open DVE) API, which allowed hardware-independent multimedia conferencing. Additionally, it incorporated InSynch, an algorithm for synchronizing audio and video streams to optimize performance across fluctuating bandwidth conditions.

The 1994 edition introduced a "Virtual Conference Room" with an intuitive point-and-click interface displaying attendees as icons; sessions could be recorded for subsequent playback. It supported live video and audio communication alongside collaborative editing of graphics, ASCII documents, and video frames. The SHARE feature enabled multiple users to manipulate applications collaboratively with synchronized display updates. A shared whiteboard operated similarly to an online chat environment where text entries appeared on a communal notepad.

By 1995, InSoft expanded Communique to Windows platforms and launched Conference Kits that bundled the software with compatible audio/video hardware components.

InSoft Network Television

Bundled with Communique, InSoft Network Television provided software-only video broadcasting capabilities to connected workstations.

Open DVE

Introduced in 1995, Open DVE was an API toolkit supplying third-party developers with APIs, libraries, and management utilities to embed conferencing features into their own applications.

InSoft Interactive Collaborative Environment (ICE)

In 1996, InSoft unveiled solutions designed for collaborative computing over dial-up Internet connections.

CoolTalk

CoolTalk was a multimedia application enabling PC users to share whiteboards, exchange real-time chat messages, and conduct voice communication over TCP/IP. Compatible with Microsoft Sound System audio hardware, it was available in 14.4 kbps and 28.8 kbps versions and later included with widely used web browsers. Pricing in 1996 was set at $49.95 for the lower-speed version and $69.95 for the higher-speed edition.

CoolView

Introduced in February 1996, CoolView enhanced CoolTalk by incorporating video conferencing capabilities, delivering live video at a rate of 5 frames per second. This feature required users to have a 28.8 kbit/s modem along with a Video for Windows-compatible capture card, and was offered at a price of $149.95.

ICEMaker

ICEMaker served as a software development kit designed to facilitate the creation of distributed multimedia applications tailored for the Internet or internal corporate networks. These applications could function either independently or in conjunction with CoolTalk and CoolView. In 1996, the SDK was priced at $795.99.

InSoft Internet Communications Server

The Internet Communications Server (ICS) from InSoft combined corporate call center operations with web-based interfaces, supporting H.320-standard videoconferencing alongside telephony features such as call transfer, hold, conference calls, and voicemail. With a price point just below $3,000 in 1996, ICS represented the company’s forward-thinking approach to meeting enterprise communication demands.