Customer Service
17 October 2006
Vivisimo's Velocity Powers New Image and News Search Features at FirstGov.gov
Vivisimo's Blend of Enterprise-Class Control with Innovative Consumer Search Features Lets FirstGov Unlock Additional User-Friendly Information for Citizens
Pittsburgh, PA—Vivisimo (vivisimo.com), a leading provider of search software and expertise, today announced that FirstGov.gov (http://www.usa.gov), the official Web portal of the U.S. Government, is leveraging Velocity to deliver new image and news search capabilities to its users. The new search features, which went live today, make FirstGov the most comprehensive and accessible source of government-related images and news.
FirstGov, which first went live on the Vivisimo search platform in January, 2006, has become a prime example of Vivisimo's "Search Done Right" strategy. FirstGov's modern search portal, hosted by Vivisimo, delivers streamlined access to critical government information to millions of citizens. Now, the powerful administrative and user-interface control features of Vivisimo's search platform, Velocity, are enabling FirstGov to deliver additional rich media content to its visitors.
Velocity pulls content from across the federal government's vast network of repositories, including RSS feeds from more than 200 government news sources, and then categorizes the results into thematic folders for easier search and discovery. Users can access real-time news from such sources as Voice of America and White House News, EPA, FDA, Department of Defense and State Department news releases, and even announcements from individual senators and congressmen. Images are pulled from a number of commercial sources and government agencies. The news and images are integrated into the main search results page, allowing users to see multiple content types in a single view. On separate image results pages, users can also see images clustered by topics, agencies or collection. For image rich queries, such as 'George Bush,' images will appear on the main search page below the categories that can be browsed via a scroll bar, thereby simplifying navigation.
"The FirstGov site is a great example of what Vivisimo means by 'search done right,'" said Raul Valdes-Perez, CEO and co-founder of Vivisimo. "Users can see the power of Velocity in action, searching across multiple content types and extracting and organizing the most valued information for users on any topic. The blend of our powerful back-end technology and our consumer search know how allows users to turn this vast array of government information into a user-friendly resource."
In addition, FirstGov is now compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires that Federal agencies make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Compliance ensures that disabled employees and members of the public have access to the resources and information available at FirstGov that is comparable to the access available to others.
About the Vivisimo Velocity Platform
The Vivisimo Velocity platform provides enterprises with innovative search solutions that allow users to access, extract and manipulate all available content, regardless of location. By combining the simplicity of consumer search with the flexibility and control of enterprise software, organizations can reap the benefits of increased user adoption and satisfaction without compromising on performance, scalability, security or the ability to configure a solution specific to its business environment. Based on a service-oriented architecture that enables rapid deployment, Vivisimo Velocity can be up and running in just weeks.
About Vivisimo
Vivisimo does search right by combining the simplicity and innovation of consumer search with the flexibility and control of enterprise software. The company works with customers to understand their goals and quickly deploy solutions that maximize the business value of information—with an interface users love. Vivisimo serves its global client base through headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA, and Paris, France, and partners throughout the world. Please visit vivisimo.com to learn more about us and visit our Search Done Right blog to learn more about enterprise search.
