After three years of development, Elite Meetings International (EMI) has made its FaceTime appointment scheduler available as a universally available appointment scheduling solution.

FaceTime is a proprietary streamlined technology which helps buyers and sellers request, create, and manage appointments at meetings and conventions.

Users of FaceTime can research details, profiles and contact information for conference attendees in advance, and then use a proprietary messaging system to build relationships with other attendees even before the event begins. Users can set, organize, view, rearrange, and print appointments, all in one place. Buyers, suppliers, and show managers can view the appointment information differently, as FaceTime can be customized to the specific needs of every kind of event participant.

The unique features and benefits of FaceTime include:

     * Simple and instantaneous appointment scheduling

     * Detailed user information allowing potential business to be identified easily

     * “Smart” scheduling via cross-referencing multiple appointment schedules and suggesting available slots

     * Advanced communication functions through real-time appointment request system and streamlined responses

     * Easily accessible display and printing of comprehensive event schedule with appointments

     * An appointment “alert” system that notifies participants of additions, changes, cancellations and messages from other event participants.

Kelly Foy

“We are delighted by the reception given FaceTime in the marketplace, and frankly, we are a little surprised,” said Elite Meetings CEO Kelly Foy. “FaceTime was originally created as a solution for helping us organize our own meetings, at events like the Elite Meetings Alliance, but response from the marketplace has encouraged us to make it available as a universally available appointment scheduling solution.”

Foy added, “As FaceTime gains in widespread use, we are incorporating the suggestions of planners and suppliers into enhancements that will provide even more value to FaceTime event organizers and meeting professionals worldwide.”

Some of those enhancements will be the mobile arena, said Foy. “Pushing appointment requests and notifications is on our near-term roadmap at this point. It will most likely include the ability to respond to an SMS message with "accept", "decline", or "info". A mobile Web version is also on the way.”

The FaceTime Scheduler uses an SaaS (software as a service) model, said Foy. Planners may pay a nominal fee to use FaceTime for their event. There's a small setup fee and then a minimal per-attendee charge.

When asked how FaceTime compares with the competition, Foy said, “In building FaceTime, we didn't look at the competitive landscape. We set out to build an appointment scheduling system for our events. We built what we needed because no one else offered a system that was cost-effective enough that allowed the buyers and sellers to communicate and find a perfect match for their business needs by allowing them to filter on key aspects of the attendees’ profiles.”

“FaceTime was successful for us - so much so that on the first day if its availability, close to 800 appointments were made in less than 8 hours” said Kristen Przano, exhibits manager at Meeting Professionals International (MPI), which utilized FaceTime to power its Hosted Buyer Program at the 2010 MeetDifferent conference.

"FaceTime helped drive appointments beyond our expectations, and we are excited to receive feedback from program participants.”

More information on FaceTime is available at www.FaceTimeScheduler.com, or by calling (805) 730-1000.