| "body"> | | | | automotive service companies. Fountain Tire has |
| Twenty years ago a pithy and leading edge TV show | | | | created "Paige", a CodeBaby virtual instructor that will |
| was launched by Britain's Channel 4 TV network. It | | | | deliver personalized online training to its 1,500 |
| featured a heavily made up Matt Frewer as the virtual | | | | employees across Canada. |
| character 'Max Headroom'. The cyberpunk TV show | | | | "CodeBaby allows us to add a layer of interactivity to |
| gained cult status quickly and even crossed the pond | | | | our new learning management system and online |
| to the US. | | | | training materials that we can't get elsewhere," said |
| However, with all intelligent and witty work of that time, | | | | Shad Smereka, Director of Store Learning at Fountain |
| its life was short lived. What Max Headroom did | | | | Tire. "We are rolling out our new E-Learning Center to |
| succeed in doing was setting the stage for things to | | | | a diverse group of employees with a broad range of |
| come... Virtual People. Fast forward twenty years and | | | | technical and non-technical skills. Paige adds a level of |
| avatars (animated or virtual people) are quite | | | | comfort to associates who will be using the new |
| commonplace, you can even see them sellng things on | | | | E-Learning Center for the first time. Also, adding a |
| ebay! | | | | CodeBaby virtual agent to the online classroom helps |
| Avatars work tirelessly 24 hours a day, 7 days a | | | | keep the subject matter interesting while ensuring that |
| week, 365 days a year. And with the state of current | | | | it will be properly delivered and retained. This helps us |
| technology these virtual personalities can almost (I'm | | | | get the most out of our investment in our new |
| hedging my bets a little to avoid flaming emails) replace | | | | E-Learning Center." |
| the human element in certain business functions. For | | | | Training, The Root Of Success |
| the most part thought, avatars and virtual people are | | | | "Fountain Tire's success stems directly from its |
| still an interesting experiment in Internet automation...at | | | | commitment to quality and service excellence, and this |
| least they were until recently... | | | | commitment starts at the training level," said Shaheel |
| Leading Tire Company Goes Virtual ... In The | | | | Hooda, CEO of CodeBaby. "By investing in the right |
| Classroom | | | | online training tools, Fountain Tire is reinforcing a strong |
| In late January of this year, Fountain Tire licensed the | | | | foundation of quality and excellence that will help them |
| CodeBaby technology to create an interactive virtual | | | | maintain their leadership position in their industry." |
| instructor - Paige. | | | | CodeBaby's agreement with Fountain Tire also marks |
| Edmonton, Alberta, January 27, 2005 - CodeBaby | | | | the first collaborative effort between CodeBaby and |
| Corp, the leading developer of virtual agent software, | | | | Operitel, makers of the popular Learnflex (TM) learning |
| announced today that it has licensed its solution to | | | | management system. CodeBaby and Operitel |
| Fountain Tire, one of North America's largest tire and | | | | announced a partnership in November of 2004. |