I-Search™ Crosses Language Barriers; Works with IIC's International Mirrored Web Sites to Speed Offshore Access

MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- Offering a viable solution to linguistic barriers on the Internet, Integrated Intelligence Corporation (IIC) has introduced I-Search™, the first multi-language Internet search engine.

The central component of a family of international business-oriented multi language products and services, IIC's search engine is designed for use on Internet servers used to host corporate and organizational Web sites serving audiences who read, write or speak a primary language other than English. I Search allows users around the world to do keyword searches for content in their native language, regardless of the differing character sets, on any Web site or online database on a server where I-Search is installed. Note: Additional information on IIC is available online at:http://www.iicnet.com/.

"I-Search works with foreign language browsers to bring the contents of Web sites to wider audiences," Carol Lin, president and founder, IIC, said. "Multi-national organizations that install I-Search's engine and management utilities instantly open up distribution to international markets in a very cost-effective manner."

Until now, most online databases have been limited to Western languages and character sets. However, I-Search simultaneously supports Asian double-byte character formats as well as the single-byte, ASCII characters found in most Western languages (English, Spanish, French and other European languages). Double-byte characters are the building blocks for the native languages of well over one-third of the world's population, including, Arabic, Chinese BIG-5 and GB (regular and simplified), Japanese, Korean and other Asian languages.

Currently, I-Search supports all major Western languages,in addition to providing full support for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Additional languages will be added.

Priced at $5,000 per server installation, I-Search runs native on the Intel UNIX platform. DEC Alpha UNIX and Linux versions are now available. Windows NT and Sun Solaris versions are due later this year, as are I-Search solutions for the AIX and HP/UX flavors of UNIX.

Equipped with the broadest multi-language search capabilities available, I-Search is able to collect information stored in multiple languages in plain ASCII text as well as HTML and SGML Web content languages. I-Search's interface supports industry-standard Boolean logic operators, full text and multilingual input and provides weighted and sorted search results.

In addition, I-Search supports common Web server management and information storage programs, such as CGI, as well as content development tools.

Using the companion management tools, administrators can catalog text-based information on the site or in the database in the most effective way for that site's contents, using an unlimited number of categories and up to 10 hierarchical levels of database categories and sub-categories. Categories are managed from a single database table, making them easier to administer.

IIC's proprietary database tools allow Webmasters and IS professionals to make the contents of their sites as secure or as accessible as they desire. Site administrators can create a comprehensive index of data they wish to make available on their server in any supported language. I-Search also lets administrators limit access to non-public information.

Hosted Sites
I-Search works hand-in-hand with IIC's service of providing mirrored Web sites around the world. The mirrored sites are designed for use by companies and organizations of any size doing business internationally, including multi-national corporations, travel and tourism-related businesses and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that host sites for offshore entities.

In addition, IIC hosts third-party search sites linked to subscriber's servers. Both options can be synchronized to make the same changes affected on the original site appear on the search site or offshore mirror, as often as needed.

Mirrored Web sites and third-party search sites both offer profound financial benefits by posting synchronized foreign language Web pages and databases in countries where connecting to U.S.-based portions of the Internet is not always an affordable option.

They also improve access for users living in portions of the world where bandwidth is limited, according to Lin. "Taiwan, for example, is very limited in the amount of U.S. connect time it can offer users. Only one T-1 line links the entire island to the U.S. backbone. And, on the Chinese mainland, a simple homepage can take several minutes just to download, even if a connection is readily available," Lin said.

Company Background
Founded in 1991 and based in Marysville, Wash., Integrated Intelligence Corporation develops and markets Internet products and services to international corporations worldwide. In addition to multi-language search products, IIC provides systems consulting and training.

For additional information on I-Search or other IIC products and services, contact the company at (206) 252-8805 or (360) 659-4188, or via E-mail at info@iicnet.com.

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