Despite his board's warnings that developing Internet applications would "kill our direct sales", Harple set up an internal company skunk works team to create a low cost, mass market version of InSoft's software that would run over the lower bit-rate Internet. This involved the invention of lower bit rate compression algorithms for audio and video signals and synchronization. When the resulting new Internet product was nearing completion, word of "a possible picture phone for the Internet" reached Netscape founder James H. Clark, and he traveled to InSoft headquarters for a demonstration. He was so impressed that he promptly proposed a merger with Netscape. The company is credited with developing the first generation of commercial, US-based VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol, Internet media streaming and realtime Internet telephony/collaborative software and standards that would later become NetscapeConference and NetscapeMedia Server. These, in turn, would provide the basis for the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) standard. InSoft was noted for taking the lead in establishing online communities for customers. It created a web-based forum during its firsl year of operation with the intention of using it as a source of new ideas that would lead to new product development. The company asked its customers to tell them what new product features were needed, leading to speedy development of new product versions. Although the final products were sold primarily through stores, the company let potential customers download test versions for review and comment. InSoft assigned a manager specifically to categorize and channel customer ideas and suggestions product development team, and then post the responses of the team to the customer community web site. Letting InSoft customers actively contribute to the development of new product versions also helped increase the firm's visibility among potential customers in high technology markets. InSoft merged with Netscape in 1996, for a value of $161 million. Technology acquired by Netscape from Insoft included Communique for desktop collaboration and videoconferencing, InSoft Network Television for distributed digital video, and CoolTalk and CoolView for Internet audio, video and data communications on Windows, Windows95 and UNIX based platforms. Netscape integrated InSoft's products in two phases. In the first phase, the combined companies developed LiveMedia framework and continued to promote InSoft's OpenDVE software architecture and development toolkits and applications including its GlobalConference telecommunications gateway. In the second phase, Netscape integrated InSoft's real-time audio and video capabilities into Netscape Navigator and Netscape servers, with third-party developers contributing add-on audio and video products based on the LiveMedia framework.