Vtel Corp

Vtel Corp. said it has agreed to buy Compression Labs Inc. for about $80 million in stock. Both companies make videoconferencing products. Under the agreement, each Compression common share would be exchanged for 0.46 Vtel common share. That values San Jose-based Compression Labs at $4.6575 a share, based on Vtel's closing price Monday. Compression Labs' stock rose 6 cents to close at $4.31 cents, while Vtel shares fell 62.5 cents to close at $9.50, both on Nasdaq.

Advertiser: VTel Corp. Agency: DDB Needham, New York Challenge: Create a brand image for a low-profile company that makes video-conferencing equipment used by businesses. The Ads: Two TV ads aimed at business professionals show executives conducting a video conference. In one, executives use ad babble as they discuss a shade of blue that seems headed for a marketing campaign. "It says you," says one executive. "And experience," adds another. "We could own this blue," gushes another executive.

Advertiser: VTel Corp. Agency: DDB Needham, New York Challenge: Create a brand image for a low-profile company that makes video-conferencing equipment used by businesses. The Ads: Two TV ads aimed at business professionals show executives conducting a video conference. In one, executives use ad babble as they discuss a shade of blue that seems headed for a marketing campaign. "It says you," says one executive. "And experience," adds another. "We could own this blue," gushes another executive.

Vtel Corp. said it has agreed to buy Compression Labs Inc. for about $80 million in stock. Both companies make videoconferencing products. Under the agreement, each Compression common share would be exchanged for 0.46 Vtel common share. That values San Jose-based Compression Labs at $4.6575 a share, based on Vtel's closing price Monday. Compression Labs' stock rose 6 cents to close at $4.31 cents, while Vtel shares fell 62.5 cents to close at $9.50, both on Nasdaq.

Like any other class taking a field trip to the zoo, 20 elementary school students from the Norwalk-La Mirada school district gawked at the snakes and exotic insects they saw Tuesday. But instead of having to pack a lunch, cram onto a bus and tramp about the zoo, the students got to eat cafeteria pizza, relax inside an air-conditioned district headquarters and watch the animals live on video.

Dr. Jim Troxell unwinds the bandage from his patient's foot to reveal gangrene, which has eaten away much of the heel. A consulting orthopedist takes a close look, and after a few questions endorses Troxell's treatment. It's the kind of consultation that takes place in medicine all the time. But in this case, Troxell and his patient are in Kwajalein, an atoll in the South Pacific. The orthopedist is 2,200 miles away at Honolulu's Tripler Army Medical Center.