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Avistar Extends Video to Microsoft Office 2003

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

Avistar Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:AVSR), a video collaboration platform provider, today announced the integration of its AvistarVOS(TM) platform with Microsoft Office 2003, extending Avistar's presence-based desktop video calling to Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint business applications.

Designed to complement the key collaboration tools workers use every day, AvistarVOS Client v8.2 introduces a range of video communications options into the context of email, documents, spreadsheets or presentations. The addition of Avistar video means that users of Microsoft Office 2003 and AvistarVOS v8.2 can now instantly and easily connect through such video applications as: presence-based one-to-one and multiparty video-calling; spontaneous or pre-planned, small to large, interactive meetings; data sharing; video-on-demand; and video publishing and distribution of pre-recorded content to the web and e-mail.

This integration of Avistar video technology enhances Microsoft's Smart Tag links by adding video calling to the actions available when, via a Person Name Smart Tag, an Avistar user's name is recognized within a Microsoft application. Once "recognized" as being online, Avistar users can initiate a video call to that person and, with a click, create a video connection that helps speed, clarify and deepen communications and understanding.

"Our seamless integration with Microsoft collaborative applications demonstrates Avistar's capacity to put desktop video communications squarely into the mix of ways in which people work and conduct business every day," said Gerald Burnett, Chairman and CEO, Avistar Communications. "It also highlights our commitment to advancing enterprise video applications and developing interoperable solutions that meld with widely used technologies."

In particular, the AvistarVOS v8.2 video collaborative platform offers fast-paced, trust-based industries such as financial services an edge in cultivating advisory relationships, leveraging in-house expertise and speeding decision making. Virtual "in-person" interactions, using both live and recorded video within the context of business processes, promote increased productivity and understanding with the right tool, at the right time, for the right circumstance.

A "Registered Member" in the Microsoft Partner Program, Avistar offers a full suite of flexible, seamlessly integrated video solutions unique in the market.

AvistarVOS v8.2 is currently available. Existing Avistar customers can download the software from Avistar's customer extranet at no charge as part of their maintenance agreement.

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar Communications Corporation develops, markets, and supports a video collaboration platform for the enterprise, all powered by the AvistarVOS(TM) software. From the desktop, Avistar delivers TV-quality video calling, recording, publishing to web and emails, video-on-demand, broadcast origination and distribution, and document sharing. Avistar video-enables business processes by integrating visual communications into the daily workflow and connecting communities of users within and across enterprises. Founded in 1993, Avistar is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, with sales offices in New York and London. Avistar's technology is used in more than 35 countries.

Collaboration Properties, Inc. (CPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Avistar, holds a current portfolio of 68 patents for inventions in the primary areas of video and network technology. CPI pursues patents for presence-based interactions, desktop video, recorded and live media at the desktop, multimedia documents, data sharing, and a rich-service network video architecture to support Avistar's product suite and customers. CPI licenses its patent portfolio and Avistar's video-enabling technologies to companies in the video conferencing, rich-media services, public networking, and related industries.

For more information, visit www.avistar.com.

Copyright (c) 2005 Avistar Communications Corporation. All rights reserved. Avistar, AvistarVOS, and the Avistar logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avistar Communications Corporation. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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