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Avistar Video Customer Data Indicates 131 Percent Jump in Annual Usage Over Two-Year Period

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 March 2007, 12:00 CDT

Avistar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: AVSR), a provider of collaborative desktop video applications, announced its 2006 usage data indicates an increase of 131 percent for interactive video-calling minutes used over the past two years by its two top clients in the financial services sector.

These two major global financial services institutions logged more than a 50 percent increase in the number of minutes used for video calling in 2006 alone. They recorded more than 1 million minutes per month, for a total of nearly 25 million minutes in 2006 of total Avistar usage.

The Avistar suite of video-over-IP functionality brings powerful video tools to users where they work. The suite includes presence-based video calling and on-the-fly multi-party conferencing, interactive, audience-based presentations with moderator capability and video recording with on-demand playback. A recently released software-only endpoint enables users to easily employ video wherever adequate Internet access is available. Integrations with IBM Lotus® Sametime® 7.5 and Microsoft® Outlook® applications offer one-click access to visual communications directly from these collaborative tools. An enterprise-oriented video solution, the Avistar system logs all calls, thus providing the data used for this analysis.

With the average video call lasting under 14 minutes, Avistar is frequently used as an integrated communications tool that enhances quick, spontaneous interactions vital for personal productivity in a fast-paced business world. In another key metric, the minutes-per-user-per-day for one major Avistar customer averaged from 20 to over 30 minutes, rivaling phone usage.

"Visual communications improve productivity and strengthen relationships, particularly in our increasingly distributed global workplace," said Gerry Kaufhold, a principal analyst with In-Stat. "Tools such as instant messaging and email are great for some things, but a video solution delivers subtle tones and non-verbal cues that add up to faster and deeper collaboration and decision-making like nothing else."

In addition, the data suggest the positive impact of adding more users, or a "network effect," with the average minutes per user growing proportionally as more Avistar users are added to the video network. In general, Avistar users find that video helps knit global teams together. They consider it an integral part of the seamless daily workflow rather than a special feature.

"When it comes to transferring knowledge quickly and accurately, there is nothing that beats face-to-face contact," said Jerry Burnett, Avistar CEO. "With travel more costly and time-consuming than ever, personalized desktop video is a great alternative. These usage statistics demonstrate the value our customers are deriving daily from their Avistar systems."

For more information about Avistar products, please visit www.avistar.com. A demonstration of the full suite of video capabilities is available at http://www.avistar.com/assets/media/Avistar_Communications_1003.wmv.

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar Communications Corporation develops, markets, and supports a video-over-IP collaboration platform for the enterprise, all powered by the AvistarVOS™ software. From the desktop, Avistar delivers business-quality video calling, recording, publishing to web and e-mails, 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 offices in New York and London. Avistar's technology is used in more than 35 countries.

Collaboration Properties, Inc. (CPI), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avistar Communications Corporation. CPI develops patents for presence-based interactions, wireless communications, desktop video, recorded and live media at the desktop, multimedia documents, data sharing, and a service-rich video network architecture. It holds a current portfolio of 75 patents for inventions in the primary areas of video and network technology. CPI offers licenses to its patent portfolio and Avistar's video-enabling technologies to companies in the video conferencing, rich-media services, public networking, and related industries. Current licensees include Sony Corporation, Polycom, Inc., and Emblaze-VCON.

Copyright (c) 2007 Avistar Communications Corporation. All rights reserved. Avistar, AvistarVOS™, and the Avistar logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avistar Communications Corporation. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

Source: Business Wire

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