Avistar Enables First Inter-Enterprise Presence-Based Video Communities; New technology from Avistar empowers visual collaboration communities at Global 100 firms

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., March 31, 2003 -- Avistar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:AVSR), a provider of business video collaboration solutions - vBusiness, today announced the release of products enabling the first inter-enterprise video communities by providing real-time, presence-based video connectivity between Global 100 firms and their customers.

Users of an Avistar-enabled networked vBusiness community benefit from presence-based calling, cross-enterprise call control, increased reliability, dynamic resource allocation and an ability to securely traverse firewalls. Similar to instant messaging, Avistar's presence-based calling feature enables users to easily locate and call participants ad-hoc from any member enterprise by securely sharing user availability information. Two new technology products from Avistar, the Avistar Community Exchange and the AvistarVOS(TM) Proxy, power vBusiness communities to enable video collaboration that can scale to thousands of users in any location.

"Customers demand video conferencing solutions that enable greater collaboration capabilities and fit with the way they work," said Jerry Burnett, CEO of Avistar. "Our new products enable video connections between enterprises, right from the desktop. As a result, we expect they will help users make faster decisions, sell more, increase productivity and reduce time to market. Users should develop stronger relationships with their clients and colleagues through more face time and seamless collaboration regardless of whether they work across the hall or in another company."

In a vBusiness community, connectivity between independent Avistar enterprise video networks enables reliable ad-hoc video calls and conferences among community members. On their desktops, users will have one-click video connections to colleagues, customers or other key contacts, aided by a presence-based view of all community members. Users can locate community members from a single aggregated call directory and immediately know if they are logged in and available. Sorting capabilities enable users to drill down by name, enterprise, or location. Administrative controls keep the group manageable and meaningful with the option to include only essential members.

Avistar enables vBusiness communities by deploying two products, one at a hosting enterprise and one at each enterprise in the network. The Avistar Community Exchange (ACX) runs on the hosting enterprise's secure Web server and exchanges information among the AvistarVOS Proxy (VOSP) servers running at other enterprises. The VOSP gathers system information from the AvistarVOS servers running within each enterprise. Then, using secure industry standard protocol, the ACX routes information between VOSPs about active users, IP and ISDN network availability, optimal routing, call status, system resources and other details.

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar develops, markets and supports video collaboration solutions 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, and document sharing. Avistar delivers on vBusiness - video-enabling business - by integrating visual communications into the daily workflow and connecting communities of users within and across enterprises.

Founded in 1993, Avistar Communications Corporation 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., a wholly owned subsidiary of Avistar Communications Corporation, holds a broad portfolio of patents covering the AvistarVOS platform as well as multiple software and hardware video collaboration products. For more information, visit www.avistar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release that are not purely historical, in particular statements regarding the expected benefits of Avistar's products, as well as other statements regarding "expectations," "beliefs" or the like, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including such factors, among others, as market acceptance of our new and existing products; general economic conditions; the rapid pace of technological change in our industry; difficulties or delays in installing our products; and the impact of competitive products and pricing. These and other risk factors are discussed in Avistar's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Avistar disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Avistar, AvistarVOS, and the Avistar logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avistar Communications Corporation.

  
Contacts 
 
 
    
 Avistar
John Carlson, 650/610-2965
jcarlson@avistar.com
or
SIPR
Aoife Kimber, 650/373-2968
akimber@sipr.com