AVST Launches CallXpress 7.7; Unified Communications Solution Enhanced with Powerful New Features That Increase Productivity and Appeal to the Mobile Workforce

Business Wire, May 18, 2005

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. -- Applied Voice & Speech Technologies Inc. (AVST), today announced a new version of its flagship unified communications (UC) solution, CallXpress(R). Boasting new features and applications, CallXpress 7.7 is the ideal solution for companies looking for alternative options to outdated voice mail systems. The new version is enhanced with easy-to-use telephone user interface (TUI) options, increased unified messaging flexibility and simplified administrative capabilities. The launch of CallXpress 7.7 boosts AVST's leadership position in the growing UC market by raising the bar on the features and functions required for the next generation of corporate voice and data infrastructures.

AVST has built upon one of the most mature and innovative unified communications solutions in the market with industry-leading features and functionality. Designed to help employees communicate and collaborate more productively and effectively regardless of their physical location, CallXpress 7.7 assures telecommuters and road warriors that they have the same level of access and mobility as they would in an office environment, if not more.

"AVST continues to drive the development of applications, features and enhancements with the mobile workforce in mind. Delivering on our commitment to enable communications anywhere/anytime, our solutions provide remote access to unified communications and collaborative applications through laptops, cell phones, PDAs and BlackBerrys(R)," said AVST's vice president of product management, Tom Minifie. "There is no competitive speech-enabled unified communications system currently available that supports the breadth and depth of features, applications and flexibility found in CallXpress 7.7. Our mobility solutions give employees the ability to be always reachable and highly productive whether they're working from home, on the road, or roaming around a corporate facility."

Research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. positioned AVST in the Visionary Quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications 2005 based on their ability to execute and their vision.

"IP technology is broadening the definition of the mobile workforce," said Jay Lassman, research director, Gartner. "Innovative mobility enhancements to system architecture and user interface are necessary to simplify anytime, anywhere access to business communications infrastructure."

CallXpress 7.7 has the following new features and capabilities that deliver unified communications to mobile workers and help businesses realize the benefits of an efficient, globally-dispersed, on-the-go workforce:

--AVST's Integrated Client Access (ICA) enables voicemail messages and fax messages to be stored on the CallXpress server, while still providing unified messaging. Through the ICA interface, any IMAP-compatible e-mail client may access the voice and fax messages stored on the CallXpress server, without impacting the e-mail server itself.

--CallXpress 7.7 has a new interface that emulates the Octel(R) Serenade(R) (VMX) telephone user interface (TUI). From the user's perspective, it is nearly identical to the original Serenade (VMX) TUI when it comes to sending and managing messages, while the administrative prompts have been designed to support all of the standard CallXpress options. Octel users retain a high level of comfort when switching to the CallXpress system. It greatly reduces the need for re-training workers who are accustomed to using the old Serenade (VMX) system.

--By adding enhanced Citrix(R) terminal services compatibility, the CallXpress 7.7 graphical user interface (GUI) can be viewed and accessed remotely using Citrix. This enables remote users to have a fully featured CallXpress GUI on their desktop PC's. For administrators who deploy full unified messaging capabilities, it saves the time and effort of deploying and maintaining AVST's software on multiple client machines because all CallXpress software can now reside on the Citrix server. AVST is one of the first in this space to offer the Citrix compatibility.

Designed for seamless integration with virtually any switch (PBX) on the market, CallXpress is the only switch-independent unified communications solution in the industry that scales to meet the requirements of medium and large enterprises. Using the CallXpress 7.7 solution, medium to large enterprises can upgrade their communications applications with the latest unified messaging and speech-enabled capabilities without the financial burden of replacing their existing infrastructure.

Case in Point - CallXpress 7.7 is Put to Use

First adopters of CallXpress 7.7 are already realizing its benefits. For example, the Detroit-area branch of All-Tronics, Inc., a highly experienced installation and service provider of advanced communications systems, has been using CallXpress since 1998. CallXpress was selected because of its flexible configurations, Windows-based operating system, and the ease of system administration. The branch, located in Troy, Michigan, recently deployed CallXpress 7.7.