The Power of 'Face-to-Face' Business: IBM ''Smart Branch'' Showcase Features Avistar Video Interactivity at European Banking and Insurance Fair

Business Wire, Nov 14, 2005

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- Avistar Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:AVSR), a video collaboration platform provider, brings a comprehensive suite of interactive desktop videoconference applications to IBM's visionary "Smart Branch" retail banking installation at the upcoming 2005 European Banking and Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.) in Frankfurt, Germany, November 15-17, 2005.

Featured at E.B.I.F. both in IBM's Technical Center and "Smart Branch" showcase, Avistar's key visual communications tools bring new personalization and professionalism to retail banking by giving customers and bank staff live 'face-to-face' contact directly from the branch to centralized financial and product experts.

Not only do Avistar's video collaboration solutions leverage bank expertise by connecting clients in branches with centralized banking specialists, they also enable follow up with video e-mails tailored to specific customer needs and portfolios. Specialists can additionally personalize video recordings on breaking news, new services, new product training and other content -- all of which can be made available to customers and branch staff worldwide.

Avistar's integrated suite of presence-based video solutions -- including one-to-one and multiparty interactive video calling, video recording and on-demand playback, large-scale interactive video presentations and whiteboard data sharing -- brings a critical visual dimension to daily business tasks and transactions. E.B.I.F. exhibit visitors can see how making desktop video an element of banking processes more closely connects banking representative and their clients, enhancing both pre-scheduled and ad-hoc meetings, research updates from internal analysts and transmission of developing information that impacts markets.

"For cutting-edge players in the banking and insurance industry, this is the kind of technology that bridges into the future," said Gerald Burnett, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avistar. "The benefits derived from video's efficacy and immediacy are particularly evident in the financial services industry, where trust-based advisory relationships and speed of communication are so important."

Avistar's recent integration with IBM business applications, including Workplace Managed Client, indicates a growing trend toward video functionality as a "must have" tool in the effective enterprise office suite. With video calling available from within e-mail, documents, eMeetings and instant messages, IBM Workplace Managed Client users can identify and interact immediately, 'face-to-face' with co-workers wherever they are.

Installed in IBM demo centers across North America and Europe, Avistar's video solutions build confidence in the quality of communications, foster flexibility and responsiveness and cut time and travel costs -- all of critical importance to quick, quality decision-making in the financial services sector.

Avistar is an Industry Optimized IBM partner and a member of various IBM PartnerWorld Industry Networks, including Financial Markets and Media and Entertainment.

Come see Avistar's 2005 "Lotus Advisor" award-winning and IBM Lotus CTO Award Finalist video applications on display in IBM's booth, stand #5.1B41, from November 15-17, 2005, at the European Banking and Insurance Fair. For further information, visit www.Avistar.com.

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 business-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 69 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 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.

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.