Avistar IP Endpoint Completes Unique Enterprise Desktop Video Solution for Financial Services Market.REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- New IP Visual Collaboration Solutions Enables Improved Communication Across Bank Branches, Regional Offices, and to Outsourced Environments Avistar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:AVSR (Audio Visual Speech Recognition) Using lip reading software to enhance speech recognition. In noisy environments where a camera can be included, AVSR improves the computer's ability to recognize the speaker's words by visually tracking lip movement and ), a provider of business video collaboration solutions, announced availability of its AC300 IP Endpoint, including its new desktop video codec (1) A hardware circuit that converts analog video (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) into digital code and vice versa. The term may refer to only the A/D and D/A conversion, or it may include the compression technique for further reducing the signal (definition #2 below). See codec. , and the AvistarVOS(TM) 8.0 video operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. software. With the addition of these products, Avistar offers a unique, comprehensive enterprise videoconferencing solution, enabling financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. firms to deploy desktop video to improve communication across branch banks, brokerages, insurance brokers, regional offices, and centralized knowledge centers. The AC300 IP Endpoint provides enterprises with new flexibility to deploy Avistar's video system to video-enable any location including smaller, remote offices, without incurring significant expense. This new technology rounds out Avistar's desktop video offering, and provides customers with a choice of how to implement scaled video deployments throughout their enterprise. Avistar addresses the networking challenges financial institutions face as they attempt to implement real-time video communications. Avistar's desktop video can now be deployed "end-to-end" on IP networks, or using a combination of IP and circuit-switched networks within a building, between locations or across the globe. This helps businesses install enterprise-wide desktop video solutions which leverage the existing network, without costly network overhauls. With the introduction of the new IP Endpoint, Avistar can now support small office environments inexpensively. Single users and small remote locations can connect to centralized knowledge centers easily, in a personalized manner, to keep up-to-date on the latest product offerings, market trends, and corporate initiatives. Private clients can interact with centralized financial planners and portfolio managers, or individuals shopping for mortgage loans can interact directly with their lender's underwriters. "The fundamental technology progression is from analog to digital to Internet. Telephony went digital long ago and the next transition, to voice over IP (VOIP (Voice Over IP) A digital telephone service that uses the public Internet as well as private backbones instead of the traditional telephone network. Many companies, including Vonage, 8x8 and AT&T (CallVantage), typically offer calling within the country for a ) has accelerated. Video is following. Because these transitions impact infrastructural investments, they are slow, and it is important to maximize both backward and forward Adv. 1. backward and forward - moving from one place to another and back again; "he traveled back and forth between Los Angeles and New York"; "the treetops whipped to and fro in a frightening manner"; "the old man just sat on the porch and rocked back and forth all compatibility. Avistar's move to IP is timely and comes with these compatibilities, so I expect enterprise video users will now accelerate their moves to IP and desktop video," said Bob Metcalfe, Avistar director, general partner of Polaris Venture Partners and founder of 3Com Corporation. Implementing IP video to desktops, at scale, presents challenges to corporate IP networks. Quality video requires sufficient bandwidth and prioritization for the real-time video packets, or image and audio quality will suffer. With the addition of these new IP desktop products, Avistar enables financial services firms to deploy desktop video with a mix and match combination of packet-switched (IP) and circuit-switched local and wide-area networks Wide-area networks Communication networks that are regional, nationwide, or worldwide in geographic area, with a minimum distance typical of that between major metropolitan areas. Smaller networks include metropolitan and local-area networks. . In the future, as Avistar users upgrade their IP networks, the circuit-switched endpoints of their existing Avistar installation can be economically migrated to an all-IP solution. In the Avistar desktop solution, the same video infrastructure is used by circuit-switched and IP endpoints to provide video services such as multi-party conferencing, interoperation with third-party standards-based video endpoints, broadcasting a call to many users, recording video calls, publishing video to users, websites, email, and video-on-demand playback. This means that customers can choose a mix of endpoints initially and then migrate to all-IP endpoints and all-IP networks over time without rendering obsolete their investment in Avistar's video infrastructure. Avistar's video operating system software (AvistarVOS) and system architecture separates video transport from control. Signaling and system control are IP-based, using the AvistarVOS software. The new AC300 IP Endpoint and existing Avistar MultiChannel Using two or more paths for transmission or processing. It can refer to a variety of architectures including (1) multiple I/O channels between the CPU and peripheral devices, (2) multiple wires in a cable, (3) multiple "logical" channels within a single wire or fiber or (4) multiple IP Gateway utilize SIP protocols. Video transport, the most demanding portion of real-time video communications, is separately handled through packet-switched or circuit-switched technology, depending on network capability. The AvistarVOS 8.0 software includes support for the AC300 IP Endpoint, least cost routing A feature of a telephone system that automatically connects an outgoing telephone call with the telephone service that costs the least to that location at that time of day. Depending on how it is programmed, least cost routing will either drop down to the second most-efficient service if , bandwidth and quality management, and other features to ensure performance, reliability, call quality, and the minimization of communications costs. The new AC300 IP Endpoint provides financial services firms with the flexibility to locate and consolidate shared Avistar video infrastructure in locations best suited to their network topologies. This allows the infrastructure to be centralized and shared by more users, and for smaller locations to be video-enabled with minimal local infrastructure -- thereby lowering the total cost of ownership. IP endpoints can also be moved easily and installed at minimum cost, reducing the expenses associated with relocations and changes. New features and capabilities of the AC300 IP Endpoint include: video compression Encoding digital video to take up less storage space and transmission bandwidth. See video codec and data compression. video compression - Compression of sequences of images. and decompression performed within the hardware to minimize PC loading; bandwidth management Controlling the traffic flow in a network. See bandwidth manager. to ensure that video does not overload network capabilities; real-time call statistics; prominent mute and volume controls; picture-in-picture functionality; elimination of the need for a video capture card See video capture board. ; software selectable echo-cancellation; and a single USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. 2 interface to the PC. The AC300 uses the same cameras and desktop accessories as Avistar's existing circuit-switched products. About Avistar Communications Corporation Avistar develops, markets and supports video collaboration solutions for the enterprise, all powered by the AvistarVOS software. From the desktop, Avistar delivers TV-quality video calling, recording, publishing to web and emails, video-on-demand, broadcast, and document sharing See data conferencing. . Avistar delivers on vBusiness -- video-enabling business -- by integrating visual communications into the daily workflow and connecting communities of users within and across enterprises. By offering both IP and circuit-switched products, which are fully interoperable, Avistar provides customers with a unique choice of how they implement high-quality video. Founded in 1993, Avistar Communications Corporation is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California Redwood Shores is an upscale and desirable [1] waterfront neighborhood on the San Francisco Peninsula in California. It is located on the eastern edge of Belmont, but is actually part of incorporated Redwood City. , with sales offices in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of and London. Avistar's technology is used in more than 35 countries. Collaboration Properties, Inc Collaboration Properties, Inc. (CPI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avistar Communications Corporation. It holds US and foreign patents in the primary areas of presence-based interactions, desktop video, recorded and live media at the desktop, multimedia documents, data sharing, ., a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of Avistar Communications Corporation, holds a broad portfolio of patents covering the AvistarVOS platform as well as multiple software and hardware video collaboration products See collaborative software. . For more information, visit www.avistar.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements regarding the performance, reliability, impact and benefits of Avistar's AC300 IP Endpoint, AvistarVOS 8.0 and the Avistar desktop solution, the ability of Avistar users to install and upgrade their desktop video solutions without costly network overhauls, the backward and forward compatibility of Avistar products, the ease of migration of Avistar solutions and the future of video conferencing. In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "expects," "expected to" or "plans." Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including such factors, among others, as technical difficulties, difficulties and delays in installation and migration, unforeseen changes in network architectures, changes in industry standards, the development of competitive technology and solutions, general economic conditions and conditions in the financial services industry in particular, and delays in adoption or acceptance of video collaboration technology. We refer you to the documents that Avistar files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in particular the section entitled "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results" in Avistar's annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and its quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q. Copyright (c) 2004 Avistar Communications Corporation. All rights reserved. Avistar, AvistarVOS, and the Avistar logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avistar Communications Corporation. |
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