SAN MATEO, California, August 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Explosive Growth in Reseller, Distributor and Technology Partner 
Commitments Underpins Avistar's Turnaround Success and Product Expansion

Avistar's C3 solution is projected to be on more than 100,000 desktops in
the next couple of years, as a direct result of Avistar's aggressive
partnership strategy and commitments from leading industry distributors,
resellers and technology partners in the U.S. and Europe, Avistar
Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: AVSR) announced today. In the past few 
months alone, more than 15 direct channel and technology partners and their 
constellation of resellers have signed with Avistar to offer C3 to their 
clients and users across the globe. By leveraging reseller and technology 
partners, Avistar has been able to expand its addressable user base greater 
than five-fold, without having to incur the increased operational and sales 
overhead of selling directly to the market.

Simon Moss, CEO, Avistar, said, "In 2008 we migrated our go-to-market
strategy away from a direct, narrowly focused sales approach, to a broader,
deeper and much larger indirect channel and business partner strategy. Our
focus is on partners in order to achieve wide distribution of our C3
technology, which has been designed for simple and rapid global deployment,
while retaining market leading performance and scale. We also introduced a
new strategy to monetize our patent portfolio through a combined technology
and patent licensing model. We are delighted with both the response to the
strategy and the early momentum we have recognized by attracting indirect
channel partners. Resellers such as CityIS, Touchline and MVC are already
realizing the benefits of differentiating their businesses with Avistar in
their rapidly changing markets, as we offer flexible and attractive channel
options that fit partners of all variety and sizes.

"We expect that these channel and technology relationships will propel
Avistar beyond being just a provider of desktop videoconferencing solutions
to that of a videoconferencing engine powering other software in the market.
It is a strategy focused on leveraging both the significant operational
turn-around the firm successfully executed in the first half of 2008, and
an impressive redesign of the product portfolio -- both of which are expected
to realize tangible and measurable benefits and sequential quarterly growth.
We believe this focused strategy aligning product, operational sustainability
and top line distribution will continue to increase Avistar's ability to
remedy some of the challenges the firm has historically faced, increase
market success through engagement rather than competition, and most
importantly, grow our shareholders' value," Moss continued.

"The fact that large brands as well as mid-size resellers are committing
to Avistar is good news for the industry," said Melanie Turek, Principal
Analyst, Frost & Sullivan. "We're seeing increasing interest in desktop and
mobile videoconferencing, as companies and their employees struggle to cut
costs during a tight economy, as well as embrace a greener way of doing
business. Many of these companies want the option of purchasing video
solutions through VARs and other technology partners, especially as they
attempt to mix and match best-of-breed products to fit their needs and
business objectives."

Examples of Avistar partners include:

    -- AvDis (http://www.avdis.ch/), a Swiss distributor of videoconferencing
       solutions
    -- CityIS (http://www.cityis.com), a global visual communications company
       based in the U.K.
    -- CollabCom AG (http://www.vtel.ch/index.html), a leading Swiss provider
       of collaboration and communication solutions
    -- Corporate Telecommunications (http://www.corpteluk.com/), a U.K.
       distributor of headsets, voice and data installations and telecoms
       equipment
    -- Datanet (http://www.datanetuk.com/index.htm), distributors of computer
       networking products in the U.K.
    -- Fontel (http://www.fontel.com), a wholesale distributor of voice and
       data communications products in the U.S.
    -- Innovations Visual (http://www.innovationsvisual.co.uk), specialists
       in the design, supply and installation of fully integrated multimedia
       audio visual systems
    -- MVC Mobile Video Communications GmbH (http://www.mvc.de/), a leading
       German provider of video, audio and data conferencing solutions
    -- Net Services (http://www.netservicesplc.com), specialists in providing
       innovative voice, data and converged infrastructure solutions
    -- Project Audio Visual (http://www.projectaudiovisual.co.uk/), experts
       in the audio visual market in the U.K.
    -- Redline (http://www.redlinepresentations.com/index.html), a supplier
       of audio visual technology for a wide range of applications and 
       businesses throughout the U.K.
    -- Snelling Business Systems (http://www.snellingbiz.co.uk/), U.K.
       specialists in designing, supplying, installing and servicing
       professional audio visual solutions for use in educational, commercial,
       local government and retail environments
    -- Touchline Video (http://www.touchlinevideo.co.uk), a leading
       specialist distributor of video conferencing solutions in the United 
       Kingdom
    -- Yamaha Electronics, a leader in specialized video and audio
       conferencing devices.



Darren Innes, General Manager, Worldwide Sales, Avistar, said, "We've
signed up many resellers in the U.K. and Europe recently, as the demand is
high for desktop videoconferencing. Resellers want to help customers be more
eco-friendly and cost-effective by reducing the need for in-person meetings
and travel, and see Avistar as an attractive solution for their customer
base."

The new resellers join other partners who have been on board since late
2007/early 2008 including Communications III, Focus 21, Manist, MediaPlus, SK
Group, Teamwork 123, Veloci and others.

"We shared with the market recently that we are now focused on building
an engine to generate top-line growth and leverage the operational
turn-around the firm has gone through," Moss said. "The number of seats
committed is a primary strategic indicator of how that top line is trending.
We believe that the traction we have gained thus far with VARs and tech
partners is proof that we are heading in the right direction, meeting
customer needs and addressing an opportunity in distributed communication
applications that is only now beginning to gain traction in the market."

Stephen Epstein, CMO, Avistar concluded, "We will continue to keep our
hands on the pulse of the market, offering videoconferencing in ways that
will make it as effective, natural and ubiquitous as other technology that
customers use on a day-to-day basis. We feel we are on the right path toward
achieving this goal. Our continuing success in attracting strong indirect
channel partners is an important milestone for the firm, and clear evidence
that our go-to-market strategy is working."

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar (Nasdaq: AVSR) creates technology that provides the missing
critical element in unified communications: bringing people in organizations
face-to-face, through enhanced communications, for true collaboration
anytime, anyplace. Its latest product, Avistar C3, draws on more than a
decade of market experience to deliver a single-click desktop
videoconferencing and collaboration experience that moves business
communications into a new era. Available as a stand-alone solution, or
integrated with existing unified communications software from other vendors,
Avistar C3 provides users instant messaging-style ability to initiate video
communications across and outside the enterprise. Bandwidth management
enables thousands of users to access desktop videoconferencing, VoIP and
streaming media, without requiring substantial new network investment or
impairing network performance.

Avistar's desktop videoconferencing and collaboration installations are
among the world's largest, including more than 18,000 seats sold in more than
40 countries. Clients report as much as a 20 percent reduction in travel
expense and carbon emissions, increases in productivity, and immeasurably
improved relationship building within their organizations, as well as with
suppliers and customers. Avistar holds a portfolio of 80 patents for
inventions in video and network technology and licenses IP to
videoconferencing, rich-media services, public networking and related
industries. Current licensees include Sony Corporation, Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), Polycom, Inc., Tandberg ASA, Radvision Ltd.,
LifeSize Communications, Inc. and Emblaze-VCON.

For more information, visit http://www.avistar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this news release that are not purely historical,
including but not limited to statements regarding the projection of desktop
videoconferencing growth, Avistar's ability to monetize its patent portfolio,
generate sequential quarterly growth and grow shareholder value, 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 Avistar's lengthy sales cycle, volatility
associated with Avistar's sales and licensing activities, market acceptance
of Avistar's products, increased competition in the market for unified
communications, technical challenges associated with product development,
ongoing technological developments and changing industry standards, and
challenges associated with protecting and licensing Avistar's intellectual
property. As a result of these and other factors, Avistar expects to
experience significant fluctuations in revenue and operating results, and
there can be no assurance that Avistar will become or remain profitable in
the future, or that its future results will meet expectations. 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.

Web site: http://www.avistar.com