Avistar Releases Business-Class Desktop Videoconferencing Software

• By Denise Harrison
• 01/07/10

Avistar has introduced two new software offerings designed to deliver business-class desktop videoconferencing to existing computing environments. Specifically, Avistar said the new software fills in critical gaps in Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) Edition and in Citrix, providing the technology enhancements needed for high-quality visual communications.

Avistar said Microsoft OCS video lacks bandwidth management and call admission control, direct interoperability with H.323, continual presence multi-party calls, support for high definition, and interoperability and scalability. Avistar C3 Unified - Microsoft OCS Edition addresses those limitations, said the company, by using industry standards that provide direct interoperability between the desktop video experience and both SIP- and H.323-enabled room solutions.

The software provides rich desktop videoconferencing features such as continuous presence multiparty videoconferencing, HD (720p) video resolution, and advanced call controls, while leveraging Microsoft OCS presence and desktop integration features. The Avistar solution also delivers full bandwidth management and call admission control, providing administrators control of their videoconferencing environment while ensuring solution scalability.

The other new software offering is Avistar C3 Integrator - Citrix Edition. Avistar explained that while VDI environments such as Citrix offer tremendous operational, environmental, and cost savings, they put a heavy burden on the clients' infrastructure and network when used in conjunction with visual communications and conferencing solutions.

The Avistar C3 Unified- Citrix Edition is designed specifically for the Citrix ICA protocol. This allows Avistar clients to benefit from the operational and environmental savings provided by Citrix solutions, while experiencing a scalable and manageable desktop videoconferencing experience on the Citrix platform. The Avistar C3 Integrator - Citrix Edition solution can be experienced through both the Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp solutions, in addition to the Wyse family of thin terminals. The company said Avistar C3 Integrator - Citrix Edition solution is the industry's only desktop videoconferencing solution designed from the ground up to address the challenges presented when delivering communication solutions within VDI environment such as Citrix, while at the same time leveraging and extending their cost savings and benefits.

In other Avistar news, the company released a list of trends it sees for videoconferencing use in 2010. Some of the more interesting predictions include:

• Integration of conferencing capabilities into existing business applications;
• Increased interest owing to increasing use of free consumer applications--more people will try it and become more comfortable with it in professional settings;
• Need for business-class videoconferencing that doesn't overwhelm the networks;
• increased demand for single-click buttons to reach the people with whom they want to communicate;
• More thin devices, lower power consumption, and virtual desktop environments as they continue to gather steam, with fundamental changes to voice and video communications architectures needed to adapt to VDI;
• Videoconferencing as a feature of social networks within the next 24 months, with the major challenge being storage: how to store videoconferencing messages on servers; and
• Videoconferencing standards, such as SIP and H 264, and firewall traversal, will allow users to place and receive video calls from any videoconferencing application.