Avistar Communications Corporation has launched a new Standard Edition of its C3 desktop videoconferencing software. The package provides an entry level solution for point-to-point and multi-point video calling that is rapidly deployable, is a fully supported enterprise application, and is proven at scale. Avistar C3 has been designed to help organizations unite people both internally and externally through rich media communications and built-in collaboration tools.

    In addition to individual desktop or laptop installations, C3 Standard Edition can also be installed in offices or larger team rooms. Full integration with Avistar C3 Professional Edition gives the option for specified users to gain multi-party videoconferencing capabilities, within a larger Standard Edition deployment. C3 Standard Edition can be installed at the desktop, on laptops for mobile use, or as a room system using a standard or wide-angle camera with speakerphone. It does not require proprietary hardware, but instead runs on industry standard PCs and supports USB 2.0 webcams, Bluetooth headsets and VoIP speakerphones.

    "Avistar clients use desktop videoconferencing to boost productivity, eliminate travel and associated expense, and substantially reduce corporate carbon emissions," stated Stephen Epstein, chief marketing officer at Avistar. "Our new Standard Edition provides these benefits at significantly lower cost through a point-to-point and multi-point solution which retains all the benefits of being fully supported and proven at scale with thousands of users."

    C3 Standard Edition is a software-only solution that delivers IP-based point-to-point and multi-point videoconferencing, voice (VoIP) and presence. Based on market-proven technology scalable from ten to thousands of users, it is ideal for organizations of any size. As well as providing internal videoconferencing, C3 Standard Edition is fully interoperable with market-leading communications systems from other vendors, in order to retain the value of legacy investments and to enable external communications to third parties.

    For SMB (small/medium business) users it provides a low cost yet reliable solution for desktop or room based videoconferencing; for the enterprise it facilitates flexible deployments that can be rapidly scaled, or upgraded to multi-party videoconferencing. The intangible benefits to widespread unified communications in an organization are intuitive: time and geographic barriers are eliminated, ideas and knowledge are rapidly transferred, decisions are made faster and communication is more accurate.

    The software has built-in capability to make intelligent and automatic adjustments that seamlessly support connection with external VoIP, video within web-based instant messaging clients, room-based videoconferencing systems, and high-end HD telepresence systems. The inherent adaptability of C3 is especially relevant for organizations thinking about unified communications (UC). Deployments of C3 Standard Edition can be easily and quickly modified to add broader capabilities, more users, or to integrate with UC software from other vendors.

    "As they start to deploy rich media capabilities for their unified communications systems, organizations need a scalable solution based on industry standards for voice and video processing, without extending network capacity or compromising performance," commented Melanie Turek, Principal Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.