NEW YORK, July 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new campaign to advance the use of desktop videoconferencing and collaboration tools to reduce the need for business travel has been launched by Avistar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: AVSR), a leading videoconferencing technology vendor. The initiative is called "Green Workday" and aims to educate organizations with staff that regularly commute or undertake work-related travel about the reductions in cost, travel time and carbon footprint achievable through widely deployed video communications. The campaign's mission is for every individual and organization that joins Green Workday to reduce their carbon emissions by 20% as part of the Green Workday initiative by substituting business related travel with "video-commuting" 1 day per week.

Commenting on the launch of Green Workday, Stephen Epstein, chief marketing officer at Avistar, said: "People and corporations are increasingly aware of the high costs of business-related travel, in terms of money, time, productivity and environmental impact. Organizations have documented significant reductions in travel and commutation with widespread and continuous access to desktop videoconferencing and collaboration tools. If we achieve our mission of having 1% of the office worker population working from home 1 day per week, each year we'll be saving more than $500 million in fuel costs in the U.S. alone, in addition to saving wasted days of travel time, and reducing considerable levels of destructive carbon from the atmosphere.

"Through Green Workday, Avistar is launching the 10 Seat Green Work Day Promotional Package, which is powered by Avistar's C3 industry leading videoconferencing and collaboration software. Organizations can install these at their offices, in workers' homes, or at their clients' sites -- wherever they think best in order to save on travel without losing face-to-face contact that's so important for effective business interaction in addition to improving work-life balance."

Avistar is the initial sponsor for Green Workday and is offering its C3 desktop videoconferencing software for up to 10 users as part of a promotional package for a period of 1 year. Additional technology sponsors are signing up to the campaign in order to extend the range of incentives used to facilitate or support videoconferencing and collaboration in helping achieve the Green Workday mission. Incentives from additional technology sponsors will be added to Green Workday from time to time. These will be announced on the Green Workday website, with details of applicable terms and conditions.

Organizations wishing to learn more or sign up to Green Workday can do so by visiting www.greenworkday.org or calling 650-525-3300. The Green Workday website provides a detailed and expanding information resource explaining the campaign and its mission, full details of available incentives from participating technology sponsors, plus interactive features to be added over time. Green Workday will celebrate every 250 individuals signed up to the campaign by planting a tree as part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Billion Tree Campaign (www.unep.org/BILLIONTREECAMPAIGN).

Terms and Conditions

-- Through Green Workday, Avistar Communications Corporation will offer 10 user licenses of its C3 point-to-point desktop videoconferencing software for a period of 1 Year, per organization.

-- Avistar C3 requires use of Avistar-approved camera and audio peripheral devices. These must be purchased from Avistar in order to take advantage of the Green Work Day Package offer.

-- Avistar C3 runs on Windows compatible PCs and has minimum system requirements. Full details are available at www.greenworkday.org.

-- The license period is intended to enable organizations to test videoconferencing among staff, customers, and / or suppliers, while supplies last. Use of this promotional pack with room systems other than Avistar's TeamRoom products is strictly forbidden. After the promotional period has ended, organizations can continue to use Avistar C3 and receive support by paying annual maintenance fees. To purchase additional licenses, price information is available from Avistar directly. Please visit www.avistar.com for contact information or call your local Reseller/Distributor.

About Green Workday

Green Workday seeks to reduce the word's energy dependency and use by promoting a 20% reduction in business travel and associated carbon emissions. It will accomplish its objectives through public education and communication, and incentives for the adoption of enabling technologies provided by sponsor organizations, allowing for employees of member organizations to effectively work from home one day or more per week, as well as reduce business trips involving air travel, thereby having significant impacts on commuting and business travel cost reductions, carbon footprint reductions and work life balance improvements.

The key driver behind these changes is the desire of organizations and individuals to use IP based unified communications technology as the ultimate solution to deal with fundamental changes going on in society today. Globalization, economic pressures, the socio-political climate, the threat of catastrophic events or pandemics all cause organizations to become increasingly distributed, virtual, and mobile. Improved communications technology can maintain the comfort of face-to-face interactions and the instant availability of co-located teams even when team members are not in the same place at the same time.

For more information, visit www.greenworkday.org

About Avistar Communications Corporation

Avistar 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 over 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 users gain instant messaging-style ability to initiate video communications across and outside the enterprise. Patented bandwidth management enables thousands of users to access desktop videoconferencing, Voice over IP (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. and Emblaze-VCON.

For more information, visit www.avistar.com

SOURCE Avistar Communications Corporation