FOOTHILL RANCH, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/29/13 -- Applied Voice & Speech Technologies, Inc. (AVST), a leading provider of best of breed Unified Communications (UC) software, announced today that, in further support of the emerging enterprise trend towards hybrid UC cloud deployments, the latest release of its enterprise class CX-E UC platform now supports an enhanced integration to Microsoft® Office 365™, including unified messaging, calendaring, contacts and message waiting indicator.

While the majority of enterprise UC deployments today are premise-based (private cloud), recent surveys indicate a clear trend towards public cloud-based and hybrid premise and cloud-based deployments of UC and enterprise voice. As a first step, a growing number of enterprises are deploying public cloud-based email services while leveraging their remaining mission-critical voice infrastructure on-premise. "With either total or partial (hybrid) cloud-based enterprise UC deployments predicted to increase from 35 percent today to 70 percent in the future, hybrid deployments will clearly be the preferred approach for enterprise UC deployments in the future -- based upon an extensive survey we just completed," said Michael Finneran, Principal at dBrn Associates, Inc, the primary author of the study which was conducted by Webtorials, on behalf of Sonus Networks. In support of this trend, AVST has released this latest version of its enterprise class UC platform, CX-E, to address the growing popularity of these hybrid UC cloud deployments. Through its resilient UC architecture and extensive interoperability, CX-E can be attached to cloud email services such as Microsoft Office 365 and Google Gmail.

"2013 is the year of the hybrid UC cloud," said Tom Minifie, AVST's Chief Technology Officer. "Our customers are migrating from an on-premise Exchange Server email environment to Office 365 in the cloud. Seattle Pacific University is one example of this. The world class interoperability of AVST's CX-E platform has enabled Seattle Pacific University to operate in an evolving email environment while continuing to offer the University's faculty and staff a completely unified experience."

According to David W. Tindall, Assistant Vice President for Technology Services, Seattle Pacific University, "AVST's CX-E platform architecture and interoperability keep our university at the forefront of Unified Communications, and its powerful set of UC applications continues to elevate the business performance of our faculty and staff. We are now able to offer a seamless unified messaging experience, as well as manage and access our availability, contacts and calendaring from our mobile devices -- regardless of whether we are using a premise or cloud-based email system."

Thousands of enterprise customers globally have chosen AVST's industry leading CX-E UC platform as part of their private cloud or hybrid cloud UC deployment strategy. Key features include:

• Highly scalable enterprise class architecture supports mission critical voice application modernization initiatives including centralization, full disaster recovery/business continuity capabilities and virtualization support;
• Broadest UC interoperability on the UC market enabling enterprises to leverage and unify their existing UC infrastructure investments as well as connect to the cloud for an optimal hybrid UC configuration; and
• Best of breed AVST mobile, voice and business process applications that deliver increased individual, work group and enterprise productivity.

CX-E 8.2 SU3 is now available through AVST's established reseller channels worldwide. For more information about AVST's products, please visit the company website at www.avst.com.

About AVST
The typical enterprise communications infrastructure is made up of a collection of technologies from multiple vendors, acquired over time and never intended to work together. To maximize user and business productivity, while leveraging existing IT investments, interoperability is a must.

AVST delivers the industry's most interoperable Unified Communications (UC) platform that brings best-of-breed voice, mobility and business process applications to the enterprise. Unlike virtually every other UC vendor, AVST does not constrain customers with a single vendor lock-in approach. In fact, it's the very opposite. By connecting new and existing technologies, AVST frees organizations from the constraints of a closed, single-source UC solution, unlocking the full potential of their communications infrastructure.

With over 15 million users worldwide and three decades of innovation excellence, AVST is unifying communications®.

Headquartered in Orange County, California, AVST maintains facilities in Seattle, Washington, Victoria B.C., Canada and the United Kingdom and has remote sales offices throughout the United States. AVST's UC solutions are sold and supported worldwide by an extensive network of resellers and OEM partners. To learn more about AVST, our products and partners, please visit http://www.avst.com or you can follow us at Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

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