AVST will combine its CallXpress unified communications (UC) platform with NEC’s IP telephony and UC solutions.

CallXpress embeds speech-recognition technology into applications, such as personal assistants and automated attendants. This handy (or hands-free rather) feature enables employees to access their company’s communication infrastructure, provides speech-initiated mobile management of telephone calls, emails, fax messages, contacts and calendar and complies with the hands-free mobile phone laws enacted in many states and countries. Oprah would be proud!

Marty Parker of UCStrategies commented on the strong points of the AVST/NEC alliance.

It may be possible for AVST to capture a new growth vector if they can provide UC solutions and applications that are not usually packaged with SMB, or even enterprise, communications systems. Also, it may be possible that a UC refresh of an installed VM or UM system is possible solely using some future AVST product packages, rather than requiring a company to upgrade their key system or PBX or to install separate products and servers in order to capture UC benefits.

Customers, of course, stand to benefit in both categories. Since AVST has a very feature-rich messaging system that supports multiple PBXs, multiple sites, and multiple message store methods (VM as well as UM with Exchange and Domino), the NEC customers will have even better investment options. And, in the UC category, AVST has more development resources to deliver new value for both the AVST and NEC customer sets.