TORONTO and BOSTON – Jan. 26, 2005 – Avotus® Corporation (TSX Venture: AVS), the leading provider of communications spend management solutions, has extended its contract with a leading multi-national financial management and advisory company based in New York to include communications usage management. Previously awarded for Avotus ICM Expense Management, the three-year renewable contract has been expanded to support traditional voice and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) communications usage management for up to 50,000 employees worldwide. The expansion adds US$500,000 to the contract value.

The initial contract for ICM Expense Management was for onsite software deployment, however, under the expanded contract Avotus will provide its ICM Usage Management solution under a managed service model. Avotus ICM Usage Management enables the company to gain insight into all call information so that it can identify abuse and misuse while controlling costs and managing allocations to responsible cost centers and departments.

Since the customer has offices worldwide, a key to the expanded use of Avotus technology and services is its unique ability to control and report communications costs in local currencies and then convert and roll up consolidated reports into a single currency (U.S. dollars). All reports, from individual usage reports for employees to departmental and corporate-wide reports, are available online through a Web browser.

Compliance is key

Another key advantage of Avotus ICM Usage Management is its ability to instantly report information (call originator/recipient, duration, etc.) on inbound, outbound and intra-office calls through a Web interface. This enables the company to more easily comply with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requests for information about specific calls. In the past it took up to two weeks to research and reply to such requests.

Avotus eases transition to VoIP

The financial company is also implementing Avotus’ VoIP Network Supervisor (VNS), a communications bandwidth and planning tool to help the company evaluate and enhance its current communications infrastructure to facilitate its ongoing transition to VoIP. This is especially important for this multinational company since it can realize substantial carrier savings by fully leveraging its internal network assets.

“Avotus delivers a unique blend of services and technology for customers to manage all their communications expenses and usage,” commented Fred Lizza, Avotus president and CEO. “We have the technology and the expertise to manage wired, wireless, data and VoIP systems, and the ability to leverage the collected data to help companies respond to the latest business, compliance and competitive challenges. Avotus gives our customers greater control at less cost and the flexibility to manage communications spend in-house or through a managed service.”