Avotus applies advanced technology/expertise to manage voice, data and cellular procurement, usage and expense management…

TORONTO and BOSTON – Jan. 17, 2005 – Avotus® Corporation (TSX Venture: AVS), the leading provider of communications spend management solutions, today announced that one of the country’s leading information technology storage companies, based in California, has turned to Avotus for communications expense and usage management, as well as level-one help desk support for the company’s thousands of mobile devices. Avotus is supporting the customer with its Elite Intelligent Communications Management™ (ICM) service. Under the three-year contract, Avotus will provide complete managed services for ordering, inventory management and invoice processing.

Beginning with the ordering process, Avotus ICM Expense Management ensures that all equipment and service purchases comply with corporate policy and standards. The company will utilize Avotus ICM’s catalog feature which applies business rules to properly configure and send the order to the appropriate carrier(s). Order progress and fulfillment are tracked by the Avotus system and available for review by the requestor and company management via a Web interface. Once the order is completed, inventory is automatically updated in the Avotus application to confirm the accuracy of future invoices.

Invoices from the company’s voice, data, and cellular carriers are sent directly to Avotus for review and processing. Avotus’ Elite ICM Expense Management service processes the invoices to ensure that they are in accordance with contract terms. Avotus staff use detailed information and the automated discrepancy tracking capabilities of ICM Expense Management to manage disputes with the carriers. Corrected invoices are electronically submitted to the company’s Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for corporate review, approval and payment.

The tracking, management and support for corporate-owned mobile devices, such as wireless phones, personal data assistants and calling cards, is a major administrative issue for this customer. Avotus provides outsourced help desk services that administer all aspects of these programs including technical and billing support. Call center activities are managed by the Avotus ICM system and are based at Avotus’ North American call center.

The company is also implementing total communications spend management by using Avotus ICM Usage Management to track usage and the associated costs of individual calls, including wireless. ICM Usage Management enables the allocation of departmental or cost center communications expenses and identifies trends, as well as system abuse and misuse on an individual basis. This information is available in a variety of reports, including aggregated totals for administrators, and individual account information for users, through a Web interface.

“Technology companies understand the power of Avotus Intelligent Communications Management and the efficiency of a managed solution,” said Chuck Machlin, senior vice president, expense management solutions at Avotus. “With this Elite managed service agreement, a complex business function that could not be adequately supported in-house has been turned over to the experts. Our customer does not need to hire, train and retain staff to perform this necessary but non-strategic business function. The combination of Avotus’ outsourced ICM services and help desk, along with our usage management, will enable the company to more efficiently manage its overall communications spend.”