FEATURE/On Earth Day, Latitude to Conduct Business 100% Virtually for Sweet Relief From "Bad Air'' Caused by Business Travel

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FEATURE/On Earth Day, Latitude to Conduct Business 100% Virtually for Sweet Relief From "Bad Air'' Caused by Business Travel

Global Staff to Celebrate Earth Day Network's "Earth Car-Free Day' and

Hold "Virtual Meetings' that Day Online and by Phone Rather than Drive

CALIFORNIA, SANTA CLARA, Apr. 18 -/E-Wire/-- Pollution and ice cream have more in common than you might think. If you drive 40 miles round trip to a meeting, instead of using web conferencing and other means of virtual collaboration, you produce 13 quarts of pollution/a. That's the same volume that a person typically consumes in ice cream in an entire year/b. Car emissions, according to the science education web site, Kansas Collaborative Research Network, are the greatest human contributor to ground level ozone pollution. That, in turn, causes aggravated asthma, higher susceptibility to bronchitis, and pneumonia, and reduces U.S. crop production by $500 million each year, reports the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dirty truth persuades company's staff to avoid driving and flying on Earth Day

Responding to those choking facts, Latitude Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LATD), the leading provider of integrated voice and web conferencing solutions, will celebrate "Earth Car-Free Day' April 22. Created by the Earth Day Network, a consortium of over 400 environmental groups formed by the founders of Earth Day, the event encourages alternatives to cars for travel that day. Latitude's 250 employees in the U.S., Europe and Asia will join Car-Free Day participants in hundreds of locations worldwide to bike, walk, run and take mass transit to work on April 22. And given that Latitude's MeetingPlace technology enables people to collaborate in real-time from any location, the company is adding telecommuting to the list of "car-free' options.

Walking the Environmental Talk

To reduce travel and pollution still further, the company's employees will conduct all meetings that day -- whether with customers, vendors, partners or employees -- on MeetingPlace rather than in-person. After Earth Day, Latitude, which provides discounted light rail passes and ice cream as employee benefits, will calculate the amount of pollution -- and travel costs -- it reduces through the car-free and virtual meeting programs.

"Although many businesses are embracing real-time collaboration to save on travel expenses, they can also reduce the "soft costs' that are ultimately a greater expense,' said Rick McConnell, president and chief operating officer of Latitude. "By conducting business virtually, companies can also reduce travel-related downtime, promote employee safety, and save the environment. On Earth Day -- and every day -- business leaders need to consider all of these factors in the impact of employee travel. That makes for a healthier bottom line for everyone.'

On April 22, in conjunction with Earth Day, Latitude will also announce a new product and service that promise to help organizations of all sizes reduce the high costs of business travel. The company's MeetingPlace technology is the only integrated voice and web conferencing solution, allowing users to schedule, invite attendees, attend and reschedule meetings from a single interface without an operator -- or pollution. Like ice cream, that's something to scream for.

Environmental resources and programs

Earth Day Network: www.earthday.net

www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday/EarthCFD/ec_index.htm

Bullitt Foundation: www.bullitt.org

Desert Research Institute: www.dri.edu/

Business for Social Responsibility:

www.bsr.org/BSRLibrary/TOdetail.cfm?DocumentID=527

Sierra Club: www.sierraclub.org

Free the Planet, Pollution Prevention:

www.freetheplanet.org/PollutionPrevention/index.html

The Nader Page: www.nader.org

/a Per-mile emissions formula provided by Dr. Alan Gertler, research professor, Division of Atmospheric Sciences Desert Research Institute in Reno. Gertler, who studies the environmental impact of motor exhaust, says that for every mile we drive, we generate 307.44 grams of pollution, the bulk of which is carbon dioxide (300 grams of CO2, six grams of carbon monoxide, .8 grams of oxides of nitrogen, .6 grams of hydrocarbons, and .04 grams of particulate matter). Truck, SUV and city driving produce even more pollution, Gertler says.

/b Ice cream statistic from the Food Service Professionals Network

MeetingPlace, the leading integrated, secure voice and web conferencing solution, helps organizations to work better through real-time collaboration. MeetingPlace integrates with standard communications infrastructures enabling people to share and edit live documents to work together productively from any location. The result: Faster sales, reduced costs and improved communications. To simplify meeting scheduling, MeetingPlace integrates with standard groupware applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes. MeetingPlace, available as a hosted service or on-premises conferencing platform, is provided by Latitude Communications (Nasdaq:LATD). For more information, visit at www.meetingplace.net or call [REDACTED-PHONE].

About Latitude Communications

Latitude Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LATD) is the leader in providing secure voice and web conferencing solutions. Companies such as Aetna, Agilent, AOL/Time Warner, Charles Schwab, Cisco, Deloitte & Touche, Hewlett-Packard and Merrill Lynch are using MeetingPlace to collaborate in real-time to speed corporate decision-making. Based in Santa Clara, California, Latitude has direct sales and support offices or distribution partners in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. For information, visit www.latitude.com or call [REDACTED-PHONE].

Note to Editors: MeetingPlace is a registered trademark of Latitude Communications Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks of their respective holders.

Latitude Communications Inc.

Latitude Communications Inc.,

Meg North Taylor, 408/988-7251,

[REDACTED-EMAIL]

http://www.meetingplace.net

http://http://www.latitude.com

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