This Month in Telecom: October 2017
This Month in Telecom is a monthly news round-up on VoipReview.org that aims to give our readers a fast and easy way to catch up on the latest news and top stories that are trending in the voice and telecommunications space. Check in every month to find out more about stories you may have missed in regards to new companies, mergers, trends, and other telecom advancements.
Let’s take a look at some biggest stories in telecom for the month of October.
Cisco Scoops Up UC Software Leader BroadSoft for $1.9 Billion
In a bid to bolster its telecom technology and cloud services, telecommunications giant Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced its intent to acquire Maryland-based UC software leader BroadSoft (NASDAQ: BSFT). Valued at $1.9 billion, the latest acquisition reinforces Cisco’s commitment to deliver a next-generation collaboration experience to today’s modern workers.
The deal will be finalized during the first quarter of 2018, following customary closing conditions and regulatory review. Once the transaction is closed, BroadSoft employees will be a part of Cisco's Unified Communications Technology Group, which will be headed by Vice President and General Manager Tom Puorro, under the Applications Group led by Trollope.
Masergy Launches Communicator HUB for UCaaS
To address the changing needs of today’s workforce and enable more efficient communications, trusted hybrid networking, managed security, and cloud communications services provider, Masergy, introduced a new cloud aggregation offering this month: the Masergy Communicator HUB.
Bundled with the company’s award-winning Global Unified Communication as a Service (Global UCaaS) solution, Masergy Communicator HUB offers organizations and their teams a complete UC experience. The application makes conversations more productive and collaborative by providing users access to voice, video, instant messaging, presence, screen sharing, file sharing, virtual meeting rooms and more. Masergy Communicator HUB is now available and offered as a complimentary upgrade to the provider’s Global UCaaS solution.
Nextiva Rolls Out New Business Communication Platform
Scottsdale-based cloud-based communications provider Nextiva has unveiled a new platform designed to simplify business communications and improve the customer experience. The new NextOS platform, which was introduced by Nextiva CEO Tomas Gorny during the company’s annual conference in Arizona, reflects the company’s dedication to democratizing access to the best-available communication technologies for enterprises of all sizes.
Key components of the new NextOS platform include the Nextiva ServiceCRM (a customer and employee information database), Nextiva Chat (a browser-based internal and external chat system), Nextiva Surveys (a survey tool), and Nextiva Analytics (an enhanced analytics tool for all communications methods). The new NextOS platform will be generally available in early 2018.
RingCentral Announces Expansion of its RingCentral Connect Platform
Recognizing the need for open, integrated, and pervasive business communications, RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE:RNG), a leading provider of cloud-based global collaborative communications solutions, announced the expansion of its RingCentral Connect Platform, one of the largest and most diverse developer ecosystems in the UCaaS market.
With the latest update, developer teams that rely on the RingCentral Connect Platform can now take advantage of a host of new integrations. These include RingCentral for Gmail (a native integration with G Suite), RingCentral for Alexa® Skills (integration with Amazon Alexa–powered devices), and RingCentral for Slack (lets users bring meetings and calling capabilities into the Slack messaging platform). In addition to these enhancements, RingCentral also introduced AI and chatbot enhancements for Glip team collaboration. These include Salesforce Alert Bot, Kore.AI, and Gong.io.
Avaya Launches AI Connect Initiative
The global leader in delivering superior communications solutions for enterprises, Avaya has launched a new initiative aimed at accelerating the development and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in contact centers and unified communications. Dubbed as the A.I. Connect, this initiative seeks to explore and adopt AI and machine learning technologies to enable Avaya customers to provide more engaging customer experiences as well as enhance workflows.
A.I. Connect will focus on five key areas, which include Effortless Self-Service, Smart Routing, Agent Augmentation, Interaction Insights, and Enhanced Workforce Optimization. More information on A.I.Connect can be found at Avaya’s website.
Fuze Expands Communication and Collaboration Experience through Fuze Web
Boston-based cloud communications platform provider Fuze unveiled this month a new offering that lets enterprises enjoy a complete UCaaS experience without installing apps or plugins: Fuze Web.
Fuze Web simplifies UC deployment across the enterprise by giving users (and even guest participants) access to business voice, meetings, and modern messaging features right from their WebRTC-enabled browser. With one simple click, users can launch voice calls, chat, HD video meetings, and share content without leaving their browser. This helps remove communications friction and streamlines internal and external collaboration.