CounterPath Unveils New Team Collaboration Offering for SMBs

The emerging technologies that have made their way into the world of business have simplified and streamlined the process of communications for organizations both internally and externally. From online meetings, video conferencing, to quick and secure file sharing, new enterprise solutions have radically changed how companies operate.
For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) particularly, this rapidly growing list of ways to communicate and collaborate have enabled them to boost their productivity and efficiency in ways incomparable to other traditional methods. And in order to meet the communication and collaboration needs of SMBs, trusted Unified Communications solutions provider CounterPath (NASDAQ: CPAH) (TSX: PATH) recently unveiled its new service, Bria Teams.
In this article, Todd Carothers, EVP of Sales & Marketing for CounterPath Corporation, talks to VoipReview about the company's latest offering and shares how it can help SMBs drive better engagement opportunities not just internally, among in-house team members, but also with other clients, customers, and prospects.
Team Collaboration for SMBs Made Easier
Announced last month, the new Bria Teams helps teams of all sizes to stay connected and current, and get work done more efficiently especially in a distributed environment. It’s a subscription-based offering that’s geared towards new users in the SMB market, as well as the current user base of CounterPath’s X-Lite and Bria solutions.
According to Carothers, they chose to cater to the SMB market as it is the most underserved market from a Unified Communications perspective. “The large enterprise segment has more choice—but at a steep price,” said Carothers. “Bria Teams delivers the sophistication of a large enterprises solution at a cost point the SMBs can afford,” he added. “Our value and pricing is highly differentiated and offers a unique offering for SMBs to leverage into their workflow unlike anything they’ve had access to before.”
Some of the key features and benefits of Bria Teams include:
- Streamlined team communications features in a contact-centric interface, which include:
- Team messaging and presence - Find out who's online and who's available to get in touch efficiently and effectively.
- Integrated file transfer - Simply drag and drop files to share with the team.
- HD voice and video calling - Bria Teams helps teams get talking through HD audio and video calling. It also includes call functions, such as call mute, record, merge, and hold.
- Screen sharing - Get on the same page with your team through screen sharing.
- Integration with existing PBX or VoIP services. Bria Teams supports SMBs and enterprises looking to digitally transform their communications by offering integration with existing PBX or VoIP services, such as enabling users to take their business number with them as their single identity.
- High-security features. CounterPath understands the importance of securing critical business information. Bria Teams comes with built-in audio and media encryption for messaging, calling, screen sharing and file transfer.
- Communications on the go. For ultimate reachability and productivity, each user can activate Bria Teams on up to three devices of their choice; thus, enabling users to take communications on-the-go. Bria Teams apps are available for Windows and Mac desktop, as well as for iOS and Android devices.
- Easy administration. CounterPath is committed to delivering an exceptional user experience in all of their products, and Bria Teams is no different. With Bria Teams, admin can quickly enable set up and manage users within minutes through an intuitive web interface with little to no IT involvement.
Why Choose Bria Teams
With the vast range of team collaboration platforms available in the space today--which is currently dominated by Slack--it can be confusing for SMBs to choose the right solution that meets their business needs.
Carothers advises that in order to make the selection easier, business leaders need consider three critical items:
- Does the solution cover the top features required for a solid unified communications experience and does it address usability across generations of users?
- Does the solution have everything needed under single interface that is easy to navigate?
- Does it work with existing call servers?
And for Carothers, Bria Teams meets all three requirements.
Carothers believes that Bria Teams stands out in three areas:
- It’s an all-inclusive solution for voice, video, messaging, presence, screen share (and soon collaboration) all unified in a single interface and tool—all over a secure connection.
- Any person in a company can start using Bria Teams for group communication without IT getting involved.
- Bria Teams can also work with an organization’s current call server or PBX so that Bria Teams users can also make/receive phones calls to the PSTN.
For SMBs that would like to test drive CounterPath’s newest solution, Bria Teams is available for a free 30-day trial at www.softphone.com. Monthly subscriptions are offered for as low as $5.95 USD per user; while annual subscriptions are at $47.40 USD per user ($3.95 USD per user per month).
The Future of Team Collaboration
In regards to the trends that will shape the industry, Carothers believes that Collaboration will turn from a “want” into a significant “need” as the world becomes more digital. “Auxiliary booming industries like AI and IoT will fit in as well by enabling solutions like Bria Teams to better fit within the business workflow — instead of today where the workflow is force fitted into communications tools,” he added.
As for CounterPath, new and existing users can look forward to more exciting enhancements to Bria Teams. Carothers said, “We will also provide greater breadth and depth in our integrations to leading solutions to enable a richer end-user experience.” “There will be deep feature enhancements delivered through the company’s collaboration capabilities that will be focused around video, messaging and a concept we call Threaded Communication,” he added.
About CounterPath
CounterPath is a VoIP solutions provider that designs, develops, and supplies innovative VoIP and UC products that are designed to change the face of telecommunications. Founded in 2002, CounterPath specializes in the operator, enterprise, and channel markets. Their suite of products and solutions power the voice and video calling, messaging, and presence offerings of leading telecommunications providers such as AT&T, Avaya, BroadSoft, NEC, Verizon, and more.