This Month in Telecom: April 2018
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 of the biggest stories in telecom for the month of April:
LogMeIn Seals $342 Million Jive Communications Deal
The month opened with LogMeIn (Nasdaq:LOGM), a recognized market leader in Unified Communications and Collaboration, announcing the completion of its acquisition of Jive Communications, one of the fastest growing players in the Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) space.
First announced in February, the deal brings together two innovative teams and technologies behind Jive’s cutting-edge UC offerings and LogMeIn’s market-leading collaboration portfolio. Jive’s suite of products includes voice, video, contact center and mobile applications; while LogMeIn’s collaboration products include GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar, OpenVoice, Grasshopper, join.me and more.
According to Bill Wagner, President and CEO of LogMeIn, the deal makes sense for both companies as they share a common philosophy, which is to “build frictionless user experiences and easy-to-deploy cloud-based solutions designed to scale simply and securely.” Wagner also expressed his enthusiasm over the latest transaction, saying, “As part of the LogMeIn family, Jive gains significant scale and resources to help accelerate innovation, introduce complementary best-in-class offerings, and expand their footprint into new markets. It’s this combination that has us so excited about our future together – a shared opportunity to shape the ways modern workers communicate and collaborate to advance ideas, close business, and get work done.”
TCN Introduces Speech Analytics Powered by CallMiner
To help meet the evolving needs of contact centers, TCN Inc., a leading cloud-based call center technology provider, recently introduced a new call analytics tool powered by CallMiner, the award-winning platform provider of speech and customer engagement analytics.
Offered as TCN Speech Analytics powered by CallMiner, the new analytics tool is designed to help organizations improve contact center agent performance and customer experience. It is fully integrated into TCN’s advanced cloud-based contact center solution, Platform 3.0, and gives organizations access to full speech transcription, advanced search and filtering tools, tagging and commenting, and the ability to make well-informed decisions based on agent performance.
“We are proud to partner with leading technology companies, such as CallMiner, to offer new and innovative solutions to our customers,” said Terrel Bird, co-founder and CEO of TCN. Paul Bernard, President and CEO of CallMiner, also expressed his excitement, saying “We are excited to partner with TCN to improve how companies track and manage contact center performance to transform their operations.”
Vonage Launches New Chatbot
Business cloud communications leader Vonage recently unveiled its first chatbot, Vee, in beta. Integrated into Vonage's cloud-based UC solution, Vee was purpose-built to complement Vonage's next-generation, cloud-native platform, Vonage Business Cloud (VBC).
Vee empowers businesses to take control of the robust set of features and functionality their Vonage service provides. With Vee, both end users and account administrators can easily set up and manage their accounts and get assistance in troubleshooting issues in real-time.
First tested in March, Vee has successfully resolved more than 25,000 customer questions posted by approximately 5,000 users. Frequent use cases for Vee include setting up a device, adding features, asking instructions on how to use features, and other basic customer service questions. Nevertheless, Vonage's 24/7 customer support is also available for customers who want a more personal touch.
Yealink Teams Up with RingCentral
Yealink, the leading global provider of UC terminal solutions, announced that it has teamed up with RingCentral, Inc., an industry leader in enterprise cloud communications and collaboration solutions, to deliver world-class communications experience to businesses worldwide. With the latest partnership of the two communication giants, businesses will now have access to best-in-class Yealink phones paired with RingCentral’s advanced cloud solutions for optimal business productivity.
RingCentral’s suite of products includes mobile-first voice, video conferencing, web meetings, team messaging, and contact center solutions with a unified experience. Yealink phones that will now be available through RingCentral include: the T42S (enterprise mid-level gigabit phone with 12 lines), T46S (executive gigabit phone with 16 lines), and the DECT W56P (for on-the-go workers in various industries such as warehousing, catering and retailing).
New Intermedia Survey Examines UCaaS Adoption Among SMBs in the US
Reliability is the top priority for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. when purchasing UCaaS solutions. This is a key finding from the latest survey commissioned by Intermedia and delivered by Techaisle, a global SMB IT Market Research and industry analyst organization.
A trusted UCaaS and business cloud email provider, Intermedia, in partnership with Techaisle, surveyed a total of 270 U.S.-based SMBs to examine how they are adopting communication and collaboration solutions throughout their various growth stages. The survey revealed that UC adoption is on the rise in the SMB market, with 40% of respondents adopting some form of collaboration solution--up from 32% two years ago. Yet despite this growth, lack of full-time IT support remains a challenge for most SMBs.
To review more results from Intermedia’s latest survey, visit their website.
Mitel to be Acquired by Affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners for $2.0 Billion
After completing its acquisition of ShoreTel late last year, Ottawa-based Mitel, (Nasdaq:MITL) (TSX:MNW), a global leader in business communications, recently announced that it has agreed to be acquired by Searchlight Capital Partners.
An all-cash transaction valued at $2 billion, the deal will also see the company going private, which is expected to bring greater flexibility to the company to achieve its move-to-the-cloud strategy. Mitel CEO, Rich McBee had this to say about the latest development: “This transaction is an exciting next step in our multi-year transformation that has enabled Mitel to emerge as an industry leader in the largest markets in the world. As a private company, and with the strategic and capital support of the Searchlight funds, we will have greater flexibility to manage the transition in our market, accelerate our strategy, and drive the next phase of success for our customers, partners, and employees.”
The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of shareholder, regulatory and court approvals.