Epygi partners with Camrivox to integrate with Salesforce.com
Click-to-dial, screen pops, call control and logging

Epygi Technologies has partnered with Camrivox of Cambridge, UK and certified the Flexor 500 IP Handset for use with Quadro IP-PBXs. This enables the Quadros to link seamlessly with Salesforce.com offering SME’s cost effective, premise-based CRM telephony integration.

Camrivox, a Salesforce.com AppExchange Partner, has developed the “BizVox” software platform to link the Flexor 500 handset on the desktop directly with a user’s Salesforce.com database via their PC. The interoperability between the Quadros and the Flexor 500 allows auto-configuration and plug-and-play features on the telephony side. Because the CRM integration intelligence resides in the Flexor 500, it removes the need for complex set up or additional servers, whilst simultaneously adding this valuable new feature to the Quadro range.

When a call comes in, the BizVoz software in the Flexor 500 Handset automatically prompts Salesforce.com to display the caller’s record and details. At the end of the call the system allows the user to add notes before automatically logging the record in the Salesforce.com. Outbound calls can be driven either from within Salesforce.com using click-to-dial facility or via the handset. The solution also comes with call reporting tools.

“This is another example of Epygi’s ongoing commitment to offering its customers the most technologically advanced VoIP solutions.” said Mario Cuello, Epygi’s CEO. “IP technology resellers and their customers will benefit from new efficiencies created by the simplified deployment and configuration of the phone with the Quadros through the autoprovisioning process.”

“The Epygi-Camrivox partnership is a tremendous solution for the VAR selling to SMEs”, said Malcolm Wood, CEO of Camrivox “The Quadro is a fantastic premised based IP-PBX; feature rich, simple to use and inexpensive. Complimenting it with a Flexor handset allows the VAR to address the Salesforce.com market with an aggressively priced solution to compete against the large Enterprise offerings currently available.” (Camrivox website)

Epygi Attends IT EXPO East 2008
January 23-25 at the Miami Beach Convention Center - Booth 212

Billed as the World’s Ultimate IP Communications Conference, the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo will provides buyers, sellers, resellers and manufacturers the opportunity to forge relationships and close deals. Geared to government, enterprise and the SMB, ITEXPO affords attendees the perfect environment for exposure to new IP solutions, networking opportunities and an array of educational conferences. Warren Sonnen, Director of Marketing for Epygi Technologies will be on hand to discuss the benefits of Epygi IP PBX’s and Gateways to potential resellers. (Convention site)

Another VoIP Myth Busted
Business Has Been Slow to Adopt VoIP

Word has circulated that consumer subscription growth has slowed in the US and a few other corners of the world. However, growth in bandwidth, accelerated network speeds, business technology applications and innovations, improved security and removal of regulatory barriers have combined to accelerate adoption worldwide.

In fact, various market studies indicate that only 25% of small business customers have converted to using telephone-over-Internet services, indicating that the largest boom in VoIP telephone services is still to come.

Myth: VoIP isn't widely used.

Fact: Although traditional phone systems are still the norm, VoIP will be the standard sooner than later.

• In 2005, orders for IP PBX lines surpassed those for traditional TDM PBXs. (In-Stat).
• By the end of 2008, fifty percent of small to medium-sized businesses in the US will be using VoIP. (Info-Tech Research).
• Simultaneously, the UK will reach a similar level of penetration. (McKinsey Research). More than 95% of major global companies will have begun a program of IP-based voice/data convergence by 2010 (The Gartner Company).

Conclusion: Your customers, your vendors and your competitors will take advantage of the increased functionality and cost savings of VoIP telephony. When business broadly adopts these practices, expectation for performance in responsiveness and versatility will increase. Remember how Fed-X and faxes changed people’s perception of speedy service? Count on increased expectations in your business.

SMBs in Brazil to Spend US $ 30B on IT and Telecom This Year
Telecom services to contribute up to 43% of the total pie, says new AMI study

Small and medium businesses (SMBs, or companies with up to 999 employees) in Brazil are on track to spend up to US$ 30 billion on IT and telecom this year, up some 11% over last year. The bulk (43%) of all IT and telecom spending will be toward telecom, according to the latest study by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

Brazil remains the leading IT and telecom market in Latin America, accounting for approximately half of all dollars spent in the region. There are roughly 10.6 million SMBs in the Latin America region, with 40% located in Brazil. About 81% of Brazil's MBs (medium businesses, or companies between 100 and 999 employees) and 76% of Brazil's SBs (small businesses, or companies between 1 and 99 employees) are currently using mobile phones.

The usage of mobile devices to access email, calendaring and contact information is on the rise, particularly among MBs. Inexpensive mobile technology has made Brazil's cell phone services market the fourth largest in the world, behind the United States, Japan and Germany. It leads the Latin America region, and accounts for up to 41% of the total cell phone spending by SMBs in the region.

"As real-time communication and data needs increase for SMBs, their need for technologies that enable them to connect with their internal and external world also increase," the study said. "In this scenario, networking environments are the basic infrastructure required to assist SMBs in adopting more advanced solutions such as hosted/premise-based IP communications."

Although the current adoption of IP-based technologies is at an embryonic stage, SMBs in Brazil are gradually becoming aware of the benefits of IP-based communications. This shift toward wireless communications and IP-based networking platforms is spurred by the fixed mobile convergence (FMC) which integrates mobile infrastructure and applications into a fixed IP networking platform. Although technical and regulatory hurdles are being removed, there still remain a variety of business issues that need to be addressed in the SMB space.

Brazilian SMBs also lack internal staff to assist in managing advanced IT operations, particularly among SBs. Controlling costs is another important issue to overcome increased competition. Vendors interested in catering to SMBs in Brazil must do their homework and refine their approach by offering solutions that are designed and packaged specifically for SB and MB needs. Moreover, Brazil's SMB market is highly fragmented, and a successful vendor needs to also understand the preferred channels that SMBs turn to for their IT and telecom needs. (AMI Release)