by Christopher Musico
Jacada, provider of unified desktop and process optimization solutions for customer service operations, checked off the top of their 2008 New Year's Resolution list Tuesday with its sale of its application modernization business to Software AG, a Europe-based business infrastructure software company, for $26 million.
This deal finally allows the company to fully devote itself to its call center telesolutions business--a long-term goal of the company due to the fact the call center solutions business has grown more than 60 percent per year in the past three years, according to statistics released by the company. "About four years ago we began focusing on the customer service/call center market because we saw a tremendous opportunity to help call centers by simplifying the desktops within the call centers," says David Holmes, Jacada's executive vice president of global marketing. "We delivered new telesolutions technology on top of existing technology, and [the call center solutions business] really has become the sole focus of the company over the past two to three years. With this deal, we are now 100 percent focused on the call center space." Click here to learn more!
Streaming Media East 2008 in NYC
Jacada and Software AG entered into the agreement on December 19, 2007, in which Software AG agreed to pay $26 million in cash to acquire Jacada products and related customer contracts.
Under the terms of the transaction, Jacada retains the right to develop, market, sell, and support Jacada Interface Server and Jacada HostFuse in support of its call center solutions business as well as the intellectual property rights for Jacada WorkSpace and Jacada WinFuse. Holmes stresses the beauty of the deal is Jacada still has everything it needs for its call center solutions business. "We saw this as an opportunity to sell off old business, monetize and capitalize on that investment," he says. "However, we continue to have all the technology we need to go forward."
Sheryl Kingstone, director of enterprise applications at Yankee Group, says Jacada's deal is the right move for the company at this time. "They get $26 million and use of assets, technology, and money to focus more on contact center, where all their new deals are anyway," she explains. "The only thing is if all of a sudden [the] market changes and they want to shift focus away from contact center market, they've lost maintenance strength. But if you're living off maintenance base you're eventually going to die anyway."
Sheila McGee-Smith, president and principal analyst of McGee-Smith Analytics, also believes Jacada made the right call. "Twenty-six million dollars is a nice infusion of cash," she says. "With that, Jacada can now do marketing or build [a] sales force that allows them to expand its footprint dramatically in a more focused way."
Holmes also described this deal as a "true win-win" for Software AG. Software AG already has a very large focus on application modernization and application development in large systems or enterprise applications; they now have a large integration, Web services, and SOA practice. Holmes says the Jacada Telesolutions International software will be easy for Software AG to incorporate into its arsenal and support customers. "This is a good match in terms of organization and the type of customers they serve," he explains.
Now that Jacada is exclusively focused on its call center solutions business, it can show its investors and customers worldwide just how important that market has become to the company. It can also offer them a preview of what Jacada has to offer in the coming year, including new innovations and partnerships beyond the global reseller agreements Holmes says Jacada signed with Accenture and IBM Global Services. "There will be a lot more strategic wins for us in this area [call center solutions]," Holmes says. "You'll see us to continue to innovate in this area." McGee-Smith agrees with Holmes' belief of continued strategic partnerships. "Without the unrelated businesses, it is an easier acquisition candidate for a company like Avaya or Cisco."
While the deal may make some believe contact center providers are moving away from offering a "one-stop shop" of CRM solutions, Kingstone says the contact center market never behaved that way. "The CRM application market has consolidated, but the contact center itself is usually using multiple applications--there's never the ability to go to one vendor," she says. "All the different applications that agents use, like CRM, has turned out to become what I call a silo on the agent desktop. People are now realizing this and that's where these solutions are focused.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Telesolutions and Call Compliance
GLEN COVE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Compliance Systems Corporation (OTCBB: COPI), a telecom service company focused on providing compliance technologies, methodologies, has completed a $2.5 million financing. In addition, debt holders exchanged $3.1 million in of Company debt into equity, resulting in a total increase in stockholders’ equity of 5.6 million.
The Company raised $2.5 million by issuing Serial Preferred A shares at $1.00 each, and debt holders exchanged approximately $3.1 million of Company debt into shares of the Company’s Serial Preferred B and C Stock at $1.00 per share. Each preferred share is convertible into 100 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock.
This transaction enabled Compliance Systems to use approximately $1.1 million dollars to buy out from Cornell Capital-affiliated entities convertible debentures that has been previously detailed in regulatory financings. The remaining funds will be used for ongoing and future business development. Further agreement details can be found in the Form 8-K Compliance Systems filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 31, 2007.
“This transaction marks a significant step for Compliance Systems as it evidences management’s commitment to improving the Company’s capital structure. While we acknowledge Cornell provided us initial funding assistance, this restructuring should greatly improve our balance sheet, while providing working capital to allow for the continued advancement of business strategy over the next few quarters,” stated Dean Garfinkel, President and CEO of Compliance Systems Corporation, Inc.
Compliance Systems Corporation Completes $2.5M Financing
About Compliance Systems Corporation
Compliance Systems Corporation, located in Glen Cove, NY, is a developer of technology-based compliance solutions for the teleservices industry. The company’s primary proprietary product, TeleBlock Call Blocking System, automatically screens and blocks outbound calls against federal, state, and in-house do-not-call lists. Compliance Systems also offers a Regulatory Guide, an up-to-date, online compilation of state and federal telemarketing laws, as well as ongoing compliance auditing services.
For further information on TeleBlock®,; for more information on the Regulatory Guide, Call Compliance Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Compliance Systems Corporation (COPI.BB).
Forward-Looking Statements
The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date thereof.
The Company raised $2.5 million by issuing Serial Preferred A shares at $1.00 each, and debt holders exchanged approximately $3.1 million of Company debt into shares of the Company’s Serial Preferred B and C Stock at $1.00 per share. Each preferred share is convertible into 100 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock.
This transaction enabled Compliance Systems to use approximately $1.1 million dollars to buy out from Cornell Capital-affiliated entities convertible debentures that has been previously detailed in regulatory financings. The remaining funds will be used for ongoing and future business development. Further agreement details can be found in the Form 8-K Compliance Systems filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 31, 2007.
“This transaction marks a significant step for Compliance Systems as it evidences management’s commitment to improving the Company’s capital structure. While we acknowledge Cornell provided us initial funding assistance, this restructuring should greatly improve our balance sheet, while providing working capital to allow for the continued advancement of business strategy over the next few quarters,” stated Dean Garfinkel, President and CEO of Compliance Systems Corporation, Inc.
Compliance Systems Corporation Completes $2.5M Financing
About Compliance Systems Corporation
Compliance Systems Corporation, located in Glen Cove, NY, is a developer of technology-based compliance solutions for the teleservices industry. The company’s primary proprietary product, TeleBlock Call Blocking System, automatically screens and blocks outbound calls against federal, state, and in-house do-not-call lists. Compliance Systems also offers a Regulatory Guide, an up-to-date, online compilation of state and federal telemarketing laws, as well as ongoing compliance auditing services.
For further information on TeleBlock®,; for more information on the Regulatory Guide, Call Compliance Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Compliance Systems Corporation (COPI.BB).
Forward-Looking Statements
The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date thereof.
Telesolutions Developed Call Center Solution For China
By Rick Whiting, CMP Channel
IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories are expanding their presence in the market for call center systems in China using a jointly developed "Call Center in a Box" solution, according to the two companies. If successful the vendors may tailor the solution for other markets.
IBM and Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, have been developing, marketing and deploying call center telesolutions together for eight years and have more than 300 joint customers around the world, including in China, said Brig Serman, IBM vice president of strategic alliances. But the new Contact Center in a Box solution is designed to expand both companies' presence in China, Serman said.
Contact center application sales in China grew 15.5 percent in 2006 and are expected to grow more than 18 percent this year and 20 percent in 2008, according to a May 2007 report from market researcher Frost & Sullivan. "Customer service and customer satisfaction are becoming increasingly important in that market," Serman said.
IBM has been increasing its telesolutions sales efforts in emerging markets such as China, India and Russia in recent years. The new contact center solution, which can be deployed in as little as 90 days, is targeted at both SMBs and large companies and organizations in China in banking, insurance, telecommunications and government.
The Call Center in a Box combines Genesys' suite of customer interaction management applications that provide call routing, computer telephony integration and customer self-service capabilities with Oracle (NSDQ:ORCL)'s Siebel sales and after-sales support applications. The applications are pre-configured with IBM BladeCenter servers and IBM's DB2, WebSphere and Tivoli software.
IBM and Genesys jointly sell and service the Call Center telesolutions in a Box solution. In China IBM will provide consultants and technical experts on Genesys software for localized customer support, according to the companies.
IBM and Genesys may configure the call center solution for other markets and could work with other channel partners to sell and service it in other countries, said Bruce Acheson, Genesys senior director of channel sales.
IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories are expanding their presence in the market for call center systems in China using a jointly developed "Call Center in a Box" solution, according to the two companies. If successful the vendors may tailor the solution for other markets.
IBM and Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, have been developing, marketing and deploying call center telesolutions together for eight years and have more than 300 joint customers around the world, including in China, said Brig Serman, IBM vice president of strategic alliances. But the new Contact Center in a Box solution is designed to expand both companies' presence in China, Serman said.
Contact center application sales in China grew 15.5 percent in 2006 and are expected to grow more than 18 percent this year and 20 percent in 2008, according to a May 2007 report from market researcher Frost & Sullivan. "Customer service and customer satisfaction are becoming increasingly important in that market," Serman said.
IBM has been increasing its telesolutions sales efforts in emerging markets such as China, India and Russia in recent years. The new contact center solution, which can be deployed in as little as 90 days, is targeted at both SMBs and large companies and organizations in China in banking, insurance, telecommunications and government.
The Call Center in a Box combines Genesys' suite of customer interaction management applications that provide call routing, computer telephony integration and customer self-service capabilities with Oracle (NSDQ:ORCL)'s Siebel sales and after-sales support applications. The applications are pre-configured with IBM BladeCenter servers and IBM's DB2, WebSphere and Tivoli software.
IBM and Genesys jointly sell and service the Call Center telesolutions in a Box solution. In China IBM will provide consultants and technical experts on Genesys software for localized customer support, according to the companies.
IBM and Genesys may configure the call center solution for other markets and could work with other channel partners to sell and service it in other countries, said Bruce Acheson, Genesys senior director of channel sales.
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