New Company Will Lead Emerging Markets for Unified Mobile Communications
Bluesocket, Inc., have recently announced it has acquired SIP-based enterprise communications solutions leader Pingtel Corp. This strategic move establishes a solid foundation for the delivery of converged mobility and unified communications offerings, and places Bluesocket in a leadership position to provide complete enterprise mobility solutions that combine secure wireless LAN and Voice over IP (VoIP) - including unified communications server technology which will be a key foundation for Bluesocket's enterprise fixed mobile convergence (FMC) architecture.
Combining Bluesocket's award-winning WLAN and security capabilities with Pingtel's leading SIP PBX technology creates opportunities in two key market segments. The first is providing software-based, OEM-ready solutions to larger ecosystem partners seeking faster approaches for delivering integrated wired, wireless and voice offerings to their mid-market enterprise customers. Additionally, the combination enables Bluesocket to now target mid-sized and small enterprises interested in implementing a standards-based mobility solution oriented towards unified voice and data communications.
"The opportunity lies in the fact that the wireless LAN and unified communications markets are converging to create a $10 billion plus market for enterprise mobility solutions," said Mads Lillelund, CEO at Bluesocket. "As a result of this acquisition, we are better positioned to deliver an integrated solution that meets the mobility needs of customers across a variety of industries. Bluesocket is redefining the meaning of enterprise mobility by seamlessly combining leading unified communications, mobility and security solutions, with significant improvements to the user experience and an overall lower cost of ownership."
As part of the transaction, Bluesocket and Pingtel will unite their product development efforts, channel partners and end-user base. Pingtel's SIP-based, unified communications technology will form the basis of Bluesocket's future FMC solution to manage call hand-off between cellular and enterprise Wi-Fi networks. Bluesocket will accelerate the open source development championed by Pingtel, including full support for the sipXecs open source project and the SIPfoundry open source community. All Pingtel employees will remain with Bluesocket and the company plans to significantly increase R&D investment to accelerate its strategy of being first to deliver a fully integrated offering to the market.
Emerging trends such as the replacement of desk phones with multimodal wireless smartphones, the adoption of open, standards-based solution architectures and the shift to software-based PBX solutions are coming together to create a significant market for unified communications offerings that deliver enhanced mobility to the enterprise. Furthermore, according to research firm Gartner, Inc., "The mobile applications area will continue to focus on the convergence of voice, e-mail, management, security and business applications. Mobile applications convergence will enable business workflow processes to be more portable across networks, geographies, media and end-user devices" *("2007 Key Issues for Mobile Applications," February 28, 2007).
The combination of Bluesocket and Pingtel creates a company uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of a seamless converged user experience from the applications perspective. The unified wireless communications value proposition involves more than network layer security, roaming and seamless handoffs. A truly converged solution offers seamless, end-to-end application integration, full telephony and presence feature transparency, plug & play management of all the devices, and the integration of the mobility features into the unified VoIP communications solution.
"During the past several years, Pingtel has transformed the way enterprises buy and deploy VoIP communications," said William Rich, CEO at Pingtel. "As a result, the company has achieved strong industry momentum and built a solid base of flagship enterprise accounts and OEM customers. Together with Bluesocket we are stronger and better positioned to bring our unified communications and wireless products to market, leverage new channels, and accelerate growth worldwide."
The addition of Pingtel brings resources and capabilities that significantly expand Bluesocket's market presence and leadership:
Channel and Partner Synergies
Distribution channels and partners play a significant role in delivering Bluesocket and Pingtel solutions to market. The channel and OEM synergies that exist between the two companies support an opportunity for the companies' partners to provide both WLAN and VoIP solutions - providing a significant single source differentiator. Additionally, Bluesocket's recently announced channel partner program will offer the same high gross profit margin, technical training and joint marketing program opportunities to Pingtel's partners.
Experienced Team
The addition of Pingtel's strong management, engineering and customer support teams is highly complementary to Bluesocket's focus on serving the enterprise mobility market. A strong overlap of target end-user markets enables the combined companies to maximize the efficiencies of sales and marketing resources. Bluesocket plans to hire additional staff to accelerate its strategic intent and capitalize on the companies' synergies.
* Source: Gartner, Inc.: "2007 Key Issues for Mobile Applications," by Ken Dulaney and Steve Blood, February 28, 2007
About Bluesocket
Founded in 1999, Bluesocket is a leader in open, standards based enterprise mobility solutions. Bluesocket is the first company to deliver an enterprise communication solution that unifies secure wireless LAN, SIP-based enterprise Voice over IP and fixed mobile convergence. Its complete wireless network and voice solution portfolio bring trust and simplicity to increasingly complex wireless networks maximizing customer ROI and increasing their competitive edge.
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