From selling stock and celebrating milestones to free Teams voice calls, here are extracts from popular news stories this week.
RingCentral MVP Hits Five Million Paid Seats
The unified communications and collaboration application ‘RingCentral MVP’ has reached the milestone of five million paid seats.
RingCentral believes its MVP (Message, Video, Phone) solution has exceeded market expectations, and the milestone is a validation of the company’s decision to invest in enterprise UC and mobility.
The news was announced by the CEO of RingCentral, Vlad Shmunis, during its company earnings call last week.
Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst of ZK Research, said: “Reaching five million seats sold for RingCentral MVP is a major milestone.
“It’s amazing to think of the market opportunity ahead with more than several hundred million legacy on-premises seats out there.
“It shows that we’re still in the early innings of digital transformation as businesses migrate their communications systems to the cloud.”
Other statistics brought to light by Shmunis include the company now having $2 billion Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR), and the RingCentral Contact Centre is accumulating more than $250 million ARR.
Google Workspace Individual Now Available in Europe
Google has confirmed that Workspace Individual is now available to users in Europe.
The company launched the platform over a year ago to help solo business owners reach new customers and bring their ideas to life.
Google Workspace Individual includes all the features of the Workspace platform, such as Gmail, Meet, Calendar, Slide, and more.
John Shriver-Blake, Group Product Manager, Google Workspace, said:
“With this expansion of Google Workspace Individual, solo business owners in Europe can run, grow and protect their businesses with apps they’re already familiar with.
“This means more time helping customers and less time scheduling, emailing and updating calendars. In the months ahead, we’ll continue to bring Workspace Individual to an expanding list of countries.”
Despite launching over a year ago, Workspace Individual was only available to customers in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and Australia.
Cisco’s Q4 Results Exceed Expectations
Cisco’s Q4 2022 results surpassed analyst forecasts with Webex by Cisco ending the quarter ahead on revenue and beating expectations.
The company’s total revenue amounted to $13.10 billion, exceeding the high end of its guidance range and expectations of $12.73 billion. Earnings were 83 cents per share, which is also above the 82 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.
The collaboration segment, which includes Webex by Cisco, was up by 2%, contributing $1.16 billion in revenue and beating StreetAccount’s $1.10 billion consensus.
Chuck Robbins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said collaboration was driven by growth in devices, but it was also hampered by declines in meetings and calling offerings. Robbins elaborated further on the collaboration segment: “I will say that the teams are working really hard on the meetings and calling side.
“The calling side has been strong for us in the past few quarters. The product portfolio is in really good shape.
“The Net Promoter Score for our meetings platform is now 64, and that was 1 million customer responses, so it is a hugely improved experience.
“This year, the teams are really focused on trying to get that back to growth, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Over the past quarter, Cisco released collaboration solutions, including a video desk phone and noise removal software for Webex.
Ribbon Sells Stock to Raise $52 Million
Ribbon Communications has raised $52 million from the sale of its stock to help pay its debts and increase its working capital.
The stock was sold as a private placement to selected investors, including Neuberger Berman and some of the company’s biggest shareholders, such as JPMorgan Chase and Swarth Group.
The communications software company says it will issue roughly 17 million shares in the private placement at $3.05.
Mick Lopez, CFO at Ribbon Communications, said: “We are very appreciative of the incremental investment being made by our existing and new shareholders.
“The new capital will provide the company additional financial flexibility as we execute on our strategy to invest in product development and drive near-term profitable growth.”
Evercore Group served as the sole placement agent of the private placements, and B. Riely Securities acted as Ribbon’s financial advisor.
The securities have not been offered in the United States as they were not registered under the Securities Act and other necessary state securities laws.
Deltapath Offers Free Microsoft Teams Voice Calls
Deltapath is offering free Microsoft Teams voice calls for Microsoft 365 E1 and E3 users.
The solution, Deltapath Talk for Microsoft Teams, enables users to initiate audio and video calls and switch from chat to phone.
The application integrates into the sidebar of Microsoft Teams, providing an easy-access dial pad for users to make calls.
David Liu, Founder and CEO of Deltapath, said: “Deltapath is making the decision simple for companies thinking about adding voice to Microsoft Teams.
“We offer free telephony services to MS Teams users on E1 and E3 subscriptions using the Deltapath UC platform.
“Not only does our offering add voice for free, but companies do not have to purchase a Teams Phone license.
“It is Deltapath’s way of helping businesses advance and become more successful without increasing spending during these uncertain economic times.”
Deltapath believes some companies are going without voice calling on Teams due to the licensing costs, domestic and international calling plan prices, and software and hardware installation expenses.
