From acquisitions to voice deployment and a partner program, here are extracts from popular stories this week.
HP to acquire Poly
HP is set to acquire Poly in a deal worth $3.3bn to “drive growth and scale” in its peripherals business.
Enrique Lores, President and CEO of HP, said: “The rise of the hybrid office creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine the way work gets done.
“Combining HP and Poly creates a leading portfolio of hybrid work solutions across large and growing markets. Poly’s strong technology, complementary go-to-market, and talented team will help to drive long-term profitable growth as we continue building a stronger HP.”
HP was itself the subject of a hostile takeover bid from Xerox in 2019, only for Xerox to scrap the plans amid the start of the pandemic and resistance from HP’s leadership. HP has a market cap of around $40bn.
The vendor said it expects to realise “substantial revenue synergies”, pegging the figure at $500m by full year 2025.
Dstny Acquires Teams Specialist Qunifi
Dstny has acquired Qunifi, the holding company for Call2Teams and Carrier Automate.
Qunifi is a Microsoft Teams specialist, with Call2Teams specialising in adding voice to the collaboration platform, while Carrier Automate helps carriers on their journey to Microsoft’s Operator Connect.
Daan De Wever, CEO of the Dstny Group, said: “We are always looking for talented companies that fit with our strategy and company culture and which we can help grow faster at the same time.
“This acquisition of Qunifi is a perfect example of that.
“The Call2Teams platform was ‘born in the cloud,’ just like us, and it’s a state of the art technology with a native integration which means an incredible user experience.”
Qunifi will become part of the Dstny for Service Provider organisation, and Dstny said the existing Qunifi team and management will also be integrated into the business.
The firm claims to support more than two million Microsoft Teams users in more than 100 countries.
AudioCodes Launches Live Express for Quick Teams Voice Deployment
AudioCodes has launched a new service that enables channel partners to efficiently plug voice into their customers’ Teams environment.
AudioCodes Live Express, announced at Enterprise Connect, is a SaaS product fully hosted and managed by AudioCodes.
The service is built on Direct Routing and gives partners management operation tools to onboard and manage their customers’ PSTN connectivity.
Andy Elliot, Vice President of Marketing at AudioCodes, said the service would be particularly beneficial to Microsoft partners that aren’t especially versed in the world of voice.
“Live Express is ideally suited for Microsoft 365 partners who are experts in Microsoft Teams as a collaboration platform and selling Microsoft licenses and need to connect their customers’ Teams environment to telephony services,” he said.
“The beauty of Live Express is that it wraps up AudioCodes expertise in voice-enabling Microsoft Teams into a cloud-based SaaS service that resellers with minimal understanding of voice networking and no expertise in Teams voice can leverage to onboard their customers to Direct Routing.”
AudioCodes designed Live Express to help partners easily onboard their clients’ users with an intuitive portal and automation tools. It also gives them control of dial plans and call policies and offers customers a portal to handle moves, adds, changes and deletes.
Cisco and AT&T Partner for Webex Go
AT&T has become the first carrier to support Cisco’s Webex Go solution.
Webex Go is an add-on to Webex Calling that lets users connect their Webex phone number to their carrier plan, meaning they can use their device’s native dialler and make calls via cellular network.
Lorrissa Horton, General Manager of Webex Calling and Contact Center, said: “Work has changed forever. Mobility is at the forefront of this change, mixing our work and life together in the palm of our hands.
“With Webex Go, we have the opportunity to transform how people work and live with their mobile devices.”
“We believe this new experience will better support them in this new world of hybrid work.”
Cisco announced Webex Go last year, with its general availability revealed at Enterprise Connect last week.
Users do not need to install an app to run the solution, and IT administrators can centrally manage users in Webex’s Control Hub.
Zoom Up Partner Program Launches
Zoom has launched its Zoom Up Partner Program to simplify, improve and reward business partnerships with Zoom.
As part of the update, selected partners will be able to sell Zoom Phone licenses with calling plans, enabling resellers to provide a comprehensive Zoom platform.
The new program includes improved architecture, partner rewards, new competencies and accreditations, and marketing benefits.
Laura Padilla, Head of Global Business Development and Channel at Zoom, said: “Our partners are fundamental to our growth and success at Zoom, which is why we are constantly evaluating new ways to improve and offer additional benefits to our partner ecosystem.”
“Just as Zoom focuses on delivering happiness to our customers, we strive to deliver partner happiness, which is why I am extremely excited about the introduction of the Zoom Up Partner Program. The introduction of Zoom Up is the next phase in our continued evolution and demonstrates our commitment to joint success with our partners.”
Zoom Phone: Expanding on its Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) Program launched last September, Zoom is providing its qualifying partners with a full suite of licenses with calling plans. Resellers will now be able to offer Zoom’s complete platform.
