This deal stems from the conclusion, last year, of Conexys Corporation's Memorandum of Understanding with PBC Groups head office in the Netherlands, whereby the electronics giant agreed to market Conexys' Web-based communications solution, iComMand, into European markets. iComMand, which went live in SA last month, is an application service solution that brings together voice, fax and e-mail messages over a multimedia platform, accessible from the Web and wired or wireless communications devices.
"iComMand„¢ will facilitate the seamless integration of the PBC platforms, thereby providing increased communications efficiencies at reduced costs," says Derek Lass, Managing Director of Philips South Africa. The customized solutions do not require changes to existing communications infrastructures and can be packaged to meet specific partner or enterprise requirements.
"The iComMand product fills a critical market niche that eliminates the need for corporations to invest in continuous upgrades of on-site equipment. By providing a unified messaging platform, organizations achieve higher revenues and lower operating costs," says Conexys' managing director, Andrew Hill.
"By bringing this ASP communications model to the market, Conexys' iComMand platform provides the opportunity for enterprise and channel partners to deliver, to their own customer bases, customized and/or personalized Internet content, intranet and extranet applications, as well as e-commerce opportunities," Hill continued.
PBC said that the agreement with Conexys reflects its global move to become a more services orientated organization, with iComMand services marketed as the foundation application platform in its new bundled application service package for enterprises.
Phase two of the agreement would see further collaboration on strategic technology initiatives between PBC and Conexys, including the seamless integration of the iComMand UM platform with PBC's enterprise communications solutions, as well as PBC's VOIP (Voice over IP) product.
"The era of the box-dropper is over. IT companies operating in the e-environment now need to offer value-added services to attract and retain customers. iComMand fits the bill," says Hill.
About Conexys
Conexys was founded in 1997 as an international communications company and now has offices in London, Toronto, Manila, Cape Town, Dallas, Washington D.C., and Hamilton, Bermuda.
Conexys' €˜iComMand„¢' is a carrier-grade, Communication Service platform designed for telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers and enterprises. iComMand„¢ leverages the power of an ASP-enabled platform with Unified Communications to specifically appeal to the revenue and customer-retention requirements of the communications industry. iComMand„¢ users enjoy email, voice, private fax, SMS and pager messages through web or telephony interface, enabling convenient global access, management, and unification of communications.
About Philips
Philips Business Communications (PBC) PBC provides open communication solutions (including IP telephony), applications software and professional services. Its activities are focused in four domains: mobility, networking, telebusiness and desktop productivity. Headquatered in Hilversum, The Netherlands, PBC is a business unit of Royal Philips Electronics. Its South African headquarters are in Johannesburg.
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