ConnectSolutions Addresses SMB Market Needs

by CoSo

May 16, 2013

NextUC Acquisition Extends ConnectSolutions Capabilities, Making UC Scalable for SMBs
SAN FRANCISCO – May 16, 2013 — ConnectSolutions, the industry-leading provider of cloud-based unified communications and collaboration solutions (UC) for enterprises, has significantly extended its capabilities to address the needs of the small-and-midsize business (SMB) market. The recent acquisition of NextUC, a UC provider focused on SMBs, makes ConnectSolutions the only provider capable of offering an enterprise-class managed UC offering that is affordable, accessible and scalable for businesses of all sizes.
The NextUC acquisition brought two important additions to ConnectSolutions’ suite of products and services:

• NextUC Enterprise — A hosted Microsoft Lync–based cloud collaboration offering, including voice calling, Web/audio/video conferencing, online meetings, instant messaging (IM) and presence management
• NextUC SMB — PC-to-PC collaboration using hosted Lync to enable businesses of all sizes to communicate in a secure, private and cost-effective manner

The NextUC offerings complement ConnectSolutions’ CoSo Cloud offering and its highly capable enablement team, making it possible for ConnectSolutions to provide the right type of UC services to businesses of any size — including many that have previously found UC to be either too expensive or too complex to manage. ConnectSolutions offers companies a free trial that brings immediate access to the full Lync experience. If the company decides the ease, accessibility and affordability of the managed cloud is right for them, the whole company can have immediate access or their workgroups and various business geographies can be migrated gradually, according to preference.
Midsize businesses currently represent the most significant growth area in the UC market, but many industry observers also expect small-business demand to rise sharply.
“Until recently SMBs have been left out of the UC market,” said Blair Pleasant, president & principal analyst of COMMfusion LLC and a co-founder of UCStrategies.com, an industry resource on the growing UC arena. “Vendors were targeting larger companies, and products weren’t priced and packaged appropriately for SMBs. With new products and services aimed at the specific needs of SMBs, they are increasingly able to take advantage of the benefits of UC while becoming more competitive.”
NextUC Enterprise enables businesses of any size to immediately experience the value of comprehensive UC (including voice, audio/video and IM) from any device, in any location with an Internet connection, in less than five minutes. ConnectSolutions’ enablement team can deliver customized UC solutions as the business’s needs grow and evolve.
ConnectSolutions’ CEO and Co-Founder Michael Fitzpatrick said, “We believe the key competitive differentiator for ConnectSolutions UC solutions stems from our commitment to eliminate the friction from purchase to successful use. By providing an easy on, scale as you grow collaboration and communications solution, we can deliver enterprise-class capabilities to all size companies.”
ConnectSolutions is the only UC provider that deploys an “instant-on” Lync-based system in the cloud, and it can also port existing telephone numbers to its platform. The company’s ability to work with SMBs is also enhanced by its flexibility as a reseller of both Microsoft Lync and Adobe Connect licenses. This means that ConnectSolutions can work with clients’ existing licenses or — based on the clients’ service-level needs — provide the appropriate license.  Ease of administration, always a key concern for SMBs, is enhanced by an onshore support and training team.
About ConnectSolutions
ConnectSolutions is the leading managed-cloud provider of unified communications (UC) solutions for small business, enterprise and government. ConnectSolutions platform delivers an innovative, scalable cloud service that lowers total cost of UC ownership. We are the trusted provider of eLearning, collaboration and communication solutions that are reliable and secure. At ConnectSolutions, we ensure your success through essential architecture, adoption, and support services. For more information, visit connectsolutions.com .