Greg Galitzine : Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
Greg Galitzine

July 2007

You are browsing the archive for July 2007.

Where's Greg?

July 25, 2007

I'm off today on my own personal Mediterranean Caper. Plans call for touching down in Madrid, Cairo, Jerusalem and a number of other places over the next few weeks. It's setting up to be an exciting trip.

I hope to post some photos of the more interesting places I've seen when I get back.

Til then

-gg

Inter-Tel Again Postpones Merger Vote

July 13, 2007

Inter-Tel, Incorporated announced today that the Special Meeting of Stockholders to vote on the merger with Mitel Networks Corporation has been rescheduled upon the advice of Delaware counsel for August 2, 2007 so that all stockholders receive 20 calendar days written notice of the meeting.   This is the second postponement of the meeting/vote.   As previously reported, the original vote scheduled for June 29th was delayed until July 23rd. Now, that date has been pushed back again, to August 2.   Responding to the postponement, Steven Mihaylo, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Inter-Tel sent a letter to shareholders denouncing the Board's repeated postponement of the vote on the proposed merger.   Calling the Board's tactics “a ploy to trigger panic among stockholders,” Mihaylo assured stockholders that in his view nothing has changed in recent weeks that should cause them to reassess their valuation of the company and the Mitel transaction.   A full copy of Mihaylo’s letter can be found here.

Top 8 Trends Shaping the Customer Service Experience

July 12, 2007

Salesforce.com has released a fascinating informational video titled, Top 8 Trends Shaping The Customer Service Experience.   The video features a pair of high-level presenters, Michael Maoz, vice president and distinguished analyst from Gartner, and Kendall Collins, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Salesforce.com.   The two discuss a number of issues and challenges facing customer service executives, the trends that are shaping the customer service industry, and how service execs can take advantage of them.   Among other subjects, both Gartner and Salesforce.com speakers do a great job sharing insights on the innovative technologies and processes shaping the future of customer service.   Without giving too much away, some of the technologies addressed include:
  • Software as a Service (SaaS) and hosted applications;
  • Feedback management systems or customer experience management systems;
  • Real-time decision support systems that enable agents to solve complex issues on-the-fly; and
  • Community management/community software programs, delivered as software.
The video also highlights several customer success stories.   If you are an executive in the customer service industry, you know how challenging it can be, day in and day out.   I urge you to check out this informational offering from Salesforce.com and Gartner.   You might just thank me later.

Infonetics Sees Continued Growth in UC, IP Contact Center

July 12, 2007

IP PBXs are a hot topic these days, but Unified Communications and IP Contact Center are even hotter according to a report published today by Infonetics Research.   The report, Unified Communications and IP Contact Center Market Outlook, says unified communications applications sales grew worldwide by 21% between 2005 and 2006, to $363 million, and it’s expected that the technology will continue to enjoy “high double digit” growth annually for at least the next three years.   For more, check out this article.

HP ProCurve Networking's John McHugh Speaks

July 11, 2007

I had the opportunity to correspond with John McHugh, the Vice President and General Manager for ProCurve Networking by HP. He was kind enough to spend some time answering a few questions I posed to him.   John spoke about the company and the vision he believes is driving the company forward. Regarding the value of technology to businesses of any size, McHugh told me:   “Technology value is measured by its impact on the business.”   To check out the entire interview with McHugh, please click here.

Joost in Deal With VH1

July 9, 2007

  According to The Hollywood Reporter Joost is set to announce a new partnership with VH1.   It’s expected that VH1 will premiere its new comedic series "I Hate My 30s" exclusively on Joost on July 16 — 10 days ahead of the series' broadcast premiere. The series is comprised of eight 30-minute episodes, and focuses on the changes adults go through when they hit 30 years of age.   Joost was created by Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom. The reported deal with VH1 is the most recent in a series of content partnerships to be announced this year. The service has reportedly attracted over a half million users.  

Tour de France Pick: Vinokourov

July 6, 2007

The doping cloud still hangs over the Tour de France, but the race must go on, and indeed tomorrow will see the first stage of this year’s Tour de France, starting in London, England.   Last year, my favorites were blasted out of the water before the race even kicked off, so I’m here to give it another go.   Here’s who I expect to be in the mix over the course of the Tour which winds its way through the French countryside to its ultimate conclusion in Paris, on the Champs d’Elysees on July 29th. (Granted, these are everybody's favorites, but hey... nothing wrong with that!)  
  • Alexandre Vinokourov
  • Levi Leipheimer
  • George Hincapie
  • Andreas Kloeden
  • Oscar Pereiro
  • Cadel Evans
  • Alejandro Valverde
  As for picking a favorite, I’d have to go with Vinokourov. I picked him to win it all last year,  but as mentioned earlier my faves never made it to the starting point.    

Inter-Tel Announces Preliminary Results

July 6, 2007

Inter-Tel today released preliminary results for the period ending June 30, 2007.   From the announcement:  
  • Net sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 are expected to range from $113.5 million to $115.5 million, compared to net sales of $115.9 million for the second quarter of 2006.
  • Net sales for the six months ended June 30, 2007 are expected to range from $223 million to $225 million, compared to net sales of $222.8 million for the corresponding six-month period in 2006.
  Norman Stout, Inter-Tel’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We are releasing this preliminary net sales data to provide more current information to Inter-Tel stockholders as they consider how to vote on the proposed Mitel merger. In particular, we did not meet the second quarter net sales used in the projections in our proxy statement for the Mitel merger, and we also expect to be well below projected net sales for the second half of 2007 and the full year 2007, based on the current sales trends and trajectory.”     On Monday I reported on the postponement of the shareholder vote, which was to decide the fate of the proposed merger with Mitel.

UC Survey Results Tallied

July 5, 2007

We’ve posted the results of our latest research survey conducted in partnership with IntelliCom Analytics.   This time, we asked our readers if they saw a relationship between offering individualized unified communications (UC) applications and reduced end-user use of unsanctioned software, and how views of the IT control dynamic factored into the decision to roll out personalized applications.   The survey findings suggest that while the majority of businesses see individualized UC applications as helping reduce the use of unauthorized end-user apps, this does not necessarily mean that those same companies had plans to deploy personalized Unified Communications applications.   For the complete results of the most recent survey, check out TMC’s IP Communications Industry Research page.

GrandCentral to Google

July 3, 2007

Late yesterday, Google snapped up GrandCentral Communications, a start-up that lets users use a single phone number that forwards to all of their phones, essentially giving them one number for life.   The service lets users manage their existing phones and voice mailboxes over the Web. Rich Tehrani does a good job describing the service here.   Financial terms were not disclosed.   GrandCentral was founded by Craig Walker (one of TMC’s Top 100 Voices of IP Communications) and Vincent Paquet, both veterans of Dialpad Communications, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2005.   I guess this proves that there are still innovative companies working out there, and that their innovation is not going unnoticed. Congrats to the team at GrandCentral.

GrandCentral to Google

July 3, 2007

Late yesterday, Google snapped up GrandCentral Communications, a start-up that lets users use a single phone number that forwards to all of their phones, essentially giving them one number for life.   The service lets users manage their existing phones and voice mailboxes over the Web. Rich Tehrani does a good job describing the service here.   Financial terms were not disclosed.   GrandCentral was founded by Craig Walker (one of TMC’s Top 100 Voices of IP Communications) and Vincent Paquet, both veterans of Dialpad Communications, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2005.   I guess this proves that there are still innovative companies working out there, and that their innovation is not going unnoticed. Congrats to the team at GrandCentral.

Mitel, Inter-tel Merger On Hold

July 2, 2007

As reported earlier, Inter-Tel had set last Friday, June 29th as the date for their shareholder meeting to determine the fate of the planned merger with Mitel.   Well, that plan took a strange twist Friday, as the Board of Directors decided to postpone the meeting.   Friday, it was announced that the Special Meeting of Stockholders to vote on the merger with Mitel Networks Corporation has been rescheduled for July 23 in Phoenix. The Board of Directors has set the close of business on Monday July 9 as the date of record to determine the Inter-Tel stockholders who are entitled to vote at the Special Meeting.   Steven G. Mihaylo, founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Inter-Tel issued a release, expressing “dismay at the Board’s decision to postpone the Special Meeting.”   According to Mihaylo,   “I am confident that shareholders have had sufficient time to evaluate their investment in order to determine the course of action that would most maximize their returns, and should have been allowed to express their wishes today. I urge shareholders to demand that the Board cease these delay tactics and accept the voice of the shareholders.”   In his Friday statement postponing the meeting, Alexander L. Cappello, the Chairman of the Special Committee of Inter-Tel’s Board of Directors said:   After careful consideration, the Special Committee has decided to postpone the vote on the Mitel merger so that all Inter-Tel stockholders can evaluate recent developments when deciding how to vote their shares.
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