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EsnaTech Grows the Google Ecosystem

One of the latest trends I have noticed is integrating disparate solutions into Google's suite of applications. Just this month in fact, two companies in the communications and CRM spaces have decided working with Google more closely makes a great deal of sense.

Perhaps the company making the largest splash in the Google Applications partnership space is SalesForce.com who just connected it's CRM systems more tightly with Google's applications allowing a completely hosted CRM/office solution.

But it isn't just the CRM companies getting into the act. UC companies too are looking to combine the best of communications with the search leader's hosted office suite of apps.

Case in point is EsnaTech who has integrated their Telephony Office-LinX suite of UC tools with Google to provide seamless interactivity between the hosted and the the communications worlds.

A benefit of working with a company like EsnaTech is that you get UC, even if your underlying PBX is from any of the following telecom equipment vendors: Mitel, Iwatsu, Nortel, AASTRA, Cisco, Avaya, Toshiba. Please check with the company to see what their latest list of supported phone systems is.

What sorts of features does a Google UC solution contain? With this particular one you get the ability to see call logs in Google folders, call recording with Google Gmail integration, click-to-dial from Google Apps (including mobile) and more.

Telephony Office-LinX also has great quality speech recognition as well as mobile UC integration meaning the software actually can track your location based on the proximity of your cell phone's bluetooth signals to determine how your calls should route. In order for this to work, you would need client software installed on various PCs in your office, home, etc.

EsnaTech has been in the communications space for many years -- they were even around even when CTI was popular in the early nineties. Moreover, the company may have the most advanced solutions you have never heard of. It is worth pointing out that although Esna Technologies is more quiet than most, their solutions actually power the communications solutions of a number of other companies who you are likely very familiar with.

Mohammad Nezarati, CEO and CTO at the company had this to say about the company's latest solution, “This is like deploying a full Microsoft Exchange server, Active Directory, and Office Communication server at a fraction of the cost and with virtually no overhead. Our UC platform integrates SaaS technology to enterprise infrastructures. The web-based services of Google Applications also provides a complete cross platform solution. Combined with the cross platform of our Mobile UC client we can deliver UC to any and all environments.”

I spoke with Nezarati a few months back in fact and he beamed with enthusiasm as he explained how easy it was to connect his company's solution with Google's hosted applicatons.

What EsnaTech has done here should not be underestimated. They allow a customer to use Google Applications without sacrificing deep application integration generally associated with in-house software and custom integration.

EsnaTech and SalesForce.com are two companies who have extended the reach and power of Google Apps and now companies can be more comfortable knowing thy can deploy leading-edge CRM and UC solutions even if they choose Google's relatively new office suite of services.

Here are some screen shots of EsnaTech's Google Applications integration:


Click-to-dial functionality from within a Google Application



A received fax comes into a Gmail account



The Incoming Calls Tab in Gmail. Note the missed call.



Voicemail integration with Gmail



UC/Google Gadgets integration

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Podcast: Danny Windham, CEO Digium

How does a company go from being a leader in the open-source communications space while simultaneously looking to generate revenue? Even open-source purists realize that companies supporting this movement need a way to generate earnings.

Digium, the sponsor and maintainer of Asterisk is actually dealing with both ends of the spectrum as they look to boost their profits and grow. Danny Windham was brought in as CEO about a year ago in fact to ensure the company supports the developer community while simultaneously growing profits.

In a podcast interview, Windham shared many of this thoughts with me about how he runs the company and how Digium looks at the small business market, what sorts of alliances we may see going forward and where he believes open source is on the technology adoption curve.

An special area of interest to me is where Windham and company sees the intersection of open source and Web 2.0. In a mashed-up world the opportunities for developers grow exponentially and allow customers to enjoy breakthrough applications from programmers across the world looking to make communications more effective.

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Motorcycle Fears

Jamie Siminoff has an interesting post today on his blog where he discusses the dangers of motorcycles and compares the purchase of a motorcycle to investing in a company.

I was a huge motorcycle fan and was ready to buy a Honda hurricane/CBR 1000 when I graduated college. Before I had a chance to do this, a person I knew in the gym hit a stone wall at 70 MPH on his motorcycle and died. The night before his accident we were at the same party and I will never forget the last moment I saw him.

It is not that we were that close but this experience was one of the first times my youth and inexperience intersected with the reality of human mortality.

Since that time, I have decided that a sports car with air bags and anti-lock brakes is the closest I want to get to the experience of being on a two-wheeled machine.

I have had the chance to borrow a friend's bike from time to time and while riding, I find myself thinking more about the potential for an accident than anything else. The last time I rode, I realized as soon as I got off the bike that my forearms ached from holding on so tight.

When I rode in college I just remember the pure enjoyment - with little to no fear.

I suppose I am just past the point where I can enjoy these machines anymore.

Still, I have a deep craving to ride a Ducati at some point. If I ever do, I would probably want to do it when there are few other cars on the road.

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