"If it doesn't support FMC it isn't truly unified communications," says David Gilbert whose business card reads "The Big Cheese" at Broadsoft-powered hosted communications company SimpleSignal. Gilbert skipped handing me the lengthy press kits which are customary in our profession and instead gave me a single napkin (back of the napkin -- get it?) which elucidates the unique attributes of the company's solution.
David Gilbert, The Big Cheese at SimpleSignal
What pain does SimpleSignal take away for customers? According to Gilbert, "The management of a PBX - the value of a hosted PBX - the ability to unify communications. [We] tie it all together and make it easy to communicate out of any application, software, hardware, home or office. [We] change the game."
He continued, "It's not about picking up the phone to make a phone call, it's about voice as a feature, not as a service."
The company's Broadsoft-powered solutions allow users to initiate calls directly from applications/services such as Outlook, Facebook, Salesforce.com and Google Docs integration should arrive in about three months.
Wow -- a napkin, really -- That's all you are going to give me? 
Really though I love when companies try to be different and succeed at it doing it well
In addition the company has a voicemail to email service allowing emails to be read (text to speech) with the ability to respond via a WAV file which is emailed. He says there is a cool factor when doing this which is fun and exciting. I agree, I do send audio files via email from time to time and people always seem taken aback. Moreover, it is a great productivity booster for those who spend a good deal of time driving.
Another interesting feature is single button transfer of calls between mobile and office phone - a great FMC solution.
I didn't get a chance to ask what's next but Gilbert's gushing enthusiasm for the cloud tells me we will see more and more integration of telephony with various services. As this trend continues, telephony becomes the true salt and pepper of productivity - adding spice as it were.
This is exactly what Thomas Howe, now CEO of Jaduka mentioned to me months back in a podcast on voice 2.0 and mashups. It is good to see the theoretical becoming reality and available for purchase today.
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