This economic downturn is shining a light on services provided by one San Mateo, Calif.-based company that combines a toll-free or local number with advanced call management, PBX, voicemail and Internet fax, officials said today.
The vice president of strategy at RingCentral Inc. told TMC (News - Alert) President Rich Tehrani in an interview (printed in full below) that the strength of the economy is cyclical and that it’s important for businesses always to understand that their clients need to run efficiently.
“RingCentral (News - Alert) small business customers like the fact that our solution requires zero setup fees and costs a small fraction of legacy hardware-based business phone systems,” Praful Shah told Tehrani.
Shah – who is speaking during a session at ITEXPO West in September on applications that are based “in the cloud,” a very hot topic – said his talk would include demonstrations of how cloud-based solutions are impacting the market today, and will examine the technology’s challenges and opportunities.
Their full exchange follows.
RT: What has the economic crisis taught you, and how has it changed your customers?
Praful Shah (pictured left): Economic cycles are a regular part of business and a company should always assume that their customers have limited resources which they want deployed in the most cost efficient manner. RingCentral small business customers like the fact that our solution requires zero setup fees and costs a small fraction of legacy hardware based Business Phone Systems.
RT: How is this down economy affecting your decisions to reinvest in your company or market, if at all? Where will you invest?
PS: We continue to invest in technology to expand the rich capabilities RingCentral offers to its small business customers.
RT: What’s the strongest segment in the communications industry?
PS: The new Cloud Computing based business telecommunications services segment has shown the strongest growth.
RT: With the rise of smartphones and netbooks, many wireless technologies, such as WiFi (News - Alert), appear to be poised for rapid growth. For example, we’re seeing more and more airlines add in-flight WiFi. In general, how widespread should WiFi be, in your view?
PS: With costs dropping rapidly, over time it will be like electric lights – available at most public please for free.
RT: Which nation or region of the world will present the largest opportunity for your company in 2009/10?
PS: The United States and Europe.
RT: In what ways is President Barack Obama helping or hindering the technology markets? What more can he do?
PS: At this point in time it is too early to say.
RT: What device or devices do you use, and what do you wish you used?
PS: iPhone (News - Alert).
RT: What has the iPhone 3G taught us? I know it’s very new, but what about the Palm Pre? What are we learning from the smartphones based on the open source Google Android (News - Alert) platform?
PS: Smart Phone platforms are changing how applications will be developed and distributed. In couple of years there will be little differences between the platforms.
RT: I understand you are speaking during ITEXPO West, to be held Sept. 1 to 3 in Los Angeles. Describe your talk and tell us what companies or people should attend.
PS: In the session “Exploring Applications in the Cloud,” attendees will learn about what is involved with developing voice applications on cloud computing platforms. What options are out there? What do you need to look for in a platform? How can you get started? The session will include demonstrations and offer insight and real world examples of how cloud-based solutions are impacting the market today, challenges and opportunities, as well as what the future holds.
The session will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 9:30 a.m.
RT: Why should customers choose your company’s solutions? How do they justify the expense to management?
PS: Small businesses should look at alternatives to inflexible and expensive legacy hardware based business phone systems. The new cloud computing based solution from RingCentral provides services starting at $10 per month with zero set up cost, free trials and no contracts. The best part is that it is online, self-service and requires no technical skills required by legacy systems.
Learn more about RingCentral at ITEXPO West — the biggest and most comprehensive IP communications event of the year. ITEXPO West will take place in Los Angeles, Sept. 1 to 3, 2009, featuring three valuable days of exhibits, conferences, and networking opportunities you can’t afford to miss. Don’t wait. Register now!
Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan