Virtual Call Center

Contact center software company Contactual (News - Alert) announced this week that its Japanese subsidiary, White Pajama, a joint venture with Tokyo technology giant Infocom, has formed an alliance with Probridge, Inc., a new provider of CRM solutions in Japan.

According to a press release, Probridge, which offers outsourcing, consulting and sales promotion within the CRM and call center domain, will now sell Contactual’s (White Pajama’s) OnDemand Contact Center platform on a wholesale basis. This will be available through Probridge’s ASP service, “Telepass!” which is targeted at the SMB market in Japan. Probridge will use Infocom’s equipment to deliver the hosted contact center service.

Infocom is an OEM partner with Contactual (White Pajama) in Japan. A quick check on Wednesday revealed that Probridge might be building a new Web site, which is currently under construction, however some information is available (with translation) on its current Web site, found here.

“We are excited about the alliance among White Pajama Japan, Infocom and Probridge,” said Yoshihiro Suzuki, CEO of White Pajama Japan, in the press release. “We believe that this partnership will make it easier for small and medium Japanese companies to enjoy the benefits of on-demand contact center solutions.”

Contactual last made news on TMCnet in September when it announced that its on-demand contact center software is now compatible with Sylantro’s Synergy platform. In addition, Contactual also announced that it is now a Silver Level sponsor of the Sylantro Global Summit.

The deal means customers of both companies have the option of running Contactual’s flexible, full-featured contact center solutions on the Sylantro Synergy platform, which enables the delivery of rich hosted IP communication services across fixed, mobile, and cable networks. Specifically designed for network operators, the platform can be used to host a wide range of differentiated communications applications and accelerate their delivery to business and consumer markets. Offering hosted and mobile PBX applications, IP Trunking services and innovative consumer applications, this carrier-grade solution is capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of subscribers in a highly distributed network.

Contactual also made news in July when it announced that it has signed a deal with 8x8 (News - Alert), Inc., provider of the Packet8 VoIP service, allowing 8x8 to offer its on demand contact center software to its business customers. Dubbed the Packet8 Complete Contact Center, the fully integrated hosted call center solution is designed specifically for small to medium sized businesses with call center operations consisting of less than 100 seats. This new services lets companies quickly deploy and operate multi-channel contact centers within Packet8’s hosted iPBX infrastructure without the time and expense of purchasing, installing and maintaining costly, specialized equipment.

For more information, visit www.contactual.com.

For more information about White Pajama, visit www.whitepajama-japan.com.

For more information about Infocom, visit www.infocom.co.jp.

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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and Assignment Editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.