Voice broadcast communications company One Call Now has just acquired Vontoo, a technology firm that originally showed significant promise, yet failed to raise the venture capital necessary to meet growth expectations.
One Call Now is a company focused on enabling marketers to send audio messages to thousands of phones with voice broadcast technology. This provider also tracks responses in conjunction with these campaigns to measure overall effectiveness. The price of the transaction was not shared in joint announcements.
According to Walter Meyer, president and chief operating officer at Vontoo, the company currently employs seven people. Six individuals will remain with Vontoo’s offices in Indianapolis. Meyer anticipates that he will serve in a corporate role at voice broadcast provider, One Call Now.
Vontoo does offer some benefits to One Call Now, including more than 1,000 clients. A number of businesses have hired the company for its services, including the retailer HHGregg and the Boston Celtics.
Vontoo was originally founded by local angel investor Bob Compton in 2005. Compton played a role in launching and supporting a number of successfull tech companies, including Software Artistry, ExactTarget, Aprimo and even Interactive Intelligence (News
- Alert).
The company had raised more than $5 million in venture funding in its first three years of operation. And, despite a growth in employees and market potential, the company was unable to maintain its positioning during the recession.
The company announced in 2009 a restructuring in which Compton returned to the presidential post, also serving as CEO. He expanded voice broadcast and other message delivery formats, including an expansion into interactive video. Vontoo did successfully raise $192,000 as part of a $300,000 offering last February. In 2008, 11 investors added another $1.85 million. Compton did not discuss the reasons behind the sale of the company.
Today, One Call Now positions itself as the largest message notification provider, relying on SMS text, voice and email messages. Customers relying on voice broadcast and other solutions from this company include businesses, municipalities, schools, and even volunteer organizations seeking to get a specific message out to a large group of people. Vontoo is the third acquisition for One Call Now in the last 12 months.
One Call Now founder and CEO Leib Lurie shared in a prepared statement that the acquisition of Vontoo expands the company’s customer base in the education and business markets. As the demand for voice broadcast continues to grow, this acquisition will provide a solid platform for One Call Now to continue to expand.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Jamie Epstein