Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Cbeyond Unveils Platform Partner Program
LOS ANGELES, Sep 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cbeyond Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), (www.cbeyond.net),
a leading provider of communications and IT solutions to over 46,000
small businesses across the country has announced a new program designed
to make the most innovative voice and data solutions available to small
businesses. The Cbeyond Platform Partner Program aligns Cbeyond with
leading IP PBX equipment manufacturers to certify the equipment as
interoperable with Cbeyond's core voice and data services offering:
BeyondVoice with SIPconnect(R). In addition, the program aligns Cbeyond
and manufacturers across sales, marketing, training, technology and
support groups within the organizations to bring a seamless end-to-end
experience to customers through innovation and service excellence.
BeyondVoice with SIPconnect allows small business customers to operate
like enterprise businesses by easily adding pure digital voice lines,
access to a wider array of rich, configurable features and eliminating
expensive gateway equipment. This solution enables features such as DID
(direct inward dialing), simultaneous ring, sequential ring, click to
dial from a PC, and anonymous caller ID rejection - features that
previously were cost-prohibitive for the small business market segment.
"We created the Platform Partner Program to put our SIPconnect service
into the hands of more small businesses because the productivity,
functionality and cost benefits are compelling," said Jason Walker,
product manager for Cbeyond's SIPconnect service. "By aligning both our
marketing and our technology development efforts with the leading IP PBX
providers and equipment manufacturers, we can bring the most advanced
technology to small businesses at a price they can afford - making their
lives easier and increasing their productivity. We welcome partners to
join the program who have similar goals of serving the needs of the
small business entrepreneur."
"Cisco and Cbeyond have been working together to deliver reliable and
easy to use small business solutions for many years," said Mark Monday,
vice president and general manager, small business solutions business
unit, Cisco. "Through the Cbeyond Partner Platform Program, small
businesses will benefit from the combination of Cisco's small business
IP PBX solutions and Cbeyond SIPconnect services."
Cisco IP PBX solutions include Cisco(R) Unified Call Manager, Cisco
Unified Call Manager Express and Cisco Unified Communications 500 series.
In addition to integration with Cbeyond's BeyondVoice with SIPconnect
service, IP PBX and equipment manufacturers that opt into the program
and complete interoperable certification with Cbeyond's network also
benefit from channel sales support and joint marketing programs.
Designed to increase demand within the indirect channel sales community,
Cbeyond's sales and marketing programs will assist partners with sales,
deployment and support. Cbeyond's technical support teams will be
trained and ready to ensure small business customers receive customized
support based on their specific technology configurations.
"We see tangible value in expanding our work with Cbeyond because the
company's focus on supporting small businesses parallels our own, and
the support model is similar to Digium's for working with companies
using open source Asterisk1," said Steve Harvey, vice
president of worldwide sales for Digium.
The Cbeyond Platform Partner Program allows Platform Partners to choose
their level of involvement in working with Cbeyond - and having Cbeyond
match that effort. Cbeyond has organized this program into
three partnership tiers, organized according to mutual marketing and
technical support investment criteria.
Eligibility
This program is open to IP PBX and Equipment Manufacturer who are:
-
Interoperable or interested in becoming interoperable with Cbeyond's
BeyondVoice with SIPconnect(R) service;
-
Interested in developing a long-term business development relationship
with Cbeyond based on a joint sales and marketing plan and roadmap;
and/or
-
Developing an indirect channel dedicated to serving the small business
customer market segment.
About Cbeyond's SIPconnect Service
Since 2005, Cbeyond has led the charge into SIPconnect services for
small businesses. Working with industry leaders to develop an
open-source SIP trunking specification, Cbeyond and this team formed a
working group which authored the first, industry-accepted SIP trunking
standard. As a result of this collaboration, customers may interconnect
leading IP PBXs and Cbeyond's BeyondVoice
through a recognized standards-based
approach to SIP trunking services. Cbeyond's Platform Partner
Program is the next logical extension of these efforts and provides a
focused effort to deliver innovative solutions and best in class
customer support for small businesses.
Cbeyond makes this program available to current interoperable PBX
manufacturers and will be reaching out to these partners in September
and October 2009. Cbeyond expects to open its waiting list late October.
For more information, go to www.cbeyond.net/platform
to download the program PDF and access the online application.
About Cbeyond
Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY) is a leading provider of IT and
communications services to more than 46,000 small businesses throughout
the United States. Recently named as the sixth fastest growing
technology company by Forbes magazine, and added to Standard &
Poor's Small Cap S&P 600 Index, Cbeyond offers more than 30
productivity-enhancing applications including local and long-distance
voice, broadband Internet, mobile, BlackBerry(R), broadband laptop
access, voicemail, email, web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup,
file-sharing and virtual private networking. Cbeyond delivers these
services over a 100 percent private all IP network. For more information
on Cbeyond, visit www.cbeyond.net.
1Asterisk is a software
implementation of a telephone private
branch exchange (PBX) originally created in 1999 by Mark
Spencer of Digium.
Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones
to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services
including the public
switched telephone network (PSTN) and Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.
CBEY-F
CBEY-G
SOURCE: Cbeyond, Inc.
Cbeyond
Shana Keith, 678-522-3559
shana.keith@cbeyond.net
Copyright Business Wire 2009
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