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The FIFA World Cup craze has even hit the US. And with over a billion people from across the globe tuning in to watch the tournament being held for the first time in Africa, many pundits expect this to be the most exciting and memorable World Cup ever staged.
Off the field, the World Cup is expected to generate more revenue through advertising and associated sponsorship than any other sporting event on the planet. It’s also the first global sporting event that will truly capitalize on digital technology, with games being viewed across a wide range of platforms, from traditional broadcast television and radio, to Internet TV and mobile phones. Football (soccer for us Americans) is a unifying force and people the world over are communicating seamlessly.
For football fans who can’t make the journey to South Africa, we all have more opportunities than ever before to watch, and interact, with the matches. It’s possible to catch games, highlights and commentary on multiple platforms – from cell phones, laptops and computers – to the big screens. Moreover, supporters will have the chance interact with each other – regardless of location – using social networking platforms like Twitter.
As the World Cup is a quadrennial event, it offers a perfect benchmark against technology. Putting things into technological perspective, the last World Cup, Germany 2006, coincided with the invention of Twitter and the general public launch of Facebook. Technology is fast paced. When viewers the world over are sitting down to contemplate matches at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil – imagine how we will all stay connected.
Personally, I can’t guess at what the next communication sensations will be. If I could, I’m pretty sure I’d be out securing venture capital funding to cash in! What I will say is that unified communications will be at the heart of those new social media communications channels. Will you?
If you did not know already, I am very excited to share that last Wednesday, June 16, 2010, BroadSoft became a public company with the completion of our IPO. Our stock is trading under the symbol BSFT on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Since founding BroadSoft, Scott Hoffpauir and I have always been so proud of the excellence, the dedication and the professionalism of our BroadSoft team. The entire team helped achieve this milestone.
We had a little fun, ringing the closing bell at the NASDAQ last week. Take a look.
There Is No Better Time to be a Developer!
Everywhere you look, the barriers to revenue for developers are dropping. Free developer sites, free tools, eCommerce ecosystems and willing, yet discriminating, end-users abound. This dramatic change has been brought about by three major drivers:
- Mobility and the new App economy led by Apple
- Web 2.0 and its lasting principles of Web as Platform and the power of user-generated content which has evolved into the social networking revolution
- Cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS), as well as the evolution of accessible, scalable infrastructure.
So, where are the challenges? Application developers face two in particular: access to survival capital as they incubate their ideas and building the right “thing.” These challenges are accentuated in the telecommunications industry with its proprietary APIs, high barriers to entry and lack of direct interaction between end-users and app creators, due to an almost opaque chain of vendors and carriers between them.
We decided to take these problems head on through our Xtended Program. Following on the heels of our BroadSoft Marketplace program that creates a new, frictionless, eCommerce distribution channel for all our developers, we have also announced the Xtended App Incubator (http://developer.broadsoft.com/xai) to motivate developers to start their application ideas and more importantly: build the right “thing. “
The Xtended App Incubator provides seed funding ranging from $3K-$10K for great teams creating great apps that our customers want. Yes, we went out and asked our customers to vote for their most wanted Apps. Developers with the right skills who apply to build a “wanted” app idea are being screened to make sure they are a good fit for developing the app and also understand our terms. Selected developers will be provided with funding immediately to start building the app.
A number of ecosystems currently exist that “talk the talk” about supporting developers and many more that preach “listening to the customer.” With the Xtended App Incubator, BroadSoft acts on both, while laying the foundation for an ecosystem that is more transparent, more symbiotic and we hope ultimately much more adept at addressing the industry challenges we collectively face.
Congratulations to Verizon for the launch of their Global Fixed Mobile Convergence service, announced this month and immediately available in nine countries across Europe.
The Global FMC service has both “top-line” and “bottom-line” benefits to Verizon’s customers. On the top-line side, employees remain productive across Europe in any of the nine countries served by Global FMC; on the bottom-line, managers benefit from reduced costs for employees who use their mobile as an extension of their business handset.
According to Anthony Recine, vice president of network and communications solutions for Verizon Business, “With Global Fixed Mobile Convergence, companies no longer need to wrestle with productivity versus cost management to keep their business in full gear. This innovative new service helps on-the-go workers remain in touch with customers and other business colleagues while reducing the cumulative roaming charges for hundreds or thousands of roving workers.”
What’s been less noted, I think, is the positive impact this will have on Verizon Business’s hosted business service – Hosted IP Centrex (HIPC). Verizon already delivers a successful “cloud”/hosted business service that’s deployed across Europe and the Americas; the introduction of Global FMC extends this functionality to mobile handsets. It’s well-demonstrated that the value of hosted applications increases dramatically when you add a mobile component. For example, consider how many people update Facebook exclusively from mobile devices.
So congratulations to Verizon – another service provider igniting progress and changing the game with Global FMC and expanding their hosted business solutions to mobile devices.
Michael Tessler
Scott Hoffpauir
Leslie Ferry
Alex Doyle
Curtis Hartmann
Shirish Andhare
Paul Adams
