IT solutions provider Abacus Group has launched a new cloud-based, fully-managed voice service for its customers in the hedge funds and private equity funds verticals. Offered as a turnkey voice solution that reduces costs and the need for on-site systems and maintenance staff, AbacusVoice is meant to fulfill the needs of customers that require the benefits of an on-site voice solution but have to deal with squeezed budgets and reduced IT resources.

The solution provider has outfitted its service with a variety of technologies aimed at simplifying voice within the hedge and private equity fund industry. Included in the service are Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) IP handsets, as well as features such as call coverage and automated attendant, "sophisticated" conferencing, phonebooks and directories and call logs, advanced messaging management, seamless computer/phone integration and business intelligence that enables users to export data to detailed call records organized by call time, destination, caller, etc.

"Nascent and established hedge funds alike need simple solutions that can help them run their operations more effectively," said Chris Grandi, CEO of Abacus Group, in a prepared statement. "AbacusVoice provides the convenience of a hosted offering with the advanced features and high level of service hedge funds require, all delivered over a secure private infrastructure."

Although some solutions providers aim at a horizontal customer base, Abacus Group has historically concerned itself with a vertical customer base within the hedge fund and private equity fund customer base. The company has aimed to carve itself a niche within the hedge/private equity fund vertical, and in this case, it's providing cloud-base voice solutions.

Abacus built its cloud-based voice solution to be a highly scalable, high-performance service enabling customers to add and upgrade features as they become available. If it lives up to the promises, it will live up to the hype of cloud computing. And it's a good example of what solutions providers are doing in the cloud—taking a best-of-breed solution set and crafting a set of services that work for their customers.