iLinc Buy Bolsters BroadSoft’s Unified Communications Wares
BroadSoft, a VoIP communications provider for businesses and individuals, has acquired iLinc Communications, an international provider of web collaboration tools for businesses, governments and educational institutions. The iLinc acquisition is part of BroadSoft’s plan to offer unified communications (UC) services to its roughly 450 global managed service providers.
To that end, iLinc definitely fits the bill. The company’s web collaboration tools are exactly what BroadSoft had been in search of, and as part of the acquisition those tools will be renamed the BroadCloud Web Collaboration suite, delivered entirely through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. BroadSoft claims it’s the company’s first cloud-based web collaboration offering that matches up strongly against WebEX and GoToMeeting in terms of features and functionality.
BroadSoft’s acquisition of iLinc will be non-dilutive to non-GAAP earnings per share through 2012. Translation? No new company shares are being created, so existing shareholders don’t have to worry about the value of their shares being diluted and decreasing. But all the “I’s” are dotted and “T’s” are crossed, and BroadSoft said its clients can now enjoy three main added benefits:
- Service providers will now get an alternative to reselling a bunch of other web collaboration services. The BroudCloud services, according to BroadSoft, will be feature-rich and offer partners better sales margins.
- BroadSoft service provider partners will be able to market a branded web collaboration suite (the BroadCloud Web Collaboration suite) that integrates with all other UC functions. That means they each have the opportunity to build a stronger brand and expand their loyal client base.
- Service providers can provision and bill their new UC service by leveraging BroadSoft’s web-based service management tools.
BroadSoft CEO Michael Tessler reaffirmed his company’s commitment to helping BroadSoft service provider partners offer enterprises and consumers a diverse range of UC services at a competitive price. Tessler said the acquisition of iLinc goes a long way to that end.
The last time we heard from BroadSoft the company was collaborating with Panasonic on a cloud-based phone system for small businesses. But it seems as though the company has refocused on the enterprise sector, as much of the talk surrounding the iLinc acquisition has been about the benefits the new iLinc tools bring for global service providers delivering solutions to the enterprise.
