Vonage CEO Alan Masarek said in a statement that "iCore is an excellent strategic fit and a natural complement to Vonage's rapidly expanding UCaaS business. This acquisition will deepen our penetration at the higher end of the business market and further strengthen our industry leadership.”
Masarek added, “Our strategy is to serve businesses of any size via a multi-channel distribution approach. With the addition of iCore, Vonage will have what we believe is the largest sales force in the UCaaS market, addressing mid-market and enterprise companies . . . [and] . . . that supports our extensive nationwide network of indirect channel partners.”
According to Vonage, iCore supports more than 85,000 customer seats, with monthly ARPU per customer of more than $4,000, and it derives more than 60% of its revenue from customers with 100 or more seats. iCore also uses the same BroadSoft BroadWorks call processing platform used by Vonage, making integration easier for the two companies. iCore also offers a Microsoft Lync-as-a-Service solution and other cloud services including virtual desktop and a hosted Microsoft Exchange offer.
In other news, Verizon Enterprise Solutions earlier this month announced that it is rolling out Wireless Connected VoIP, a new capability eliminates long distance charges for calls that originate from U.S.-based Enterprise VoIP (Voice-over-IP) customers to any Verizon Wireless phone. The feature is automatically available to customers that leverage Verizon’s VIPER (VoIP IP Enterprise Routing) offering on the Verizon Rapid Delivery platform.
VIPER eliminates domestic or international per-minute charges for calls made between participating Verizon Enterprise VoIP customers. With the enhanced Wireless Connected VoIP capability, the network automatically recognizes outgoing phone numbers associated with the account, eliminating the need to pre-define mobile users.
Amy Lind, research manager for Enterprise VoIP and UC for IDC commented on the service in a statement saying, “This latest offering is clearly a benefit for VoIP customers that we haven’t seen from other providers. As employees and consumers alike rely more and more on mobile connections, this offering makes good business sense.”