New “Cuttyhunk” Product Release Reaffirms Whalebacks Market-Leading Position for Serving SMB Customers; It Offers Additional Key Systems Unit Functionality and Calling Features and Delivers New Hosted Services—Including OrcaFax Service and Multisite Integrated Dial Plans
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John Gates, Elevate Communications, (617) 861-3651
PORTSMOUTH, NH, December 5, 2006—Whaleback Systems™ today announced a new release of its managed CrystalBlue Voice Service™ offering new telephony calling features and hosted applications designed to address the requirements of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). The “Cuttyhunk” release features enhanced Key Systems Unit (KSU) and IP PBX calling functionality, a hosted desktop fax service and new calling plan options, providing SMBs with critical tools to boost workplace productivity.
First launched in February of this year, the CrystalBlue Voice Service is the first business phone solution built from the ground up for broadband to help SMBs reduce capital and operating costs while taking advantage of full-featured telephony solutions. Only seven months into the initial release of CrystalBlue, Whaleback is announcing major new features and services that improve productivity, enhance unified messaging and allow SMBs to benefit from a single, managed platform that delivers both KSU and IP PBX functionality.
“Whaleback customers receive an all-inclusive, flat-priced monitored and managed telephony service that makes the latest voice technology immediately available for SMBs—without the operational hassles of maintaining equipment or the feature limitations of business-class hosted IP / IP Centrex services,” said Mark Galvin, Whaleback Founder, President and CEO “SMBs have traditionally been faced with selecting either hosted services originally designed for large companies or traditional PBX platforms that are expensive to deploy and manage.”
The initial release of CrystalBlue offered important KSU features, such as Intercom Groups and Shared and Bridged Line Appearances that can be mapped on both local and remote phones. This new release expands these capabilities with new features, including Page All, Page Zones, Handsfree Answer Back, Call Diversion, Call Screening, Multilevel Automated Attendant and Multiple Operator services. According to Galvin, “We’ve added these capabilities because SMB customers have grown accustomed to relying on these ‘legacy KSU features’ every day to run their businesses. As an extension of our robust architecture we are also able to layer on top of our calling features a suite of new network-based applications we can cost-effectively host for our customers.”
"The SMB sector differs greatly from the large enterprise market," said Michael Ladam, Program Manager at the telecommunications analysis firm Stratecast, a division of Frost & Sullivan. "Their smaller facilities and limited IT staff are often better served by a key system than a PBX-but which type of premises phone equipment to use is only a piece of the puzzle they face. A solution that provides a unified and comprehensive telecommunications service and addresses carrier calling plan requirements will be more attractive than an equipment-only offering. The solutions available to small businesses have been limited, in part because the dominant telephone companies are giving priority to other initiatives including residential fiber build-out, mobile wireless and large enterprises. The Whaleback solution brings a welcome alternative to this underserved market."
Because of CrystalBlue’s unique architecture that distributes intelligence between the customer site and Whaleback’s network backbone, Whaleback can quickly introduce hosted, productivity-enhancing applications.
OrcaFax™ is a secure, high-performance desktop fax service that allows subscribers to send and receive fax messages from Microsoft Outlook or any other POP3 email client. For just $49.95 per month for the first subscriber for each SMB 1500 and $5.00 per month for each additional user, organizations can simplify and streamline the transmission and receipt of faxes.
Fax numbers can be corporate, departmental or direct numbers personalized for each user, and organizations can increase productivity by implementing unified messaging—with voicemail, faxmail and email delivered to a user’s inbox. OrcaFax can run on virtually any POP3 email client running on a PC, Macintosh or BlackBerry device. Users can print, store and forward faxes as PDF attachments and can even fax from a BlackBerry to a nearby fax machine when traveling.
Bill McGoey, Senior Vice President of American Partners Bank, said, “We assigned direct inward dialing numbers to our employees that work closely with customers, and have received the productivity advantages of receiving faxes to the desktop.” Employees receive their faxes in their email inbox, and can fax documents directly from their PCs. “We don’t have to worry about routing faxes going into a central fax machine, and employees can store fax documents on their PCs for easy access to information. OrcaFax simplifies faxing, improves document management and increases our productivity.”
Multisite Integrated Dial Plans are now available, allowing users to dial a three-digit extension to reach colleagues based in remote locations over the secure Whaleback network backbone. This hosted service also includes Multi-level Automated Attendant routing between sites. External callers can dial by name across sites, and receptionists can transfer calls to users located at different sites to enhance customer service and improve worker productivity. Customers can create virtual work teams by mapping any Direct Inward Dial (DID) range on sites or intermix extensions between sites, so now all departmental staff have a sequential DID within the corporation. There is no incremental per-minute charge or port capacity activation fees, and no truck rolls are required to activate these services for new sites.
The new Cuttyhunk release breaks new grounds in offering SMBs a powerful mix of new calling features designed specifically for their needs. SMBs accustomed to KSU features may be hesitant to upgrade to hosted IP / IP Centrex telephony solutions because of the many features that are usually not available. Highlights of the new features available with the Cuttyhunk release include:
Call Diversion enables more personalized call treatments. This is programmable per extension and it overrides voicemail treatment and diverts calls to alternate destinations after a programmable time delay.
Call Screening on inbound calls allows employees to receive a name announcement of external callers to ensure they don’t miss important calls.
Handsfree Answer Back allows a called phone to automatically answer and activate the intercom without a user having to pick up the handset or hit a button.
Multilevel Automated Attendant allows a customer to specify a list of destination transfers (internal or external numbers) for each of the 12 keypad values, and also specify a timeout behavior for any custom menu. Inbound calls can be automatically routed according to rules defined by the user or the organization.
Multiple Operators allow a user to program both a system operator and a personal operator, i.e. “Thank you for calling, press 0 to reach the system operator or press 9 to reach my assistant.”
Personal Automated Attendant provides personalized customizable inbound call routing rules for each user or department, offering callers a submenu with multiple routing options to reach a desk phone, cell phone, departmental co-workers, or a receptionist, or else leave a voicemail message.
Page All allows a user to go off hook and broadcast a message through the telephone speakerphones to up to 100 extensions simultaneously.
Page Zones allows a user to go off hook and broadcast a message to a select group of extensions through the telephone speakerphones. This feature supports up to 10 zones with up to 100 extensions per site.
411 Directory Assistance Routing to Local Provider reroutes 411 directory assistance calls to local information providers.
Existing customers will be automatically upgraded to the Cuttyhunk system software release at no extra charge. Whaleback manages and monitors all deployments, and will upgrade all SMB 1500s without any need for user intervention. Both the Cuttyhunk system software release and OrcaFax are immediately available.
Whaleback Systems is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) and the pioneering developer of the first business phone solution built from the ground up for broadband. Unlike traditional systems, the Whaleback CrystalBlue Voice Service is 100 percent premises-based and software-driven. It includes the only IP PBX with Key System Unit features and Road Warrior Functionality. Whaleback's all-inclusive, unlimited domestic calling package makes the most advanced technology immediately affordable for companies that need between 5 and 1,500 phone stations. The Whaleback service is available through partnerships with channel partners and VARs.
