November 5, 2009

IP Converge, the information technology & telecommunications division of publicly listed IPVG and Geodata Systems Technologies have entered into a strategic tie-up that brings the most complete fleet management system to the Philippine and South East Asian market.

Under the partnership, IP Converge brings together Convoy FMS and Geodata’s ArcLogistics and Archibus to create a comprehensive, end-to-end fleet management solution that outperforms existing fleet management systems in the marketplace.

“This partnership combines world-class fleet management solutions in Convoy FMS, ArcLogistics and Archibus that address the deficiencies of other fleet management systems. Beyond tracking vehicles, the collective solution expands management’s ability to set and enforce protocols for vehicle users and optimizes fleet utilization to save on overhead and contribute to the bottom-line,” says IP-Converge President, Reynaldo Huergas.

Convoy FMS is a Web-based, user-friendly GPS fleet management system developed by Lazer Technology Solutions that uses Google Maps as a platform. Convoy FMS delivers detailed information on a vehicle’s activities to a laptop or Web-enabled mobile device in real time. The solution has nationwide coverage and two-way communication is done between a device installed in the vehicle and the end-user through GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).

IP-Converge was recently appointed by LazerTech as the exclusive distributor of Convoy FMS in the South East Asian region. The Miami-based IT solutions and applications development company chose IP-Converge for its robust sales force and its proven track record in advancing Web-based applications in the Philippine market. LazerTech’s fleet management system has several thousands of licenses issued with installations in ten countries spanning five continents.

ArcLogistics is a stand-alone management application created by Environment Systems Research Institute, a global leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and mapping solutions. The application is designed to solve vehicle routing and scheduling problems and set the optimum routes to maintain efficient use of resources such as time and fuel. ArcLogistics is dynamic and adjusts as problems or roadblocks arise ensuring that deliveries arrive on time and customer satisfaction is preserved.

Archibus Fleet Management, a product of total Infrastructure and Facilities Management Solutions company, Archibus, based in Boston, Massachusetts, maintains an organization’s fleet of mobile assets and is crucial to the safety and efficiency of fleet operations. Through Archibus, fleet managers can optimize utilization and performance of fleet assets by tracking every vehicle’s usage, availability and maintenance schedules. This information improves management’s ability to control costs and assign resources.

“IP-Converge’s vision for this fleet management product is compatible with ours and we look forward to working closely with them in identifying growth opportunities and achieving a high rate of adoption across markets.  The Philippines and other South East Asian countries have robust and resilient economies and this partnership illustrates an opportunity to help companies better manage their fleet assets and enable them to drive their business and be more competitive in their respective niches,” says John Morales, senior VP of Geodata Systems Technologies.

IP-Converge is a regional data center whose core competency is managed data services particularly server co-location, connectivity solutions, and network security. IPC is also one of the Philippines’ leading business solutions and services providers, promoting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Geodata Systems Technologies, Inc. is an information technology company focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping solutions and GIS ready data products.

IT&T solutions provider IP Converge Data Center (IP-Converge) announced today that it has been honored with the title of Top Partner for ASEAN 2008 by world leader in Enterprise Cloud Computing and CRM, salesforce.com. This award was presented during the salesforce.com ASEAN Partner Summit at Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore, represents the highest achievement in sales for the ASEAN market for the year ending January 2009.

More than 60% of salesforce.com licenses sold by IP-Converge last year were locally sourced, as opposed to being passed on by salesforce.com. The Top Partner award recognizes IP-Converge’s exemplary performance and success in actively expanding salesforce.com’s presence in the Philippines.

“IP-Converge has shown great aptitude in integrating salesforce.com with companies’ mission-critical applications within a short amount of time,” says Andrew Knott, VP Marketing for Asia Pacific. “We anticipate a higher rate of adoption of salesforce.com applications in the Philippines this year and a steady migration to cloud computing as companies learn more about the valuable contribution it can make towards growing their business.”

Taken into account in determining the Top Partner for ASEAN 2008 were total number of licenses and services sold from February 2008 to January 2009 for Salesforce CRM, Force.com (Platform as a Service), the AppExchange marketplace and Community (community and training). IP-Converge emerged as the top selling partner for fiscal year 2008.

“This is an important milestone for us. Our partnership with salesforce.com began less than three years ago and now we are leading the region in license sales and services execution,” said Reynaldo Huergas, President of IP-Converge.

“This achievement is a testament to our claims that cloud computing is set to become the preferred business model - it also fits well with our plans for expanding our scope to provide services beyond the ASEAN.”

The Philippines, where more than 90% of business is SME, is a key market for salesforce.com. SME businesses have the opportunity to attain the same high standards in technology as larger companies, minus the high capital initial investment or risk.  IP-Converge is a regional partner whose core products are global internet connectivity, server collocation and business solutions. IP-Converge is also a salesforce.com consulting partner for SaaS and cloud computing in the Philippines.

Percival C. de los Reyes, SVP – Managed Data Services IP-Converge; and Simon Lee, Regional General Manager for Asia, Interactive Intelligence Inc.

IP-Converge, the IT and telecommunications subsidiary of publicly listed IPVG Corp., has signed an agreement for the distribution of Interactive Intelligence all-in-one IP communications software solutions to contact centers and enterprise businesses throughout the Philippines.

“The Philippines remains to be the preferred location for contact center outsourcing due to its lower operational costs and highly-skilled workforce. Our partnership with Interactive Intelligence, with its excellent track record in providing all-in-one IP communications software solutions, further strengthens our IPC VOICES offering to contact centers, creating the most innovative and reliable solutions available in the market,” said Percival C. de los Reyes, IP-Converge senior vice-president for managed data services.

“A move to unified communications is an important step to ensure our country’s competitive edge in the outsourcing arena and at the same time help customers increase operational efficiency at reduced costs”, de los Reyes continued.

Simon Lee, Interactive Intelligence regional general manager for Asia, says: “Our more than a decade of application development experience, combined with the network infrastructure specialization and local presence that IP-Converge brings, will ensure customers throughout the Philippines get the kind of solutions that best fit their unique technical and operational needs. And as a key Asia Pacific growth market, the Philippines also represents a prime opportunity to receive the benefits a unified IP contact center solution provides.”

The Philippines, along with India, Malaysia and China, contributed more than 54% of the total Asia Pacific contact center outsourcing market, estimated at US$ 13.7 billion in 2008, according to Frost & Sullivan’s “Contact Center Outsourcing Trends in the Asia Pacific Market, 2008-2011″ report, published in February 2009.

The report also indicated that “the Philippines will see relatively heightened [IP] adoption,” and that “unified communications in the contact center is emerging as a key theme.”

“The Interactive Intelligence software will give our contact center customers phased migration to IP, while enjoying the operational benefits and cost-efficiency of a truly unified platform,” de los Reyes said. “Adding our personalized ’boutique’ approach to customers, these contact centers will receive maximum return on investment, while establishing competitive differentiation by providing better customer service.”

In 1997, Interactive Intelligence released its single-platform, all-in-one communications software suite, Customer Interaction Center (CIC), to eliminate the cost and complexity introduced by multipoint products. CIC provides multi-channel contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony functionality, including SIP-based switching; multi-channel routing and queuing; outbound/blended dialling; presence management; multi-channel quality monitoring; workforce management; interactive voice response; unified messaging; Web self-service; e-mail response and knowledge management; and communications-based process automation.

Backed by more than 3,000 customers worldwide — including successful multinational installations at companies such as Fujitsu, Oracle and RIM - , Interactive Intelligence is now a proven provider of all-in-one IP communications software solutions that is  consistently named a ‘top ten’ global contact center vendor by industry analysts such as Datamonitor, Frost & Sullivan and Gartner.