Positioning itself as a start-up, eZuce has launched a software-based, open source unified communications solution targeting enterprises with 200 to 10,000 users. Industry veterans and creators of SIPfoundry, Dr. Martin Steinmann and Jerry Stabile, are company co-founders.
Positioning itself as a start-up, eZuce has launched a software-based, open source unified communications solution targeting enterprises with 200 to 10,000 users. Industry veterans and creators of SIPfoundry, Dr. Martin Steinmann and Jerry Stabile, are company co-founders.
Unlike most start-up portfolios, the eZuce UC product is mature at launch, based on seven years of open source development through the SIPfoundry community. The software is designed to help enterprises replace legacy PBX systems, and the company is positioning itself as an alternative to Microsoft UC, although it also interoperates with Microsoft products like Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange. Given the wide range of potential scale, the system is also designed to be used as a premise-based CPE alternative or through hosted, managed service offers.
The company also has another strength seldom found in a typical start-up -- it will use existing channel partners that are are already familiar with the baseline features since the product's predecessor was was sold by Nortel and is similar to the SIPfoundry open source PBX software that powers the Avaya Software Communication System (SCS). The company sales model is 100% indirect, with support for single tier resellers, OEM relationships, and for Manager Service Providers (MSPs).
The list price will provide all the SIP-based features for about $65 per user per year.
The company positions itself as the "first open unified communications software solution, delivered 100% through channel partners" and it plans to continue "where Asterisk left off," according to Steinmann. He believes his company has significant opportunity with channel partners to sell the solution as "Avaya consolidates and rationalizes . . . their [own] portfolio."
Steinmann concluded, "eZuce presents a logical progression in UC with a holistic approach that marries the strengths of enterprise communications with cloud computing."