Sept/Oct 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

EMERGENT Vonage Acquires Conversational AI Startup Linortek Introduces Partner Program for IoT Controllers Cloud communications provider Vonage has entered into an agreement to acquire the technical team and intel- lectual property of Tel Aviv-based Over. ai (formerly Sensiya), a voice and con- versational AI developer for enterprise applications. Over.ai’s product and research division of 23 engineers will join Vonage’s technology hub in Israel, expanding the latter’s regional team to more than 100 people and total R&D team to almost 600. Vonage says the purchase will en- able it to gain significant talent and expertise in conversational-related AI. Specifically, it anticipates that Over.ai’s Voice over AI technology — including its proprietary speech to text and natural language understanding algorithms — will bolster product offerings such as the Vonage Business Cloud (VBC) unified communications solution and NewVoice- Media contact center solutions, in addi- tion to Vonage’s API platform. “As a communications market lead- er, we believe we are best positioned and set on a mission to lead the revo- lution from voice over IP to voice over AI. With the Over.ai talent and technol- ogy on board, we intend to make every conversation smarter,” said Vonage API platform group president Omar Javaid. “Leveraging these capabilities into our solutions will empower Vonage to drive exceptional customer experi- ences by providing a premiere service for every interaction, reducing wait times to zero and resolving customer issues quickly and effectively using natural language conversation.” Over.ai’s toolset delivers intelligent virtual assistant functionality via APIs, enabling businesses to enhance IVR systems and handle complex interac- tions with real-time, human-like inter- actions over phone lines. Its operations dashboard lets customers schedule au- tomated calls and respond to feedback options accordingly, while its campaign management tools seamlessly initiate calls from other apps, such as custom- er relationship management systems. “At Over.ai, our technology was built on the belief that in order for organizations to meet the digital age with intelligence, humans and machines must learn to work to- gether,” said Over.ai cofounder and CEO Noam Fine. “Combining our AI technology with the award-winning OneVonage platform presents a tre- mendous opportunity to create new, amazing customer experiences.” Linor Technology, a research and development company that designs and builds controllers for the IoT, announced the launch of a reseller program that allows partners to drive incremental revenue by selling Linortek’s complete product lines designed for industrial, manufacturing, educational and aquaculture businesses with needs for control, monitoring and alert over the network or internet. Authorized re- sellers, said the company, will benefit from Linortek’s affordable, easy-to-use IoT con- trollers within their various sales channels. The stand-alone solutions have no recurring fees and no third-party involve- ment. Linortek will provide promotional marketing literature, training and techni- cal support for all its products. Custom- ization for special customer needs and private label branding are available in addition to a competitive price schedule. The designed- and assembled-in- America product lines, which can be used in new builds or to retrofit older de- vices, include the IOTMETER Wireless Equipment Hour Meter to monitor cumu- lative usage hours, temperature, voltage and more for powered equipment. “Our partners will not only have Linortek’s range of products that provide the missing link between offline electri- cal devices and web-based controlling and monitoring, but also the full support of the Linortek team and a dedicated U.S. Sales Director,” said Gary S. Nal- ven, founder and CEO, Linortek. “And because our products are designed and developed in the United States, we can easily customize and add features based on customer feedback.” Transforming the Middle Market Nearly all middle market companies surveyed by professional services firm BDO view cloud computing as key to their digital transformation strategies. At the same time, many emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain, are on the roadmap for a plurality of respondents. of LTE Connections Will Take Over the Connected Car Market By 2025 Source: Business Insider; Gartner; McKinsey What digital enablers are you betting on? Current & planned deployments of advanced technologies Source: BDO USA, LLP zation Size Int rnet of Things Ad ption and Investment Rate Trend Source: Computer Economics Large 3.2% % hechnology 9% nal Legal 2015 2020E 2025E 36 192 900 60 343 259 77 80 102 18 Number of connected cars on roads by antenna type, global (millions) 2G 3G 4G/LTE LPWA 72% 64% 57% 39% 42% 28% 43% 48% 45% 34% 32% 23% Cloud Computing Advanced Analytics (Social, Data & Content) Automation Artificial Intelligence Internet of Things Blockchain Currently Deploying Considering Deploying Percent of Organizations 45% 18% 25% 18% 26% 30% 15% 0% 2018 2019 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Adoption Rate I vestment Rate 10 Channel Vision | September - October, 2019