As the communications technology industry becomes more competitive, it’s not so easy for companies to stand out in the crowded field. That’s especially true for RingCentral, a cloud computing based business phone system provider. But the company, which specializes in the delivery of new fax technologies, recently saw its hard work pay off after its recent selection as a 2010 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
TMCnet caught up with Praful Shah, vice president of strategy for the San Mateo, Calif.-based company, to talk in detail about the significance of the award and how RingCentral (News - Alert) hopes to use the recognition to boost its reach.
“The WEF award shows that RingCentral’s Cloud based Business Phone (News - Alert) Systems have radically changed the value that businesses can get without having to pay for expensive legacy on-premise phone systems,” Shah told TMCnet in the interview, printed in full below.
Shah also discussed how its fax services and cloud-based business phone system are helping businesses stay mobile.
Our exchange follows.
TMCnet: What does RingCentral’s selection as a 2010 Technology Pioneer mean for the company?
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of a life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership and show all the signs of a long-standing and sustainable market leader – and its technology must be proven. The World Economic Forum is an extremely prestigious organization, and for RingCentral, being awarded a Technology Pioneer award is significant.
TMCnet: How will the company use its recognition to broaden its reach?
The WEF award shows that RingCentral’s Cloud based Business Phone Systems have radically changed the value that businesses can get without having to pay for expensive legacy on-premise phone systems. Now every size business can run efficiently and be able to compete effectively in the global market, without having to worry about their business location in the world. Businesses owners trust market leaders and this recognition proves to our potential customers that we are leaders in this business.
TMCnet: How is RingCentral helping businesses stay mobile with its cloud-based business phone system?
The old legacy on-premise business phone systems were designed for an era before the Internet and mobile technology. The era of all employees working from a single location and using only fixed line phones is extinct. The Internet has enabled people to work in distributed locations and mobile phones have significantly enhanced that behavior to dramatically improve productivity. The old on-premise legacy phone systems cannot support this new environment. RingCentral’s cloud based business phone system easily unifies multiple employees into a single phone system by easily integrating all of the finest mobile and fixed line phone features. The best part is that to set it up, RingCentral does not require any technical skills.
TMCnet: What role is Ring Central’s fax service playing to keep distributed employees productive?
The old model of receiving faxes in an office was to stand near a fax machine when someone faxes a document to ensure that it is not lost. In the era of distributed working environments, waiting to receive a fax is not possible. The traditional fax method makes it difficult to easily forward faxes and electronically file it for later use or record keeping. With RingCentral fax, someone faxes to a company fax number that RingCentral provides, the fax is received by RingCentral's business phone system, converted to a PDF file and is forwarded via email to the designated employee as an attachment. Now a person can be anywhere to view a fax on their mobile phone and have the ability to forward it to one or more people. This is a huge productivity benefit to businesses independent to the size of that company.
The old legacy on-premise business phone systems were designed for an era before the Internet and mobile technology. The era of all employees working from a single location and using only fixed line phones is extinct. The Internet has enabled people to work in distributed locations and mobile phones have significantly enhanced that behavior to dramatically improve productivity. The old on-premise legacy phone systems cannot support this new environment. RingCentral’s cloud based business phone system easily unifies multiple employees into a single phone system by easily integrating all of the finest mobile and fixed line phone features. The best part is that to set it up, RingCentral does not require any technical skills.
TMCnet: What role is Ring Central’s fax service playing to keep distributed employees productive?
The old model of receiving faxes in an office was to stand near a fax machine when someone faxes a document to ensure that it is not lost. In the era of distributed working environments, waiting to receive a fax is not possible. The traditional fax method makes it difficult to easily forward faxes and electronically file it for later use or record keeping. With RingCentral fax, someone faxes to a company fax number that RingCentral provides, the fax is received by RingCentral's business phone system, converted to a PDF file and is forwarded via email to the designated employee as an attachment. Now a person can be anywhere to view a fax on their mobile phone and have the ability to forward it to one or more people. This is a huge productivity benefit to businesses independent to the size of that company.
Amy Tierney is a Web editor for TMCnet, covering business communications Her areas of focus include conferencing, SIP, Fax over IP, unified communications and telepresence. Amy also writes about education and healthcare technology, overseeing production of e-Newsletters on those topics as well as communications solutions and UC. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Amy Tierney