A VIEW FROM THE CORNER OFFICE

Season's Greetings from Ari
 

By Ari Sonesh, CEO - Dear Friends. Each month in this space I write about trends and innovations within the Contact Center market space. Over the past year, we've discussed topics such as "The Tornado" and how "Change is Good." But the December holiday season seems the ideal time to turn our thoughts towards people...those people whose very presence in our lives influence us in profound ways. So in this "Holiday Edition" of the CosmoChronicle, I would like to take a moment to personally greet some of these people...

First, to all of CosmoCom's customers around the globe, I would like to extend my special thanks for the confidence you have placed in us. By choosing CosmoCom as your Contact Center Solution, you have exhibited your faith in our ability to deliver the best possible product. I assure you that, in return, you have my promise that we will continue in our mission to provide you with the most highly evolved technology, and service and support that is second to none.

Next, I would like to express my gratitude to all of CosmoCom's employees, worldwide, for the extraordinary efforts they expended this past year. Your vision, hard work and dedication produced the best year CosmoCom has enjoyed to date! As CEO, I feel privileged to work with you, some of the finest talent in our industry...you are the reason CosmoCom is positioned as number one!

I would like to thank all of our outstanding Partners for their solid contributions towards our mutual successes this past year. I know that the coming year will bring with it many new opportunities to grow our relationships, and to build new ones, and I look forward to working with you in the months ahead.

And to the "Friends of CosmoCom", a diverse group of individuals who have been our backers and supporters and whose unwavering faith in this Company's present and future inspires us all to live up to that trust ... thank you for your continuing friendship.

In closing, my wish for all Friends of CosmoCom, near and far, is a peaceful and joyous holiday season...and a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2006 ! I hope to see you at CosmoCommunity 2006 in May.

TELEFONICA EMPRESAS LAUNCHES CONTACT CENTER ON-DEMAND OFFERING POWERED BY COSMOCALL UNIVERSE

New Service Broadens Carrier's Contact Center Portfolio

Telefónica Empresas unveiled the new service at the IFAES Call Center and CRM Solutions show in Madrid, and announced that the first customer using the service is Spain's National Institute of Employment (Instituto Nacional de Empleo or INEM), an agency of the Spanish Government that provides many employment-related services to the public.

"Contact Center On-Demand is a natural service for us to offer..." said Jorge Astray, the CRM Business Development Manager in Telefónica Empresas.

To hear what else Jorge Astray has to say and to find out more, read the full press release at: http://www.cosmocom.com/pressreleases/PressReleases2005/pr11282005.htm

COSMOCOM BOARD MEMBER HONORED

Marilyn and Barry Rubenstein are Honored for Their Generosity to Yad Vashem

By Leron Polani, VP Strategic Business & Corporate Development -  This month I was honored to attend the 21st Annual Tribute Dinner of the American Society for Yad Vashem, along with our CEO, Ari Sonesh and EVP, Steve Kowarsky. Yad Vashem is Israel's memorial for the victims of the Holocaust. Located in Jerusalem, it is the largest repository of Holocaust information in the world, designed to preserve the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations. Yad Vashem is a 45-acre complex of museums, monuments, research, teaching and other resource centers.

During the Tribute Dinner, CosmoCom Board of Directors member Barry Rubenstein and his wife Marilyn were honored for their generous donation to Yad Vashem. The Rubensteins had funded the building of a synagogue as part of the latest expansion of the memorial. During the Holocaust, thousands of synagogues were demolished by the Nazis. This new synagogue at Yad Vashem is a symbol of hope and renewal for all Jews, and for all mankind.

The CosmoCom family was honored to be a part of this tribute. We wish to express our profound respect for Marilyn and Barry Rubenstein, for their generosity, and for their humanity.

MAXIMIZE YOUR INVESTMENT IN COSMOCOM TECHNOLOGY
AT COSMOCOMMUNITY 2006

Whether you're an end-user, service provider or reseller of CosmoCall Universe™, CosmoCommunity 2006 will be a valuable resource toward maximizing your investment. CosmoCommunity will take place from May 17-19 near CosmoCom headquarters at the most luxurious of Long Island hotels, the beautiful Hyatt Regency Wind Watch, set in a stunning, resort-like setting with an 18-hole championship golf course. Wind Watch will provide the perfect environment for meeting and exchanging ideas with other contact center professionals from around the globe. Delegates will participate in interesting seminars and learning sessions, network with other members of the CosmoCommunity, and meet (and party with) a wide range of CosmoCom staff.

With plenary sessions of interest to all, three breakout tracks (Applications, Technology, Hosted Services) designed to include something for every kind of attendee, exciting activities for fun and networking, spousal programs hosted by our First Lady Yardena Sonesh, and pre- and post- weekend options in Manhattan, this will be the must-attend event of the season.

Our community has been asking for an event like this for some time. The prospect of bringing CosmoCom, face-to-face with much of the user community to exchange ideas and best practices, view demos of leading-edge technology and just get to know each other better is very exciting. You won't want to miss it. More details and online registration will be coming soon.

For more information and to register online please visit http://www.cosmocommunity.com 

 COSMOCOM UP FOR CONTACTCENTERWORLD.COM MEMBERS CHOICE AWARDS

Customers Select Winners, Are Entered Automatically into a US$1,000 Drawing!

CosmoCom is again entered in the ContactCenterWorld.com 2006 Members Choice Awards. Last year we were voted Best Multi-Channel Contact Center Solution in EMEA by end-users and hope to be honored by your votes again this year. Remember - this award is entirely based on input from the people who know CosmoCall Universe best - the users! No panel of judges, no "industry experts" - just you!

Please take a moment to visit ContactCenterWorld.com at the URLs below to vote for, and give your honest evaluation of, CosmoCall Universe in the "Best Multi-Channel Contact Center Solutions" and "Best ACD/Switch" categories. It takes only two minutes. Plus, your vote automatically enters you in a drawing for a $1000 USD cash prize.

• The link for Best Multi-Channel Contact Center Solution is http://www.contactcenterworld.com/mca2006/BestMulti-ChannelContactCenterSolution-cosmocom.htm
• The link for Best ACD/Switch is http://www.contactcenterworld.com/mca2006/BestACD-cosmocom.htm 

We hope we can count on the support of satisfied end-users, like you, in both categories. Thank you in advance.

STEVE DELLUTRI HONORED AS LONG ISLAND RISING STAR

Congratulations to Steve Dellutri for being selected as one of only 40 members of the Class of 2006 of the 40 Under 40 program! Since 1998, Long Island Business News has taken nominations for outstanding members of the business community on Long Island who are under the age of 40. The event has grown from a gathering of 60 people introducing themselves in a small restaurant to more than 700 at the Island's largest catering hall. Awardees in this program represent entrepreneurs, government, education, law, banking, not-for-profits and the high-tech industry. At CosmoCom, we have always known that Steve D was among the very best and the very brightest. Readers who have met Steve will agree that he is a superstar, standing out not only in the Long Island community, but in the much larger, global community as well. The awards breakfast will be held at the Crest Hollow Country Club on February 2nd.

CITIZEN CONTACT CENTER

What if you could call ONE number and get REAL answers to any question you might have from your local or central government? Sounds like a dream?

Well, this dream is coming true. Governments at all levels, cities, counties, states are setting up Citizens Contact Centers equipped with databases that contain most of the information callers are asking for. When a caller requests information that cannot be found in the database, or if the call requires a special treatment (e.g. social services), it is forwarded to a person that specializes in that particular area -- even if the subject matter expert is outside the "traditional" call center.

Are these Citizen Contact center successful? The simple answer is "yes." So much so, that New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, used the success of the 311 service during his re-election campaign.

CosmoCall Universe is the technology behind several Citizen Contact center implementations. Read more about the Citizen Contact Center in this application note.

HQ HAPPENINGS

Memories from the 2005 HQ Holiday Party

On Saturday night, December 3rd, CosmoCom HQ staffers got an early jump on the season's festivities with a gala Holiday Party held at the beautiful Chateau Briand on Long Island. Amid the twinkling lights and lavish art deco surroundings, the elegantly attired crowd enjoyed an exotic buffet dinner and hit the dance floor with gusto! The DJ kept things lively till the wee hours...and a wonderful time was had by all !

Once again, Steve Kowarsky swapped his EVP hat for that of resident photographer extraordinaire. If you click on the animated badge to the right you can see beautiful images of some of our "beautiful people"...and note the CosmoCom logo "on ice" ! Best Holiday Wishes to All !

Note: Steve says to feel free to peruse his other photo collections while you are checking out the photos of the Holiday Party. The direct link for the photos is http://www.flickr.com/photos/50335499@N00/sets/1506132

 

 BITS & PIECES: SOME VOIP FACTOIDS

Yankee Group Sees Strong Growth for VoIP
In recent report focusing on the VoIP market among small and medium businesses (SMBs), Yankee Group analyzes how VoIP is gaining momentum among SMBs, with hosted VoIP solutions leading the pack. The report notes that 70% would prefer a hosted to a premise-based solution. Yankee Group states, "VoIP has quickly become the newest, most promising, yet most disruptive voice communications technology within the telecommunications industry." What makes hosted VoIP attractive is how it enables business to focus on their core competencies vs. allocating resources to implement and manage the system. The report also cites how such technologies empower SMBs to avoid the cost of trying to keep up with the changes in technology that come with a disruptive technology in a nascent and rapidly evolving market. You can read more about the report on Yankee Group's site

Intel Capital wins "Corporate Venturer of the Year" Award for Second Consecutive Year
On November 24, 2005-Intel Capital was again recognized by the global venture capital community for its contributions as a strategic and financial investor as it received the "Corporate Venturer of the Year" award at a ceremony held in London. This marks the second consecutive year the award has been won by Intel Capital, which received both the Corporate Venturer of the Year and Exit of Year awards in 2004. Intel Capital is one of the investors in CosmoCom.

Infonetics Releases Study of VoIP Market in North America
Infonetics has released "Voice over IP Services," a study of the VoIP market in North America. The publication provides market size and forecasts for hosted VoIP and managed IP PBX services including a hosted VoIP split for residential/SOHO, and wholesale in North America. The report also includes a residential/SOHO VoIP subscriber forecast. The firm projects VoIP service revenue to grow from $1.24 billion in 2004 to $23.4 billion in 2009, which equates to 18-fold growth.

 

WHO'S TALKING? RECENT INK

In the November 18 edition of eWeek's Channel Insider, editor Pedro Pereira published a great article called "CosmoCom Banks on Call Center Switch to VOIP." The article takes a look at CosmoCom's business model of selling through resellers and service providers. In one paragraph Pedro writes, "CosmoCom over the years has partnered with some of the biggest names in the telecommunications world, including British Telecomm and Deutsche Telekom, but Sonesh believes regional VARs and integrators also will play an important role in the vendor's growth plans."  Pedro also touches on the growing demand for IP-based call center technology that leads directly into some great excerpts from a conversation he had with Frank Shaffer of BT Global Services on the topics of IP technology and CosmoCom.

You can ready the whole article at http://www.thechannelinsider.com/article2/0,1895,1888927,00.asp  or read the text below.

Once again the editors of eChannelLine took notice of CosmoCom and published an article called "CosmoCom adds video to its contact center technology" that top the day's stories on November 27. The piece looks at the IVVR story from the perspective of what it potentially means for resellers. You can view the article at http://www.connectitnews.com/story.cfm?item=2602
 

NEW MEMBERS OF THE COSMOCOM FAMILY

CosmoCom Headquarters

Andrey Krasnov joins CosmoCom as Senior QA Analyst.  Andrey comes to us with 10+ years of Software Development experience, most recently at Radvision, where he developed various automation tools. He holds a B.S. degree in Software Engineering.

CosmoCom Germany

Wolfhart Krischke joined the Frankfurt, Germany office as Managing Director for the regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Wolfhart brings with him a wealth of experience and a successful track record in Sales Leadership roles. Most recently Wolfhart was the Sales Director for Aspect in Central Europe. Prior to Aspect, Wolfhart worked for Ascom as Key Account Manager.

CosmoCom France

Damien LIM, is the most recent addition to the Technical Operations group at CosmoCom. Damien spent the last six  years at France Telecom as IT consultant and System Engineer, where he had the opportunity to work extensively with CosmoCall Universe. Damien will be stationed at our office in Paris. He holds a BS degree as Computer and Networks Engineer.
 

TRADESHOW NEWS: COMING ATTRACTIONS

	SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT Internet Telephony Conference and Expo IP Contact Center Summit January 24th -- 27th, 2006 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference/voip-06 Panelist: Roman Lewis, AVP Central and Western US, CosmoCom  Topic: "IP Contact Center Shootout"  When: Wednesday, January 25th, 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
	SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT Spring 2006 VON Purple Apps March 14th - 17th, 2006 San Jose, CA, USA http://www.von.com Panelist: Steven Kaish, VP, Technical Operations, CosmoCom  Topic: "Purple Apps"  When: Friday, March 17th, 1:20 - 2:45 p.m.
	CosmoCommunity 2006 May 17th - 19th, 2006 Hyatt Wind Watch Hotel and Resort Hauppauge, NY, USA   CosmoCom's premiere partner and user event. Learn more and register.
	RECORDED WEBINARS
	View recordings of our recent Webinar events including "Hosted Contact Center for Outsourcers", "Contact Center On-Demand" and "Telecom Customer Care"

	SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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	SUPPORTNET UPDATES
	CosmoCom continues to improve CosmoCall Universe. The latest support updates are now available on SupportNet including, new Hot Fix bundles and Microsoft updates have passed QA for CosmoCall Universe deployment. SupportNet is CosmoCom's online support extranet for customers and partners. If you have not yet obtained your secure login information, please contact your CosmoCom representative or send an email to supportnet@cosmocom.com.

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