With iLinc Deal, BroadSoft Adds Web Collaboration To Its UC Toolset

The new service, now called BroadCloud Web Collaboration, offers a variety of features like file and content sharing, video conferencing, whiteboarding, poling, and profiles, that allow for real-time collaboration.

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It’s also a highly scalable tool: end users can conduct educational seminars, sales webinars, and online training sessions for up to several thousand, depending on the package.

“One thing that excited us about iLinc is its robust feature set. The real benefit is that it can handle a small group in informal sessions, like sharing a document and editing on the fly, but it also scales to support a very large group,” said Leslie Ferry, BroadSoft's vice president of sales and marketing.

BroadCloud Web Collaboration is being offered to BroadSoft’s channel partners as a white label product. Partners will enjoy higher margins compared with other competing web collaboration tools available in the channel, Ferry said, as well as access to Broadsoft’s web-based service management tools.

“The great thing for our solution service provider customers is that they can brand the service themselves, which adds to their brand value, because they are bringing their own branded solution to the market,” Ferry said.

The service fits right in with BroadSoft’s strategy of powering a range of IP-based collaboration solutions, according to Ferry.

“Whether it is through strategic acquisitions or in-house development, we remain committed to offering an extensive, innovative range of unified communications services that empower global service providers to meet the evolving communication needs of their enterprise and consumer customers,” said Michael Tessler, BroadSoft’s CEO. “With BroadCloud Web Collaboration our global service provider customers can now offer a branded, comprehensive web collaboration service at a competitive price with the goal of earning higher margins versus reselling other services.”

BroadSoft, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, agreed to buy iLinc in an all-cash transaction in early September for an undisclosed amount. The deal was finalized on Monday.

This is BroadSoft’s second white-label roll-out this month. The UC service provider also recently launched a branded app marketplace for its channel partners.