PanTerra Networks
PanTerra Networks is a cloud-based Unified Communications service provider. It has a true unified communication system that is a real Software as a Service offering. Customers can add or delete seats as required by their business, making a fixed cost of communications for a small or medium business a variable cost.
History
PanTerra was founded in 2001[1] by Walter Snell and Sridhar Muppidi to offer communications services in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Funded by high-net-worth individuals, the company received its first venture capital investment from D. E. Shaw Ventures in 2006. Andre Turenne joined the board from D. E. Shaw. In 2008, Halo Ventures[2] invested in the company with Ed Esber joining the board.
In 2008, the company introduced its first product, WorldSmart, a cloud-based unified communications offering. The solution integrates voice, conferencing, video, messaging, email, collaboration, fax and call center services into a single solution with a common user and administration portal.
In 2009, PanTerra was named a visionary vendor in Gartner Research's UC-as-a-Service (UCaaS) Magic Quadrant Report. This report is a separately published report from the premise-based UC magic quadrant report.
In 2010, the company introduced a 100% browser-based version of WorldSmart (WorldSmart 4.0[3]), eliminating any on-premise hardware or client software requirements and storing all communications in the cloud.
Additionally, in 2010, PanTerra made Inc. Magazine's Top 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.[1] According to Inc. Magazine, PanTerra experienced over 640% revenue growth from 2007 to 2010. PanTerra also was listed in Red Herring's 2010 Top 100 Hi-Tech Companies in North America.[4] PanTerra also repeated their listing as a visionary vendor in Gartner's 2010 UCaaS Magic Quadrant Report.
The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA with a development team in Hyderabad, India.
Services
WorldSmart Cloud IT Services is a suite of cloud-based unified communications, storage and mobility delivered as a service to mid market enterprises:
- Business Voice
- Virtual PBX - All the basic PBX functionality is available including extension dialing, unlimited auto attendants, voicemail, unified messaging, ring groups, music on hold, and intelligent call routing, as well as some advanced features like MobileCall [5] which allow a call to be transparently moved from any device (cell phone, desk phone, softphone) to any device.
- Audio Conferencing - unlimited audio conferencing on a per user basis plus conference room conferencing.
- Computer Telephony Integration - Their Advanced Communications Extensions (ACE) service integrates telephony with a desktop allowing full call control or a desk phone through a browser interface on the computer. It works with PCs, Macs and Linux-based computers.
- Cloud VoiceMail and Voice-Text Transcription - Unlimited voicemail boxes per user with the ability to translate voicemails to text and deliver them to an email box.
- In-house Call Center
- Advanced Queuing - Call Center product provides unlimited queues, skills based routing, music on hold, virtual agent and supervisor support, and features such as customer call back (ability to call a customer back when an agent is available instead of making them wait on the line), pull selective call from queue.
- Supervisory Modes - Graphical User Interface via web browser for queue visual monitoring and supervisory modes including silent listen, whisper and barge-in and recording to assist in agent training and quality control.
- Call recording - Agents can record both inbound and outbound calls and calls can be recorded in a variety of quality monitoring modes including agent, queues, % of calls, etc.
- Live Monitoring - A browser-based live monitor application allows supervisors to monitor agents in real-time.
- Detailed Reports - Real-time and historical graphical reports exportable data are available.
- Collaboration
- Unified Messaging
- Cloud Email - The company provided integrated hosted email that is compatible with Microsoft Outlook clients and includes a separate browser-based client as well.
- Voicemail to Email - Voicemails can be attached as a file and listen to on phone, translated voicemails to text and voicemail notification via email is offered.
- Digital Fax - Each user gets a personal digital fax number that they can receive faxes via email on. Received faxes can be viewed online or they can be emailed to the user. Users can also fax from their desktop.
- Cloud Secure IM and SMS - The WorldSmart service supports integrated secure text messaging and instant messaging and presence. Messages can be converted from IM to text and/or email and back based on a user's presence. All messages are stored in the cloud.
- Business Process Integration
- Outlook Support - The Outlook client is fully supported allowing users to synchronize all their contacts and calendar events into the WorldSmart cloud as well as perform click to call functions and receive contact popups on inbound calls all from the Outlook interface.
- Salesforce.com Support - A Salesforce.com plug-in integrates WorldSmart services with a CRM database, allowing auto dialing and contact popups.
- WebAPIs - Any web-based application can be triggered with specific information passed to it such as callerID, customer ID, or time-of-day.
- Unifying Features
- Real-time Presence - The desktop interface presents real-time presence information for all users.
- 100% Browser-based Client - The desktop interface runs within a standard Internet browser, eliminating any client-based software installation or the storage of any communications on the remote desktop machine.
Web collaboration, video conferencing are also provided with WorldSmart services. The services are sold in four unlimited UC suites:
- Business Voice - a Basic voice seat for staff
- Element - an entry level Unified Communications offering for mid range functionality demand employees including a powerful UCC interface to control all communications.
- Communicator - Executive type seat with enhanced Unified Communications functionality adds additional web collaboration and management oriented communications features.
- CallCenter - Full featured Call Center seat with all the Unified Communications functionality.