Blueface in the Press

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11
Jan 12

Blueface Announces €1m R&D Investment and 12 New Jobs Investment Part-Funded by Enterprise Ireland’s R&D Fund

Blueface, Ireland’s leading cloud telephony company today 10th January announced a €1m investment in Research & Development to enhance their next generation IP telephony and services platform and drive export activity. The investment, which will create 12 new jobs, is being part-funded by Enterprise Ireland’s R&D Fund.

This R&D initiative involves the design and development of the next generation of Blueface’s IP Telephony platform and will serve both direct and managed service customers in Ireland and the UK. The project will enhance the Blueface proposition and provide customers with a range of innovative voice features, applications and services.

Frank Ryan Enterprise Ireland, Minister Richard Bruton, Alan Foy Blueface

Since it was founded in 2004, Blueface has built a strategy of delivering cutting edge, innovative telephony solutions and achieving cost advantages for customers of all sizes.

Blueface has a strong history of R&D since its inception and has built an excellent track record of supplying innovative services and features to meet the communications needs of businesses and carriers alike. The ongoing investment in R&D ensures that Blueface remains at the cutting edge of the IP telephony domain.

Alan Foy, CEO, Blueface commented, “Our new R&D programme will assist us to enhance our product portfolio, create sustainable jobs and to continue to generate and develop innovative telephony solutions for our customer base in Ireland and the UK. Enterprise Ireland’s support for this initiative will directly help us to achieve those aims, underpinning our business growth both here and abroad.”

Congratulating the company, Minister Bruton said: “Initiatives such as this one by Blueface are exactly what is required if we are to achieve the levels of growth and employment that is needed to rebuild the economy and get jobs growing again. I congratulate the company and all those involved in an undertaking that will progress the company to the cutting edge of their sector. Enterprise Ireland’s R&D Fund provides support to Irish companies and it is my intention to continue to encourage the development of indigenous Irish firms through Innovation investment. In this way we can build up a portfolio of internationally successful and competitive Irish business that will contribute to the future of the economy“.

Enterprise Ireland classifies Blueface as a “scaling client” meaning it is has particular potential for rapid and steady growth to quickly achieve international scale.

Greg Treston, Head of Scaling with Enterprise Ireland said: “This strategic investment by Blueface will enhance their offering and help them boost their export sales. Enterprise Ireland is delighted to help finance this ambitious and forward-thinking initiative.”

Blueface ranks in Top 20 Fastest growing businesses 2011 – Deloitte Fast 50 awards.

Blueface Nov 16th Special PAYG Offer

Blueface today announced that it ranked number 16 in the 2011 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over five years. Blueface acquired a substantial number of business customers during this period, which has helped create significant growth for the company.

The Fast 50 programme, now in its twelfth year in Ireland, ranks the fastest-growing technology companies in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This year, there are 14 companies from Northern Ireland in the ranking. The average growth rate of the Fast 50 companies named in this year’s ranking is 674%

To Celebrate our 16th Place position we want to give all our business and residential customers a 16% bonus on all PAYG credit purchased on November 16th. Simply log into your account, select the amount of credit you wish to purchase and you’ll immediately receive 16% Bonus on whatever value you top up by. On Behalf of all the Blueface Team we would like to thank all our customers, both new and existing, for their continued support. Let’s hope for even more success next year!

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26
Sep 11

Three and Blueface combine to offer big business service at small business prices.

Your Business Landline is now in the palm of your hands.

Get Business Landline calls on your iPhone.

Dublin: Monday 26th of September 2011. Three, Ireland’s largest high speed mobile network and mobile broadband market leader, has together with Blueface launched a new and innovative business offering designed to deliver big business service at small business prices. Three and Blueface are today announcing the introduction of Ireland’s first telephone App delivering a mobile landline service for Three business customers on their iPhone.

This new telecom App is primarily targeted at the SME market, delivering significant cost savings versus existing services with all the flexibility of a mobile network. With Fixed Line penetration currently at 71%, Three and Blueface see a significant opportunity for growth through delivery of a high quality service with a very competitive cost structure.

It is widely acknowledged that Irish businesses currently pay some of the highest landline costs in Europe with Comreg estimates putting it as much as 40% higher than the UK (€25 compared to €15 in the UK). Blueface is a landline app that is free to download with no monthly charges or landline rental, allowing users to make significant savings. It enables you to create a brand new landline number or carry over your existing landline number. With this service, if your customers try to contact you on either your mobile or landline, you can be instantly reached.

Eoin MacManus, Commercial Director at Three commented on the launch: “This agreement with Blueface gives Three a significant advantage over our competitors in the SME market. This simple, easy to use service will mean businesses can now have all the benefits of a fixed line number with the flexibility of mobile communications at exceptional value. We are delighted to bring this innovative product to the market and look forward to working with current and potential business customers to offer them some of the best value business communications solutions in Ireland.”

Alan Foy CEO, Blueface revealed his delight at the deal: “Blueface are delighted to be partnering with an innovative operator like Three to launch this unique landline service to small businesses. The Three landline App not only provides business customers with an innovative way of accessing a fixed landline but also enables customers to save costs by removing fixed cost monthly line rental and by using Blueface’s low-cost international call rates. Blueface are continually innovating to provide our SME customers with big business communications services at a small business price, and we look forward to providing even more developments in the near future.”

This new offer from Three combines innovative new technology with an attractive pricing structure. The App is free to download and there is a once off activation fee of €10 (ex VAT). Charges to make or receive calls are 15c (ex VAT) peak, off peak and weekends. The service is available on a Business Solo Plan with Three costing €75 per month. This includes
unlimited Mobile & Landline ROI and UK calls, unlimited texts for ROI together with unlimited Data. International calls cost 12c EU, 10c US and Canada and 20c Rest of the World. Roaming charges include: EU calls are 25c to make, 11c to receive; making and receiving calls from US are 75c; making and receiving calls from Rest of the World cost 99c and world Data Charges are 99c per MB.

Blueface developed the award winning app in connection with Vennetics, an innovator in telecommunication and IT application solutions, using GSM OneAPI specifications. This partnership between Blueface and Vennetics resulted in the companies winning the North / South Collaboration Award at the Irish Times Innovation Awards 2011. The App is not only the first Telecom App in Ireland but also a world first in terms of the newly adapted One API specifications as agreed by the GSMA.

Three has launched a number of ground–breaking initiatives including Ireland’s first ‘All you can eat’ data offering on both Postpay and Prepay, allowing customers to surf for free, with no excess charges. Three is proud sponsor of the Irish National football team and the Football Association of Ireland. Three’s “Dare to Dream” affinity scheme offers Football Association of Ireland-affiliated clubs across the country the chance to earn cash when their members switch to Three which helps with its support and development of grass roots football

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2
Sep 11

Blueface is pleased to announce the appointment of Nameer Kazzaz as new CTO.

Blueface, Ireland’s leading IP telephony provider has appointed Nameer Kazzaz as Chief Technology Officer. Together with the Blueface engineering team, Nameer will be responsible for delivering the Blueface technology roadmap and unified communications offering.

Nameer Kazzaz is one of Europe’s leading VoIP experts, with over 12 years experience in both the private and public sectors, with a special interest in open source technology and its application to both traditional and the emerging Cloud Telephony.

Before joining Blueface, Nameer previously held senior roles in PlanNet21 and Smart Telecom and has consulted on many VoIP and network security projects in the public and private sector.

During his career in the telecoms sector, Nameer was responsible for the introduction of one of the first mobile VoIP networks, and deployed some of the largest soft-switch environments in the world. He is also a regular contributor to global conferences on the subject of IP telephony, Security, Enum, Next Generation Networks, IMS and Voice services.

Educated in Iraq and England, Nameer holds multiple qualifications in computer science, electronics and engineering.

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26
Aug 11

‘Young People Creating Jobs’ initiative being supported by Blueface CEO

We’re delighted to get involved in an upcoming initiative being led by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to encourage entrepreneurship among young people across Ireland. This initiative is called ‘Young People Creating Jobs’. It’s a programme which challenges 15-22 year olds to generate a business idea that they believe will lead to job creation. The young people will be invited to submit business plans or projects to develop an idea that they believe will create sustainable employment. Successful applicants who demonstrate that their idea has capacity to generate employment will be shortlisted and interviewed by a judging panel. All participants will receive feedback on their proposals from the business leaders. Winning applicants will receive a market research prize of €15,000 to support their business idea and also spend time shadowing selected senior businesspeople.

The top proposals will win a week shadowing a CEO or Directors of a major Irish company. They include:

- Directors from Google Ireland

- David McRedmond, CEO of TV3

- Colette Twomey, Clonalkilty Black Pudding and Veuve Cliquot Businesswoman of the Year 2011

- Alan Foy, CEO Blueface (Telecommunications technology)

- Dylan Collins, Internet Entrepreneur

It goes without saying that Ireland has undoubtedly faced challenging times over the last few years. In order to emerge from our economic constraints, the next generation has a huge responsibility to return Ireland to prosperity and full employment. This Government initiative assists, albeit in a small way, to encourage our young people to confidently chart an ambitious future for them and for Ireland. Collectively we have a shared responsibility to promote an entrepreneurial spirit among young people. We also have a responsibility to pass on the lessons learned along the way. Hopefully the next generation of entrepreneurs can avoid many of the mistakes of those who have preceded them and confidently chart a sustainable, successful future for Ireland.

You can find details about the initiative here of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs Website

Blueface in the Press — 2 Comments
13
Jul 11

Blueface to power Voice Service for Onwave

Blueface, Ireland’s leading internet telephony provider has signed a commercial contract with onwave to provide a managed voice service to onwave’s residential and SME customers, as onwave rolls out its new bundled broadband, TV and phone service in Ireland and the UK. The deal is estimated to be valued at €2 million.

Blueface and OnWave CEOs

The contract will see Blueface provide a white label managed service platform to onwave, which will allow onwave to offer a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone service to their growing residential and business customer base.

Alan Foy, CEO, Blueface, commented: “We are delighted to be working with onwave on this deal. The selection of Blueface as the preferred telecoms partner and subsequently the contract winner shows that the reputation of our technical team, our offering and our market presence is highly recognised among the industry. We are confident that our managed voice service will provide onwave customers with a superior telecoms offering.”

By taking advantage of this new offering and switching their home phones to onwave, customers in Ireland can save up to €240 per year on line rental as no phone line is needed. Customers will also gain the additional benefit of low-cost calls.

onwave plans to expand the rollout of its broadband and telecoms service to other territories across Europe, and recently announced that it has raised a €4.15 million investment from Nucleus Venture Partners to support its European growth strategy.

Kevin Ryan, Director, onwave commented: “With this new offering, we aim to provide a truly guaranteed, universal broadband service for every Irish home regardless of location. Blueface’s voice over IP service is second to none and we can now provide a quality phone service when added to our broadband and TV, which gives our customers even greater savings.”

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6
May 11

Management Buy-In at Blueface, Strategic Investment Announced

Blueface, Ireland’s leading internet telephony provider today announced that circa thirty percent of the share capital of the business has been acquired in a private equity backed management buy-in through an investment vehicle, VentureWave. The value of the purchased equity stake is estimated at €2.7 million.

VentureWave was established by Blueface Chief Executive, Alan Foy, for the purpose of the Management Buy-In. Other participants in VentureWave are Blueface Directors Catrina Sheridan and Brendan Gaffney; and Blueface advisory Board Member, Edward Guinness, the Earl of Iveagh, who is a significant investor in Venturewave. Lord Iveagh has also joined the Board of VentureWave.

“I am pleased to have been invited to serve on the board of VentureWave and to confirm my support for Blueface,” said Lord Iveagh. “I look forward to assisting the dynamic new management team in the next phase of development of Blueface in terms of market development and rapid scaling in the SME telecoms market.”

“I am delighted with this opportunity to engage with young, ambitious Irish entrepreneurs and future success stories such as Blueface,” he said.

“We are very pleased with the support shown by Edward Guinness for the business. He brings a great deal of knowledge and entrepreneurial expertise which will be of great benefit to the company,” said Alan Foy, Chief Executive of Blueface and Chairman of VentureWave.

Blueface recently offered SME’s throughout Ireland the opportunity to reduce their business costs with a recession-busting phone service for just €9.99 per month (ex-vat), covering unlimited UK and Ireland land-line calls. The company also launched an innovative new iPhone application called “Banter” which allows customers to receive fixed line calls on their mobile phone and make very low cost international calls. It is a game changer in the telecoms landscape.

SME’s can also take advantage of other recession-busting add-ons such as 15c per minute anytime mobile calls or avail of amazing international call rates which are over 50% cheaper than other telecoms providers. Free add on services are also provided, such as fax-to-email, follow-me functionality and voicemail-to-email. It’s the perfect package for the entrepreneurial business.

Blueface’s current SME customers include some of the most successful Irish enterprises, such as Daft.ie, Champion Sports, Jackie Brown Medical, the National Roads Authority and Micksgarage.ie

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4
Mar 11

Blueface Helps SME’s Reduce Monthly Phone Bills by Up to Half with the Emutex VMX Business Phone Solution

Blueface VMX Solution for SME's

Blueface, Ireland’s leading internet telephony provider is pleased to announce a new cost saving product for SMEs with Emutex VMX. VMX is engineered in Ireland by Limerick based company Emutex. Labeled as ‘an office in a box’, VMX offers a complete set of modern business phone features and enables SMEs to benefit from the low cost phone call charges offered by Blueface’s rapidly expanding VoIP service.

Tipperary based insurance company, Cullen Insurance, has recently signed up to this innovative service with Blueface. Cullen Insurance, which provides a comprehensive insurance service to small businesses, sole traders and personal clients throughout Ireland, will save at least 40% on their existing phone bill by using Blueface as a VoIP service provider, in addition to the call recording feature, which is critical to all organization selling financial services products.

Prior to signing up to the Blueface offering, Cullen Insurance used a traditional phone system from another leading Irish telecoms company. The system consisted of a PBX and 12 proprietary digital phones, and required numerous ISDN and analogue lines to facilitate phone calls. Though the system functioned well the monthly phone bills were very high, driven by the recurring line rental costs and the call charges accrued by the thousands of calls made by the Cullen Insurance team each month.

Blueface VMX Solution for SME's

Doug Howell, Cullen Insurance, commented: “Now more than ever SME’s really need to think about their bottom line and implement cost saving strategies where possible. With this new service from Blueface, we are delighted to be in a position to save our company several thousands of euro each year, and we are already reaping the benefits. The numbers of incoming phone calls have increased; more calls are being answered; sales have increased; and our phone bills have been reduced, all thanks to this efficient service. We also receive fantastic customer care from Blueface, and their support when switching to their service made the transition much easier.”

One VMX line now serves Cullen Insurance’s two premises in the one multi-storey location – Polski Quote and Cullen Insurance. Automatic Call Distribution is used to distribute calls to teams and team members. Call Queuing is used to queue callers in the event that teams are busy, and marketing messages are played while callers are on hold in place of traditional hold music. Call Recording is used for quality assurance and training purposes, while Call Logs are used to monitor the volume and characteristics of call traffic and the effectiveness of staff in facilitating phone calls (ring time, answer time). Blueface’s efficient Fax by Email service also replaces the need for their traditional fax machine.

Alan Foy, CEO, Blueface, commented: “We are offering SME’s the opportunity to significantly cut their telecoms costs with the Emutex VMX solution. Irish businesses are paying way too much for their telecoms service and most small to medium sized businesses just aren’t receiving the service they need and want. Prices are too high and the service is basic at best. Our service is tailored to the cost and service needs of individual businesses, with this solution business customers can pay monthly per user for the hardware or upfront costs. Cullen Insurance is only one example of an SME that will make substantial savings on their monthly bills this year.”

For further information on this offer contact Blueface on (01) 524 2000 or at www.blueface.ie/business/.

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15
Feb 11

Blueface Exclusively Partners with Panasonic on New Business Offer

Blueface, Ireland’s leading internet telephony provider has teamed up with Panasonic to produce its latest SME offering. Blueface and Panasonic are now offering a scalable plug and play product which can efficiently cater for a wide variety of business sizes, from a 1-2 person business right to up to a 6-8 person organisation.

Chris Matsumoto, Global Business Development, Panasonic and Alan Foy, Blueface CEO

The Panasonic TGP550 SME phone range, offered exclusively in Ireland by Blueface, brings together all the advantages of modern internet HD VoIP voice calls, classic business phone functionality, and easy web-based administration, ideally suited to small office and branch office solutions. Setting up the system couldn’t be simpler with the plug and play technology – just plug the phones into your broadband connection and start calling.

Alan Foy, CEO, Blueface, commented: “Blueface has developed a number of communications features and services which enable our SME customers to manage their communications needs and maximise their utility. Blueface’s solutions for business are designed with the customer in mind.”

Blueface has developed three affordable phone packages around the Panasonic hardware. The packages include a stationary reception phone and a choice of either two, four or six cordless desk phones, depending on the needs of the business.

Companies can save up to 50% on their telecoms costs while getting the features and functionality they need. The packages begin at €169 for the initial hardware and €35 per month thereafter, to include unlimited Ireland and UK landline calls. Depending on the price plan chosen, businesses can avail of 2-4 phone lines, 2-8 geographic numbers (DID), a local geographic fax number, and 75-250 Ireland and UK mobile minutes.

Steve Gerrard, Head of UK & Ireland Systems Marketing at Panasonic, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Blueface to launch our TGP range of phone systems onto the Irish market. We have made Blueface an accredited network provider for Panasonic products as we are confident in their ability to provide a reliable and seamless service to our customers.”

For further information on this offer contact Blueface on (01) 524 2000 or at www.blueface.ie/business/.

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4
Jan 11

Blueface secures its 100 millionth business call

Ireland’s internet telephony provider Blueface has gained new customers, including Micksgarage.ie, Daft.ie and Viking Splash Tours, as well as celebrating its 100 millionth business call.

Blueface, which provides an IP-based telecoms service to entrepreneurs and the SME sector, also added Jackie Brown Medical and Champion Sports to its service portfolio. According to Blueface, the flexibility provided by its IP network coupled with huge telecoms cost savings are key drivers of Blueface’s new business customer acquisition.

Speaking following the deal with Blueface, Philip English, system support manager, Champion Sports, commented: “We will enjoy savings of over €8,000 in the first year. Apart from the savings, the customer support from Blueface is first class.”

Ciaran Maher, CTO, Daft.ie, also said: “Daft.ie are very happy with the Blueface service. Blueface are very important to the efficient running of our business.”

In October of last year, Blueface launched a new service in alliance with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland called the Brighter Enterprise programme, aimed at start-ups.

Privately held Blueface entered to VoIP market in 2005 with industry firsts, including hosted telephone, voice mail to email, online real-time billing and virtual numbers.

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