Louis,
Theses are some interesting comments. I agree with you on your point regarding the ability to command higher margins in the IVR side of Edify's business. I also agree with the second comment that Web development tools utlized to create interactive Web sites are also readily available to anyone on-line at little or no cost. In my mind, the issue is that there are not many Web developers who have mastered these development tools as Edify has. In conjunction with utilization of these specific tools, Edify also brings an experience in host connectivity. In many corporate settings where many legacy systems exist, banks for example, knowledge about connecting a front-end Web server or middleware piece to these legacy systems is somewhat rare. At the same time, internal resources tend to end a project over budget and over time! When Edify is utilized, an institution is purchasing the services of a firm that not only has the ability to accomplish this task of connecting legacy systems to the Web, but have experience to help guide their way.
You mentioned your interest in their voice/fax capabilities and this areas potential for revenue. Again, I agree with you with one addition; add the Web to the list. In the future, no company is going to want the ability to send legacy data to an IVR and/or fax machine without the ability at the same time to send that information to a web server, via some middleware, to answer a browser based request. Imagine the customer service implications for a company that can create one application that services phone, fax, and browser request. This could also include ordering systems, etc. A company can get one application from Edify for all three of these or go to Brite Voice or Lucent and purchase the voice/fax piece and have to go somewhere else for the Web piece(or perhaps, in house). What are the odds of these two distinct applications not playing well in the sandbox together!?!
Anyway, this is lengthy, so I will go. These are just my thoughts and would love to hear your responses when you get a chance.
matt |
