Remember those old Remington ads, featuring Victor Kiam saying that he liked Remington's shaver so much that he bought the company? That seems to be just what happened here, as 3CX recently acquired e-works for an unknown sum. 3CX had previously been licensing e-works' Web conferencing tools since October of 2013, so much as was the case with Kiam and the shavers, 3CX seems to have liked e-works' conferencing tools so much that it bought the company.
The reports suggest that 3CX has a particular plan in mind with its acquisition of e-works. Specifically, 3CX is planning to bring in that Web conferencing system, among other developments of e-works', to augment 3CX WebMeeting. But that won't be the only plan in mind, as e-works will reportedly continue to offer video conferencing services to its current customer base, boasting some of the biggest names in Europe, including BT and Fiat as well as the Province of Trento. Meanwhile, 3CX will step into the Italian market itself, using e-works as a base of operations and providing e-works' clientele—and others who are interested, of course—with access to a new service, specifically the 3CX Phone System.
3CX WebMeeting takes advantage of Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) technology in a bid to allow for both video and audio communication to take place simultaneously through a standard Internet browser, as is the case with most WebRTC developments. With 3CX WebMeeting, users will be able to join in on meetings without having to augment said browser with extra plug-ins or things that can get in the way or fail. It's a simple means to establish communications that often works better than many of its counterparts in the field. Additionally, 3CX WebMeeting offers users the Virtual Classroom system, which in turn provides the ability to offer both presentations and webinars through that Web browser.
3CX's CEO, Nick Galea, offered some commentary on the deal, saying “With both companies being pioneers in the field of software-based communications technology, the acquisition of e-works is part of our long term strategic vision to lead through innovation. The acquisition and much anticipated launch of 3CX WebMeeting will significantly extend our lead in the Unified Communications market. With e-works’ cutting-edge technology we will also capitalize on the growth of WebRTC, which is set to revolutionize the telecoms industry.”
Of course, even with this new augmentation, 3CX will be facing a very competitive field ahead. WebRTC has been growing by leaps and bounds for the last few years now, and that's brought plenty of players to the field. However, 3CX may have one critical advantage here in the acquisition of e-works; location. Since e-works seems to be mainly focused on the Italian market, with the European market also factoring in, it could be that 3CX has just the leverage it needs to get in big on the European market with WebRTC, a field that could be comparatively less tapped. Still, while first mover advantage is always important, it takes a special set of competitive advantages to hold it, and it could be here that e-works will ultimately provide that extra edge to 3CX's product line as well.
It remains to be seen just how well 3CX's purchase will work out for it, but given what's known about the field so far, it may just have the edge to put on a good competitive showing in the field.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
