Zeacom to launch product with multi-lingual support

David Gortner, director of software development, Zeacom

Zeacom, a provider of contact centre and business automation solutions, will launch version 7 of its Zeacom Communications Center (ZCC) solution next month. According to David Gortner, director of software development at Zeacom, the version will sport multi-lingual support for the first time.

“This version will be deployed in Russian, North American Spanish and German, and the launch will happen in the October time frame. The multi-lingual support is part of our push into the wider APAC and EMEA markets,” says Gortner to Reseller News.

Zeacom, which was acquired by Enghouse Systems in May last year, has traditionally had a strong play in the New Zealand and Australia markets. The company will push into the new markets with the help of Enghouse’s existing relationships, even as it is involved in discussions for new partnerships in the markets.

“We work on a major-minor release for every year. Version 7 will be our major release for this calendar year and will include a new GUI. The next release of the software will include extended multi-lingual support. We are aiming at the second quarter of next year for that release,” says Gortner.

“We do work in the SMB space, and our partnership with Microsoft and the Lync solution puts us in a good position to branch out in the new markets. Microsoft is an up-and-coming vendor in the space and we see them as a market disruptor. They have certainly been aggressive with the solution, and we see a lot of traction with the Lync solution going forward,” states Gortner.

While Lync will continue to offer growth potential for Zeacom, Gortner does not see any short-term changes in the fact that the company’s work with NEC affords its largest installed base currently.

“All major product enhancements continue to be done entirely out of our New Zealand development base. I currently have around 65 people working directly under me. We added around 7 people to the development team last year. I would say we would look to add more people next year as well,” Gortner adds.

Smaller, customer-facing enhancements are sometimes done by the firm’s regional offices, while most of the translation work to enable multi-lingual support on the product is done in partnership with another New Zealand-based company.

“We are well-established in the NZ market, and we consider it a mature market. We do not consider it a growing market essentially. Australia though offers potential for growth, and this depends to a certain extent on the new government there and how they can get the economy back on track. We have a good set of partners there, but we are always looking for opportunities to expand,” concludes Gortner.

Zeacom was recently named a finalist in 2013’s New Zealand International Business Awards, conducted by the NZTE (New Zealand Trade and Enterprise), under the ANZ Best Business Operating Internationally ($10m to $50m) category. The Awards ceremony is set to take place on September 26th in Auckland.