PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast Business today announced that AnyMeeting, a fast-emerging leader in small business web conferencing, has joined its award-winning Upware™ marketplace. Upware is a suite of cloud-based business solutions that can be purchased and accessed on-demand through Comcast’s integrated web portal.
The availability on Comcast’s Upware marks the first time that AnyMeeting’s full-featured web conferencing solution is available “as-a-service” by a telecommunications channel partner, marking an important milestone in its growth strategy. The companies will work together to offer AnyMeeting, which addresses a complete range of small business needs including six-way video conferencing, VoIP audio conferencing, screen sharing, presentation sharing, recording and mobile access.
Small business represents the fastest growing segment of the web conference market, according to AMI-Partners, a global market research firm specializing in telecommunications and cloud services for SMBs.
“Our research has revealed that small businesses in North America will spend over $1.4 billion annually on web conferencing services by 2016 – up from $560 million in 2012 – representing a 26 percent compound annual growth rate,“ said Clayton Miller, Associate, AMI-Partners. “The availability of cloud-based web conferencing solutions through channel partners will help drive this growth.”
AnyMeeting brings several features to Comcast cloud customers that it has learned are uniquely important to small businesses, such as personalized meeting URLs, social media integration, personal profile pages and PayPal integration to monetize meetings. It’s also priced for small business, at less than half the cost of most enterprise solutions.
“Maintaining a productive workplace is not easy for SMB owners because their business pulls them in so many different directions,” said Kevin O’Toole, senior vice president/general manager, New Business Solutions at Comcast Business. “Comcast is in a unique position to help by offering cloud-based solutions like AnyMeeting, through the Upware marketplace, that have been properly vetted and meet our high standards. We do all of the research and evaluation on the front end so entrepreneurs don’t have to.”
Upware, which was launched in February 2013, simplifies application management with the convenience of a single sign-on, making access fast and easy for individual users. In addition, business owners can quickly add or remove employees from the system as their business needs change. Plus, users have the simplicity of one number to call for support, management and troubleshooting for everything associated with their Comcast Business Internet service including the Upware marketplace and the software applications themselves.
“We are very excited to work with a major channel partner like Comcast,” said Costin Tuculescu, CEO and founder of AnyMeeting. “We’re seeing small businesses embrace cloud services like ours at an accelerating pace, and believe Comcast and the Upware marketplace will play a key role in further driving this trend.”
About Comcast Business
Comcast Business, a unit of Comcast Cable, provides advanced communication solutions to help organizations of all sizes meet their business objectives. Through a modern, advanced network that is backed by 24/7 technical support, Comcast delivers Business Internet, TV and Voice services for cost-effective, simplified communications management.
The Comcast Business Ethernet suite offers high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet services with the capacity to deliver cloud computing, software-as-a-service, business continuity/disaster recovery and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Comcast Ethernet services are significantly faster than standard T1 lines and other legacy technologies, providing scalable bandwidth from 1 Mbps up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) in more than 20 major US markets. For more information, call 866-429-3085 or visit http://business.comcast.com/enterprise.
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About Comcast Cable
Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to businesses and residential customers. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About AnyMeeting
Based in Orange County, California, AnyMeeting pioneered the small business web conferencing market in 2009 with a completely free, full-featured and easy-to-use web conferencing service tailored for small business. Since then, it has grown to more than 400,000 small business users of both its free ad-supported service and low-cost ad-free options. Designed specifically for small business, AnyMeeting offers a complete web conferencing and webinar service built on the company’s proven Software as a Service platform. Meeting hosts are able to invite up to 200 attendees per meeting with no time limits, and enjoy a full range of features including integrated video conferencing, screen sharing, presentation sharing, recording and social media integration. AnyMeeting is the best choice for small businesses, independent professionals and just about anyone who can benefit from online meetings. Current investors include Tech Coast Angels, Pasadena Angels, Maverick Angels, Sand Hill Angels and Keiretsu Forum. For more information, please visit www.AnyMeeting.com.
