MEDIA RELEASE
Emantra Launches New Hosted Unified Communications and CRM Solutions
First Australian company to offer Hosted Version of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
BRISBANE, 13 March, 2008 - Emantra, a leading Australian provider of software-as-a-service and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, has announced the launch of a hosted version of Microsoft’s Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. Emantra is the first and only Australian company to currently offer a hosted version of Microsoft’s OCS 2007.
Hosted OCS 2007 is a fully managed software-as-a-service, available on a monthly pay-as-you-go basis. It is designed to improve the speed and convenience of communications, for both office-based and mobile workers, in order to improve productivity. Emantra has also announced the availability of a hosted version of Microsoft’s new Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Organisations that do not have the budget or resources to build and maintain their own in-house installation and support team can benefit from unified communications by utilising a hosted offering. Hosted OCS 2007 is ideally suited to organisations that have offices across different sites or states, as well as organisations with a highly mobile workforce. It enables users to see at a glance if someone is available, using real time information from their Contact list. A user can then make contact with a particular person with a mouse click using a range of options including e-mail, instant messaging, voice and video. OCS 2007 works with existing telephony systems, enabling businesses to utilise VoIP without needing to replace their existing phone network.
Ross Dewar, Managing Director of Emantra, said “Emantra is leading the charge as the first Australian company to deliver a hosted OCS 2007 offering. As part of beta testing, Emantra has also federated our OCS server with Microsoft and our employees have benefited from the technology for the past six months. Hosted OCS 2007 will revolutionise the way organisations have traditionally communicated and as businesses continue to look at selectively outsourcing we expect to see a huge uptake in hosted unified communications solutions from early adopters this year.”
Emantra is also offering a hosted version of the recently launched Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Hosted CRM 4.0 is a fully integrated customer relationship management system that enables organisations to easily create and maintain a clear view of customers from initial contact through to post sales.
The solution fully integrates with Microsoft Office applications, other Emantra services such as Hosted Exchange, Sharepoint and the new Office Communications Server, as well as SQL based accounting systems. It can be heavily customised to meet individual business requirements. Hosted CRM 4.0 starts at $80 per seat per month on a reducing scale based on the number of seats. As an introductory offer for new Hosted CRM 4.0 customers, Emantra is bundling a Hosted Exchange 2007 1GB mailbox at no extra cost for the first 100 users.
Hosted OCS 2007 is available now from Emantra using shared, virtualised or physically dedicated servers, depending upon the size and requirements of a customer. Additional product information and pricing can be obtained by contacting Emantra on 1300 728 953.
-ends-
 top of page
back to list
MEDIA RELEASE
Emantra Awarded Microsoft Gold Partner Certification
Advanced Infrastructure Solution Competency Recognises Proven Expertise In Hosting
BRISBANE, 31 January, 2008 - Emantra, a specialist provider of software-as-a-service, has been awarded Microsoft Gold Partner Certification, the highest accolade available in the Microsoft Partner Program. Achieving Gold Partner Certification recognises that Emantra is one of a select group of companies who have the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies. Emantra has been awarded competencies in two areas - Advanced Infrastructure Solutions and Networking Infrastructure Solutions.
In order to achieve Gold Partner Certification, Emantra had to provide exceptional customer references, meet stringent individual certification levels and attain at least one competency. Emantra’s Advanced Infrastructure Solution competency recognises its proven expertise in the specialist area of Hosting solutions, whilst Networking Infrastructure Solutions demonstrates Emantra’s competency in crafting small to medium-size business infrastructure solutions.
Commenting on the award, Pip Marlow, Small and Mid-sized Sales and Partner Director, Microsoft Australia said, “Emantra continues to gain kudos for its technical expertise as a provider of software- as-a-service in Australia. Microsoft is delighted to welcome Emantra as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. The company has demonstrated a winning ability to deliver Microsoft software and solutions as part of a valuable professional service.”
Managing Director of Emantra, Ross Dewar, said of the achievement, “We are thrilled to enjoy Gold Partner status - it really signifies the coming of age of Emantra. We are now one of a small group of wholly Australian companies who have a recognised specialisation in the Hosting area and as a result we see enormous market opportunities, particularly in the emerging area of unified communications.”
Microsoft Gold Partners have access to significant resources and support from Microsoft, including a Technical Services Coordinator, access to the Partner Knowledge Base, priority listing in Microsoft Directories as well as other benefits.
-ends-
top of page
back to list
MEDIA RELEASE
Expanding Sydney Law Firm Chooses Hosted E-mail Solution From Software-as-a-Service Provider Emantra
Law Partners Solicitors & Barristers (LPSB) Implements Hosted Exchange To Improve Reliability of E-mail and Increase Office Productivity and Profits
BRISBANE, 23 January 2008 - Emantra, a specialist provider of software-as-a-service and a Microsoft Certified Partner, has announced that Law Partners Solicitors & Barristers (Law Partners), one of NSW's’ fastest growing legal practices, has implemented a Hosted Exchange e-mail solution. The new e-mail solution has already dramatically improved the reliability and speed of Law Partners inter-office and external communications, resulting in increased productivity and higher levels of customer service. Law Partners has also seen a large reduction in the quantity of spam e-mails received since switching to Emantra’s Hosted Exchange solution.
Law Partners (www.lpsb.com.au) is a commercial law practice that was established in Sydney in 2003 and has quickly grown to include six offices across NSW. Law Partners was previously utilising Microsoft Outlook for e-mail but a change was looming. The company's’ rapid expansion and increased internet usage had created pressure on its existing provider that was resulting in major e-mail downtime. According to Andrew Daniel, Managing Partner at Law Partners, “Our practice is now heavily reliant on e-mail for all internal and external communication – paper memos are a thing of the past. I knew that we had to look for an alternate solution as checking our e-mail was becoming slower as our e-mail usage increased and sending and receiving e-mails failed frequently. When we had an issue we had to wait in a phone queue, sometimes for 30 minutes, and this was leading to decreased office productivity, which translates directly into decreased profits in our business.”
After deciding to move to a Microsoft Exchange based solution and being recommended to Emantra, Law Partners was impressed by the software-as-a-service model Emantra offered. Hosted Exchange offered Law Partners the benefit of no up-front costs and a fixed, easily budgetable monthly fee based on the number of mailboxes used. Law Partners had conducted an analysis on the cost of implementing an in-house Microsoft Exchange server and discovered the initial set-up cost for server and software would be between two to three thousand dollars and technical support / administration costs could be around $150 per hour. “The cost benefit analysis supported our decision to go with Hosted Exchange from Emantra,” said Daniel.
Utilising Hosted Exchange means that Law Partners now has a highly reliable e-mail system at a budgetable monthly cost. The speed of all e-mail communication has greatly improved and this has meant that customer service, productivity and profits have also improved “We’re delighted with the Hosted Exchange solution from Emantra and the business benefits it has delivered to us. What has been a real stand out for us is the level of service Emantra provides. I have never interacted with a company that has prioritised their customer support requirements so well. It is just so easy to phone them and get help with procedural matters such as sharing calendars - they are just a pleasure to work with. We pay a monthly fee for Hosted Exchange but what we actually get included in that monthly fee is a level of customer service that you would be hard pressed to put a dollar value on,” concluded Daniel.
Ross Dewar, Managing Director of Emantra, said “Law Partners confidence in choosing Hosted Exchange for the transmission of their confidential e-mail documents is a great testament to how outsourced e-mail solutions are really coming of age. It also demonstrates how small businesses, that can’t justify the expense of an in-house IT installation and support team, can still benefit from all the features and functionality of Microsoft Exchange by using a pay-as-you-go solution from Emantra.”
-ends-
top of page
back to list
MEDIA RELEASE
Emantra Delivers Solution To Provide Single National E-mail Presence for BDO Kendalls Australia
BRISBANE, 5 November 2007 - Emantra, a specialist provider of software-as-a-service and a Microsoft Certified Partner, has announced that BDO Kendalls, one of Australia’s largest associations of independently owned accounting practices, has implemented a solution to establish a single national e-mail presence. The mail connector and redirector service provided by Emantra gives BDO Kendalls a single consistent naming convention and centralised address book across all twelve Australian offices. It makes internal and external e-mail communication easier and more efficient for employees, business partners and customers.
BDO Kendalls provides accounting and business advisory services to corporations, privately owned businesses and individuals. The organisation currently has over 1200 staff in Australia across office locations in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Prior to the Emantra implementation, each office had its own technical infrastructure and mail server with individual office e-mail addresses. In early 2007 a business decision was made to centralise with a single consistent e-mail presence, in line with the single national web presence. BDO Kendalls went to the market to look for a solution that would establish a single national e-mail domain and single national address book.
As part of the selection process, BDO Kendalls developed a requirements specification and design document and distributed this to a broad range of vendors for response. Of the ten proposals received back, six proposals correctly addressed the requirements and met implementation timeframe and budget constraints. Proposals were weighted by selection criteria and submitted to each state office selection committee for feedback prior to short-listing. Emantra was ultimately chosen in March 2007.
According to Chad Coulin, National Technical Services Project Manager, BDO Kendalls Australia, “We chose Emantra because of their outstanding references as well as the fact that we felt they would provide a high level of personal service, which is in line with BDO Kendalls’ own business philosophy of personal service. They also proposed the most elegant solution and were able to commit to the implementation timeframe and budget.”
Emantra provides a fully managed hosted redirection and connector solution delivered to a high service level agreement. A national server sits on the public network and receives and routs e-mail to all offices. BDO Kendalls’ national e-mail address book also sits on the same server. Connectors link the national server to each local office and individual office e-mail addresses have now been replaced with a single @bdo.com.au e-mail address.
“Emantra has implemented a transitional solution which enables BDO Kendalls nationally to operate with the advantages of a single email domain with collaborative capabilities while still maintaining local office mail servers of differing types and versions, including Lotus Domino, Novell Groupwise and Microsoft Exchange,” said Mr Coulin. “From an operational perspective the solution reinforces BDO Kendalls’ single national presence and has allowed us time to manage the longer term goal of migration to a single centralised mail server platform.”
“We have found the technical support provided by Emantra to be of a high level. Occasionally integration issues pop up because offices have different e-mail platforms and these are always resolved quickly thanks to Emantra’s in-depth Microsoft focus and knowledge. We also get to talk directly to technicians rather than an automated system - this type of personal service is not really the norm anymore so it’s good to know you can still get this sort of service,” concluded Mr Coulin.
Ross Dewar, Managing Director of Emantra, said “We’re thrilled to be providing a business critical solution to an organisation of the size and caliber of BDO Kendalls. Emantra’s connector and redirector solutions are a terrific way for organisations with multiple offices, franchises or acquisitions to establish a single e-mail presence across the entire entity by utilising our proven infrastructure and expertise.”
-ends-
top of page
back to list
MEDIA RELEASE
Emantra Chosen to Host TASS.web School Administration Software
Camberwell Girls Grammar School First To Implement Hosted Version of TASS.web
BRISBANE, 29 August 2007 - Emantra, a specialist provider of software-as-a-service and a Microsoft Certified Partner, has announced that The Alpha School System (TASS), a developer of specialist education software, has selected Emantra for the infrastructure and hosting capabilities for TASS.web, the web based version of its school administration software. By offering a hosted version of the software through Emantra, TASS expects to tap into the market for a growing number of private schools who no longer wish to physically manage the administration of servers and software in-house. TASS and Emantra are also pleased to announce that Camberwell Girls Grammar School in Melbourne has become the first customer to implement the hosted version of the TASS.web software.
TASS.web provides schools with a comprehensive student and financial administration system. The software has traditionally been deployed on-site in a Microsoft Windows client/server environment, with 180 schools across Australia, South Africa and Hong Kong currently using it. In 2004 TASS embarked on an internal project to redevelop the software for the web in recognition of their belief that browser based software delivery would be the way of the future.
According to Ken Reid, Managing Director, TASS, “We strongly believe the floodgates will open over the next five years for software provided as a service. We were approached by Emantra just as we were finalising the development of TASS.web and given we definitely weren’t interested in hosting the software ourselves, we chose to go with Emantra because of their first class hosting facilities and their in-depth technical knowledge and proven experience.”
Schools can now choose to operate the TASS.web software on their own server infrastructure or access the software though Emantra’s hosted environment. Significant savings in administration costs can be realised by outsourcing server hardware provision and maintenance. Additionally, smaller schools without the budget for servers or IT staff can now access the software. Emantra provides TASS.web customers with a fully managed service hosted on Microsoft Windows 2003 servers located at its data centre in Brisbane. The server, application and connectivity are delivered to a 99.5% service level agreement and the service is fully managed including software licensing, 24/7 monitoring, 24/7 support, immediate patching and daily back-up. Schools pay a monthly fixed fee based on student numbers to Emantra for access to the hosted software.
Camberwell Girls Grammar School in Melbourne is the first school to implement the TASS.web software through Emantra’s hosted environment. With 750 enrolments, Camberwell Girls Grammar has been a user of the client/server TASS software since 2000 but decided to switch to TASS.web when they were due for a major upgrade of the software. The school was also looking to try and downsize the number of servers it managed internally and the launch of TASS.web provided the right timing to switch to the hosted version in June 2007 and reduce their internal server numbers by two.
Grant Cole, Business Manager at Camberwell Girls Grammar School, said “We have realised some immediate benefits from using the hosted version of TASS.web, which include seamless software upgrades that can take place without our administrators having to be present. We no longer need to worry about backing-up our software or data and we have been impressed by the speed at which the hosted application runs. It is the same as if we were running a client/server version in house which makes it completely transparent to our users that it is hosted software.”
“Where we expect to realise the biggest benefit is in the area of server maintenance. There is a substantial cost involved in upgrading a server every three years and converting data across to a new server. Utilising TASS.web through Emantra means we no longer have to worry about any server issues - Emantra handles it all. Finally, from a technical perspective we have found the support provided by Emantra to be of a really high level.”
The Emantra cost for hosting the TASS.web software for Camberwell Girls Grammar School is around $1 per student per month.
-ends-
top of page
back to list
MEDIA RELEASE
Redcliffe City Council Goes Live with Hosted E-mail Solution From Emantra
First Council in South East Queensland to Outsource Provision of E-mail
BRISBANE, 15 May, 2007 - Redcliffe City Council has gone live with a Hosted Exchange e-mail solution from Emantra, a next generation provider of software as a service. The Council is the first local government authority in South East Queensland to outsource the provision of e-mail. The new solution has simplified access to e-mail for all council users, reduced internal administration and support requirements, as well as eliminated any future capital expenditure requirements associated with the provision of e-mail. Additionally, since implementing the hosted e-mail solution there has been a dramatic reduction in the quantity of spam e-mails received by council employees.
Redcliffe City Council serves a population of just over 50,000 residents and has 288 full-time employees. With an IT team of six, a decision was made in late 2006 to outsource the provision of e-mail and Council proactively went looking at providers. A key consideration was being able to outsource mail whilst maintaining a relatively neutral budget effect. Following a selection process, Council chose a fully managed solution from Emantra, based on dedicated Microsoft Exchange 2003 Servers.
According to John Mulcahy, Manager - Information Systems, Redcliffe City Council, “We now have a fully managed e-mail solution for around one dollar per employee per day. Outsourcing our e-mail has a terrific benefit from a budget perspective as it is now totally based on operational cost and we no longer have any capital considerations around the system.”
Council was previously using an internal Lotus Notes based mail system that was approaching end of life. A specialist developer was employed to maintain the mail system, however Lotus Notes was becoming less compatible with packaged systems and Council had concerns about ongoing support issues. Additionally the system did not provide for e-mail access outside the Council building which meant a Virtual Private Network (VPN) was required for remote access and this was resulting in heavy technical support requirements.
Utilising Hosted Exchange means that council users requiring remote access to e-mail are now able to quickly and easily access the system via a web browser, eliminating the need to authenticate through the VPN. This in turn has eliminated most of the technical support calls and has freed up Council’s mail administrator to focus on the key role of business analysis.
Another challenge under an internally managed system was the high level of spam which was resulting in the mail administrator spending significant time creating customised rules to try and combat the spam. Emantra has incorporated an e-mail filter from NetBoxBlue into the Hosted Exchange solution to address spam issues. “The response from utilising the filter has been overwhelming,” said Mulcahy. “Previously we were receiving between 30 to 50 spam or junk e-mails per person per day. By utilising the filter this has been reduced to around one to three spam e-mails per person per day. Employees are freed up to respond more quickly to our ratepayer enquiries rather than sifting through spam.”
Ross Dewar, Managing Director of Emantra, said “We are delighted that Redcliffe City Council has utilised Emantra’s facilities and skills to provide them with e-mail functionality that is truly scalable, easy, secure and available anywhere, anytime. We are seeing a growing trend from businesses to look at selective outsourcing on a pay-as-you-go basis so they do not have to have to build and maintain expensive IT installations and support teams.”
“All in all we are very pleased with how the outsourced solution is running and how efficiently the conversion and migration of historic data took place. The technical support provided by Emantra was very important and went a long way to making the changeover happen smoothly. Based on the success of outsourcing e-mail we may well look at outsourcing other applications in future,” concluded Mulcahy.
Redcliffe City Council has plans to upgrade to Microsoft Exchange 2007 in the shorter term.Â
-ends-
top of page
back to list
|
