Convoq Advances Salesforce Integration with New Version of SellASAP for AppExchange; Key Features Include In-page Presence in Salesforce, Hosting and Playback of Recorded Meetings, and Skype Support

Business Wire, May 24, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO -- Convoq, Inc., an innovative provider of online communication and collaboration applications, today announced a new version of SellASAP for AppExchange. SellASAP 3.0 furthers the integrations with Salesforce and Outlook introduced in previous versions, and adds several new features including in-page graphical presence for individuals and teams, hosting and playback of recorded meetings, and support for Skype presence. It is the only Web conferencing system tightly integrated with Salesforce that allows sales representatives to instantly meet online with prospects, clients and internal resources - while automatically logging and reporting on these events - all within Salesforce. The announcement was made today at Appforce, salesforce.com's (NYSE: CRM) first annual AppExchange partner, user and developer conference.

"Time and time again we hear how important it is for salespeople to have a fast, easy way to communicate with their prospects and customers from within their existing familiar environment," said Chuck Digate, president and CEO, Convoq, Inc. "SellASAP provides them with instant access to a highly integrated Web conferencing system, without leaving the Salesforce context. With these new enhancements, sales professionals can be even more effective in managing and closing deals, as well as reaching out and responding to their existing customers."

Web Conferencing with Salesforce Before SellASAP

More than half of Salesforce users conduct online meetings. Most other Web conferencing providers require up to 15 minutes for participants to join meetings because of the need to download and install plug-ins or clients. In some cases, salespeople even turn into troubleshooters by default, taking up valuable selling time. And without integration between the two systems, sales reps end up jumping in and out of Salesforce, which means managers don't have a reliable view of their organization's sales activities.

With SellASAP, users can instantly launch online meetings with rich media capabilities including text chat, VoIP audio, video, screen sharing, PowerPoint presentations, and Record & Playback. And its Flash-based, installation-free participation feature is consistent with salesforce.com's "No Software" advantage.

SellASAP gives sales managers greater real-time visibility into team activities, providing a dashboard that updates online meeting activity, and transcripts of sales meetings for training purposes. It also features Personal Links, which permit sales reps to publish their own presence for instant accessibility, and Lifeline Links that enable managers and reps to get instant access to available internal groups such as contracts administration, sales engineering, customer service and credit management.

"SellASAP's Web conferencing services are a natural complement to Salesforce and on-demand computing," said Bobby Napiltonia, senior vice president, worldwide channels and alliances, salesforce.com. "Convoq's continued success with the AppExchange is an excellent example of the power and potential of The Business Web."

"With the Salesforce integration Convoq makes Salesforce 'stickier,' and at the same time adds a highly-visible distribution channel via salesforce.com's AppExchange," said Rebecca Wettemann, Vice President, Nucleus Research. "And because online meetings are a natural function of the sales process, sales reps and managers have everything they need right at their fingertips to initiate, advance, and close a deal."

Convoq SellASAP for AppExchange Capabilities

--One-click online meetings with any lead or contact in Salesforce, eliminating wasted time jumping between applications

--Automatic lead, contact and event data capture for improved reporting and analysis

--Instant participation via Flash for meeting invitees, providing a hassle-free, no software experience

--Embedded presence-enabled links in Web sites and e-mails gives Leads and Contacts direct access to individual reps or whole teams

--MS Outlook integration for scheduling meetings and sending invitations through Outlook

--Integrated text chat, VoIP audio and video

--Instant PowerPoint presentations and rich media screen sharing

--Unlimited use subscription model for up to 15 participants

New Features

In-page graphical presence for individuals and teams: Salesforce now has full presence right in the contact and lead pages. Users can see if someone is available while reviewing their contact information, and mousing-over a contact lets them know how that person is available (via email, IM, or Convoq ASAP). Presence is also available on other Salesforce users, so sales reps can see if their account team is available and call a meeting for as soon as everyone is present.

Hosting and playback of recorded meetings via Brainshark Express for ASAP: To complement the meeting recording feature in SellASAP, Convoq has partnered with Brainshark - a leading provider of on-demand presentations and a certified AppExchange Partner. Users simply upload a meeting recording to their hosted Brainshark portal and distribute a link to anyone they wish to view the meeting. Viewing activity is automatically tracked and logged back to the contact or lead's individual activity history within Salesforce. Additionally, Brainshark Express for ASAP includes the native ability to upload and voice-annotate PowerPoint presentations for distribution and viewing.