GSA Technology Council

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. today issued an order enjoining Vonage from using certain VoIP technology named in its patent litigation with Verizon. The order is not immediately effective, however, and Vonage is confident its customers will see no change in their phone service.

The court announced its intent to hear stay argument in two weeks’ time. At that time, the court intends to render a decision regarding the stay, as well as making the injunction effective. If the court denies the stay, Vonage will seek a stay through appeal from the Federal Court of Appeals. Vonage is confident it will be able to obtain a stay through appeal.

“We are confident Vonage customers will not experience service interruptions or other changes as a result of this litigation,” said Mike Snyder, Vonage’s chief executive officer.

The company has drafted its notice of appeal of the March 8 jury verdict and will file that notice at the appropriate juncture in the court proceedings.

“Our fight is far from over,” Snyder said. “We remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon’s patents – a position we will continue vigorously contending in federal appeals court – and that Vonage will ultimately prevail in this case.”

Snyder continued, “Despite this obvious attempt by Verizon to cripple Vonage, the litigation will not stop Vonage from continuing to provide quality VoIP service to our millions of customers.”

“Our appeal centers on erroneous patent claim construction, and we remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon’s patents – a position we will continue to vigorously assert in federal appeals court,” said Sharon O’Leary, Vonage’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary. “Vonage relied on open-standard, off-the-shelf technology when developing its service. In fact, evidence introduced in court failed to prove that Vonage relied on Verizon’s VoIP technology, and instead showed that in 2003 Verizon began exploring ways to copy Vonage’s technology,” she added.

The company is focused on growing its business by investing in the rollout of new technology and features, and continuing to grow its customer base. Vonage’s accomplishments continue to validate its business model and strategy. The company has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, doubled revenues to $607 million in 2006 alone, and added nearly 1 million net subscriber lines last year.

via Vonage

The Worthwhile Company, Inc. of Greenville, SC has announced the release of a new customer web site for Kanpai of Tokyo this week.

Worthwhile says the new web site is designed to capture the spirit of Kanpai of Tokyo, which offers Teppanyaki style Japanese cuisine prepared at tableside. The new site includes a photo gallery and video footage, locations of their 5 restaurants in the Southeastern United States, menus, and a VIP membership card application form.

Infor has announced a new Mobile Order Management (MOM) solution that will enable field sales personnel in the distribution industry to process orders remotely using a PDA, laptop or any other mobile device. MOM enables distributors to better service their customers from anywhere in North America, meaning sales personnel can spend less time on manual order processing and more time meeting customer need.

“Infor recognizes that in today’s competitive landscape, distributors face growing pressure from customers and suppliers to find enterprising ways of saving time and resources,” said Thad Zylka, Infor vice president of Distribution. “Our Mobile Order Management solution enables companies to significantly improve delivery time of products and services, and provides buying leverage to increase profitability.”

MOM is designed to integrate with any ERP system, regardless of vendor. Its intuitive, web-based interface allows the user to quickly access stored inventory data and submit order information via wireless access. When connected to the internet or local network, the user has access to current inventory availability and customer-specific pricing.

“Ours is a service-driven business and our employees need quick access to inventory and order information to meet customer demands,” said Bruce Streiff, Crest Industries CFO. “Mobile Order Management will allow us to process orders more efficiently, thereby providing a greater level of service to our customers.”

Using MOM, field reps can remotely inquire about the status of an order; add, change or remove charges, line items and order line level comments; and search for customers and ship-to addresses. Other features include the ability to perform manual price overrides, and apply a discount or mark-up percent.

via Infor

NuVox Communications and FDN Communications today jointly announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to merge the two privately held facilities-based communications providers. Following a transition period, the combined company will operate under the name NuVox Communications, and will provide IP-based communications solutions including voice, data connectivity and storage, private networking, web hosting, and security services to business customers across the Southeast and the Midwest. The combined enterprise will initially have more than 90,000 customers, 1 million voice and data lines in service, and annual revenues exceeding $500 million.

“Combining NuVox and FDN Communications makes excellent strategic sense given our similar philosophies about customers—that is, a keen focus on the business market evidenced by our suite of products and services aimed specifically at that market and our unwavering commitment to proficient, ‘high-touch’ customer service,” stated Jim Akerhielm, Chief Executive Officer of NuVox Communications. “The two companies have complementary target customers, overlapping geographic markets in the fast growing Florida and metropolitan Atlanta areas, and efficient, customer-centric operations positioning the new company to be a leading provider of communications solutions for business customers.”

“A larger total footprint and deeper customer penetration in key markets will position NuVox for further growth,” added Mike Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of FDN Communications. “Both companies have a proven track record and have posted very compelling financial results. Together, the new combined company will build on the strengths and experience of each company.”

The senior management team will be comprised of individuals from both FDN Communications and NuVox. Leading the combined company will be Akerhielm, who will serve as CEO, and Gallagher who will serve as President of Strategic Markets. The board of directors will consist of David Solomon as Chairman of the Board, Akerhielm and Gallagher, Jim Wade and Gillis Cashman of MC Venture Partners, James H. (Jamie) Greene, Jr. of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. (KKR), Scott Perper of Wachovia Capital Partners, and Jim Fleming of Columbia Capital Partners.

“Both NuVox and FDN Communications have made tremendous investments in technology and the build out of their networks” commented Jamie Greene of KKR.

“As a result, they are now able to fully implement Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which is enabling their customers to take advantage of a richer set of communication services and applications as well as significantly enhanced broadband connectivity. In addition to the ability to better leverage each company’s investment in technology and the clear benefits to customers, the combination of the NuVox and FDN networks allows for a number of operational and financial efficiencies which will lead to improved profitability and accelerated growth.”

“We are excited to bring together the superb teams of employees of both companies. I believe the people of both NuVox and FDN Communications are the reason each company has been so successful, and as a combined team, we can achieve even more,” added Akerhielm.

The combined company’s headquarters will be in Greenville, SC with extensive sales, customer, and technical operations in both Greenville, SC and Maitland, FL. The transaction is expected to close in June 2007. Until closing, FDN Communications and NuVox Communications will continue to operate separately. Customers of both companies will not experience changes to their existing service agreements as a result of the merger.

The transaction has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both NuVox and FDN Communications. Financial terms of the proposed merger were not disclosed. The combined company will refinance the existing senior credit facilities of both NuVox and FDN Communications. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the stockholders of both companies, as well as regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

via Nuvox

The GSA Technology Council and Greenville Tech’s Buck Mickel Center are proud to present a monthly series of meetings with some of Upstate South Carolina’s celebrated entrepreneurs. Meetings are the 4th Thursday of January through May 2007. Meetings are from 6 PM until 8 PM at the Buck Mickel Center. More>>
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Bob DeGarmo came to Greenville 30 years ago with Daniel International where he was a Vice President of the company and President of Daniel Industrial Services. After merging with Fluor, he became a Senior Vice President of the combined companies for Strategic Planning and Corporate Development. Since leaving Fluor he has served in senior management positions in several large companies followed by ten years with Tatum Partners as Managing Partner for South Carolina. His most recent venture, Entrepreneurial Resources, LLC, provides strategic management and financial services to entrepreneurially managed companies.

At our March meeting, he will discuss how technology service companies can build more effective organizations and how IT departments in larger companies can more effectively deliver information to the enterprise.

GSATC Learning Lunch

Topic: Gigabytes of Data and No Information
Presented by: Bob DeGarmo

Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Location: Crowne Plaza (Map: I-385 at Roper Mtn.)
Agenda

11:30 – 11:55 Registration, Networking, Lunch
11:55 – 12:10 Announcements
12:10 – 12:50 Presentation
12:50 – 1:00 Door Prizes, Adjourn

This meeting features easy access from I-385, plenty of free parking, ample networking opportunities, a great presentation, and door prizes. Plan to attend.

Lunch is $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

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Danny Baker and Jason Hemphill have been certified as Sage CRM SalesLogix 7.0 Engineers. This re-certification enables them to provide programming and technical support for users of Sage CRM SalesLogix, customer relationship management software.

Danny Baker is also the Principal and co-founder of Baker Consulting and has over 13 years of product implementation and support services working with major professional services organizations.

via Baker Consulting
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We’ve got the March Video update posted! Get the GSATC insider news as well as two very cool, special offers. The insider news appears first on our monthly video update.

Click the picture to watch the video.


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William Gibson said it best – “The future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.” One of the places we gather each year to see what tomorrow’s tech has to bring is Innoventure. The annual Innoventure conference brings hot technologies, companies, entrepreneurs, and top notch speakers to the upstate for a one of a kind event that is quite probably the upstate’s best annual glimpse of the future.

What does that have to do with us? Or more importantly, what does that have to do with you? In a special arrangement with Innoventure, we have a single full admission ticket to give away to this year’s Innoventure conference. How do you win such a coveted prize? It’s easy, we’ll be giving it away at our March 14, 2007 meeting featuring Bob DeGarmo. To win, you must attend the meeting and put your business card (or a facsimile) in the fish bowl. We’ll be giving away a ticket to Innoventure, along with our regular fabulous door prizes, at the end of the meeting.

By the way, the ticket is good for full admission to both days of the event. That’s all the sessions and all of the presenting companies you can see. It’s two full days of the future of tech brought to the Palmetto Expo Center, and some lucky soul will get in for free. (That is a $400 value.)

If you can’t stand the tension, trot on over to the Innoventure website and buy your ticket before they sell out. (They sell out every year.) If you want to take your chances and see a great presentation by Bob DeGarmo, then join us on March 14. Our golden ticket to tomorrow might be yours.