RingCentral re-imagines cloud-based phone systems with Cloud-Touch

Cloud communications company RingCentral has launched its brand new Cloud-Touch service, the first of its kind to help businesses manage and access their office phone system from smartphones.

“With Cloud-Touch, you could setup multiple phones for your businesses while you are at the beach within minutes,” RingCentral Chief Product Officer Naveen Gupta told VentureBeat. “The tools simplify the process, so you don’t need technical skills to set it up.”

RingCentral has been the leader in the cloud phone services business for a few years, and it now serves more than 250,000 businesses. Its portfolio of features includes multiple voicemail boxes, call routing, auto-receptionist, extension dialing, call transfers, and smartphone integration. It also recently introduced faxing in the cloud with Dropbox, Box, and Google Docs integration.

The main features of RingCentral’s new offering include:

Cloud-Touch – The first and only fully touch-powered platform for phone systems, enabling full management capabilities from any tablet or smartphone. Intuitive customizable settings for administrators and users provide unmatched flexibility and control.

Cloud-Presence – Presence is extended beyond desk phones, enabling users to see availability based on smart mobile devices. Enabled with simple controls users can access from everywhere, employees are better connected with presence that integrates mobile users.

Cloud-Connect – RingCentral integrates with Dropbox, Box and Google Docs, enabling customers to share documents and files in the cloud, providing enhanced productivity.

To me, the coolest aspect of the new offering is Cloud-Presence, which lets your co-workers know your status. If you have a small team and need to have constant conversations, this will let your fellow team members know if you are out for the day, on the phone, or free to chat. That would certainly come in handy for tight-knit teams.

Vice President of product engagement at ZenDesk Sam Boonin liked what he saw with RingCentral’s new service, saying “Love it, more, more, more” during his sage panel at DEMO.

San Mateo, Calif.-based RingCentral last raised a $10 million funding round this past September, bringing its total raised to about $55 million. Investors include Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Cisco, DAG Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank. Based on conversations I’ve had with the company, it could likely offer an IPO in the next year or two.

Photo credit: Scott Chan/Shutterstock

RingCentral is one of 80 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2012 event taking place this week in Silicon Valley. After we make our selections, the chosen companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.