Yesterday TMC (News - Alert) covered what was just a rumor, but has now been officially inked: BroadSoft (News - Alert) is acquiring Casabi. Signing a definitive agreement, BroadSoft hopes to build upon its software-as-a-service offerings with the acquisition of Casabi. Broadsoft, an IP-based communications provider hopes to broaden its telecommunications services with Casabi (News - Alert), a cloud-based personalized content and messaging applications provider, and the company began this process in late 2009 with the acquisition of PacketSmart.

Peter Radizeski for TMC noted, “Casabi works with Comcast (News - Alert), a big customer of Broadsoft, who obviously finds value with Casabi's service. SMS messaging is probably the prime benefit. But the key may be that it adds value to consumer phone service, like putting the handset to better use.”

Radizeski scooped the news before the press release issuing the announcement was taken off the wires, and assumed someone had “jumped the gun” on the news of the acquisition.

By providing customers the ability to monetize new revenue streams through the delivery of SMS to and from a home phone and the Internet, BroadSoft will be introducing an enhanced user experience to its customers as well as increasing customer satisfaction and reducing churn. BroadSoft will also enable customers to accelerate time to market by delivering the Casabi services via the BroadSoft cloud.

Cathy Avgiris (News - Alert), Comcast Cable’s senior vice president and general manager stated, "Comcast has worked closely with Casabi to develop and deliver consumer-friendly communication and information features that create a richer, more compelling experience for our Xfinity customers…With our longstanding relationship with BroadSoft, and our work with Casabi, we are excited about this acquisition."

Michael Tessler, CEO of BroadSoft added to the announcement when he commented, "Broad adoption of individual applications, such as SMS, demonstrates that consumers value features that improve a family's ability to communicate with one another across multiple devices…We believe that, by incorporating Casabi's services into our Consumer Experience solution, we will help operators improve customer retention by delivering new innovative services to the home. We also expect to leverage the Casabi technology to further serve the communication needs of the small business market."

Anticipating a profit generation of $3 to $4 million over the next year, BroadSoft is expected to heavily expand its cloud telecommunications services. Casabi employees will transfer to BroadSoft to manage and ease the transition of its offerings.

Juliana Kenny graduated from the University of Connecticut with a double degree in English and French. After managing a small company for two years, she joined TMC as a Web Editor for TMCnet. Juliana currently focuses on the call center and CRM industries, but she also writes about cloud telephony and network gear including softswitches.

Edited by Juliana Kenny