VocalTec
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| (Nasdaq: CALL) | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Alon Cohen Lior Haramaty |
| Headquarters | West Palm Beach, Florida, , |
Key people | Daniel Borislow, CEO |
| Products | VoIP Solutions Provider |
| Revenue |  US$ 119.68 million (2010) |
 US$ -2.29 million (2010) | |
| US$ -1.55 million (2010) | |
| Subsidiaries | magicJack |
| Website | www.vocaltec.com www.magicjack.com |
VocalTec Communications Inc. is an Israeli telecom equipment provider. The company was founded in 1989 by Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty, who patented the first Voice over IP audio transceiver.[1][failed verification] VocalTec continues to be a leading VoIP company,[2][failed verification] with major customers such as Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia and many others.
History
According to VocalTec's S1 Prospectus, The company commenced operations in 1989 and its initial operations were devoted to research and commercialization of products which provide audio and voice capabilities for personal computers and over computer networks. In 1993, the Company introduced its first commercial product, The CAT, a peripheral device which provides audio capability for personal computers. In 1993 and 1994, the Company introduced additional products, including CATBoard, a full duplex audio card, an internal audio card that provides high level compression, and VocalChat LAN/WAN, hardware and software products that enable real-time voice conversations over local and wide area computer networks. Net sales of these products totaled approximately $0.3 million, $0.4 Million and $0.2 Million in 1993, 1994 and the first nine months of 1995, respectively, and the Company did not expect to recognize significant revenues from sales of these products in the future.[3]
In early 1993 the company partnered with ClassX, a group of innovative teenagers, some were during their army service at renowned Unit 8200. According to Opher Kahane, one of ClassX co-founders, "Few people know that, while VocalTec may have developed voice boards for PCs, it was ClassX that developed the technology that makes VoIP transmission possible."[4] ClassX was acquired by VocalTec in 1993 and its core team developed the first VocalChat product and later on the first Internet Phone, a modified version of VocalChat.
VocalTec released the first ever Internet VoIP program in February 1995. The product was named Internet Phone but according to Wired magazing many people simply called it iPhone.[5][1] The company had an IPO on the NASDAQ in 1996 and in 1997 Europe's largest telecommunications company, Deutsche Telekom, bought a 21.1 percent stake in VocalTec for $48.3 million, in addition to purchasing $30 million in telephony products, services, and support over the following two-and-a-half years.[6]
Initial Public Offering
VocalTec went public on the NASDAQ on February 6th, 1996. The company sold 2,500,000 shares for $19 a share. 1,750,00 shares were sold by the company and 750,000 were sold by selling shareholders including Elon Ganor, VocalTec's CEO and his brother in law, Ami Tal, through their holding of La Cresta International Trading Inc..[7]
VocalTec's leadership who managed its successful IPO included:[8]
Elon Ganor - Chairman of the board and CEO
Ami Tal - Director and Chief Operating Officer
Alon Cohen - Director and Chief Technology Officer
Lior Haramaty - Director and Vice President Technical Marketing
Yahal Zilka - Chief Financial officer and Secretary
Daniel Nissan - Vice President Marketing
Ohad Finkelstein - Vice President International Sales
During the Dot-com bubble the company’s share peaked at a price of $3,363 per share on March 3, 2000 (split adjusted).[9]
In 2005, completed a business combination with Tdsoft, a provider of VoIP Gateways.[10]
Today VocalTec specializes in providing carrier-class multimedia and voice-over-IP solutions for communication service providers. The company provides the Essentra solution suite that comprises the essential building blocks required to develop a next-generation-network, addressing customers’ specific requirements in trunking, peering and residential/enterprise VoIP application solutions.
On July 16, 2010, MagicJack took over VocalTec in a reverse takeover.
VocalTec Internet Phone
VocalTec Internet Phone was a VoIP application released in February 1995.[1] The software was invented by Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty, the two co-founders of VocalTec Ltd.[11][12][13] At the base of the Internet Phone residing the invention of Alon Cohen and Lior Haramaty named the "Audio Transceiver", which managed the dynamic jitter buffer that was critical for achieving adaptive lower possible audio latency along with handling packet loss, packet re-ordering, and receiver transmitter sample rate adjustments. The first implementation of the "Audio Transceiver" was carried out by Elad Sion.[2]
ITXC
In 1997 VocalTec founded ITXC Corporation a US-based wholesale provider of Internet-based phone calls. The ITXC voice-over-IP network was powered by the VocalTec technology. In 2003 ITXC was acquired by Teleglobe.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Tov, Shirley Yom, "Happy 10th birthday, VoIP", The Marker 16 - 06 - 2005, archived from the original on 2012-02-18
- ^ a b "The 10 that Established VoIP (Part 1: VocalTec)", ILocus 07-16-2007, retrieved 2009-12-05
- ^ "VocalTec S1 Prospectus, Page 18, 1996". VocalTec.
- ^ Geyfman, Hadass (December 15, 2005). "Opher Kahane goes big time". Globes.
- ^ Hapgood, Fred. "IPhone Will telephony on the Net bring the telcos to their knees?". Wired Magazine.
- ^ Galante, Suzanne (August 28, 1997), "German telco buys into Net phones", CNET
- ^ "VocalTec S1 - Cover Page".
- ^ "VocalTec's S1 Prospectus, Page 33". VocalTec.
- ^ Marcial, Gene (March 20, 2000). "For a Two-for-One Deal, Dial VocalTec: This Net telephony pioneer is that rare bird: A tech stock that's also a value play". BusinessWeek.
- ^ "Tdsoft, VocalTec Merge", Light Reading, October 28, 2005
- ^ U.S. patent 5,825,771
- ^ Malik, Om. "The Voice over IP Insurrection", September 19, 2004.
- ^ Internet Telephony magazine, October 2006.
- ^ "Canadian company Teleglobe, to buy Vocaltec's ITXC", Globes 05 - 11 - 2003, retrieved 2009-12-05
