US vendor, BroadSoft, has acquired local ISV, Carbon Twelve, to get hold of its VoIP desktop client applications. Carbon's applications included a toolbar, which enabled users to make and accept telephone calls within Microsoft Outlook and Internet Explorer.
According to president and CEO, Mike Tessler, BroadSoft had worked with Carbon Twelve in third-party developer and reseller capacities for a number of years. It would initially aim its VoIP applications at the carrier market. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
"Carriers are struggling to enable end-users to take advantage of the rich set of features available in their network," he said. "In being able to work on the client side we can now target the right features, functions and control to the right type of user and environment."
According to Carbon Twelve CEO, George Lawson, Australian ISVs had been VoIP leaders for some time.
"Australia is an early adopter of technology so any customisation needs become evident early on," he said. "VoIP offers a lot of those, so there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to pick up on."
Carbon Twelve's nine founding members and developers would all be retained within the global R&D functions of BroadSoft, Tessler said.
Once the integration is complete, Lawson would depart to pursue other opportunities in VoIP and interests in the aviation field.
"The business was set up and run with the idea that it would be acquired at some point," he said. "In the short term, I'll be taking a break and getting some flying lessons."