ATG Buys Estara

Art Technology Group has purchased eStara, currently the largest "click to arrange a call back" and instant online chat provider.

Quote:

Art Technology Group, an e-commerce software maker, on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire click-to-call technology vendor EStara in a stock and cash deal valued at $48.3 million. ART, based in Cambridge, Mass., plans to incorporate EStara click-to-call, click-to-chat, and call-tracking technology within its retail software for online stores. The click-to-call feature is particularly important to small businesses, which depend on the telephone to communicate with potential customers.

http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/193003658

I'm seeing some big mistakes being made in this space at the moment, and personally I think ATG paid way too much.

Click to Call is about "click a link and the other partys' telephone rings". It is not about "Click, type in your phone number, set a time when you want to be called and then wait".

This stuff needs to be instant and work in the way that people expect it to - the consumer needs to be in control, able to withhold number etc.

Consumers are fickle. I do not see the eStara model surviving. It's not up to scratch. ART are going to have to act quickly to turn it into the real deal, and there's some clever competition heading their way.

Dean

Reply from extrasip on Sep 27, 2006 - 03:15 PM

You're certainly entitle to your opinion, but you should at least look at what eStara has to offer before offering misleading information.

eStara offers both PC to Phone and Phone to Phone (click to callback) functionality.

http://www.estara.com/technology/voipplatform.php

In fact, eStara hold a patent for the first internet telephony for e-commerce application, which involves a PC to Phone connection.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Pars ... ck+call%22

What makes this tool effective for e-commerce applications is that it allows consumers to pick the form factor that their most comfortable with. The reality is that 85 to 90 percent of consumers still prefer to speak through their phone than through their PC with a headset and speakers. eStara offers its clients the choice to offer either option to consumers, not just callback.

Reply from dean on Sep 27, 2006 - 03:44 PM

Hi extrasip,

Quote:

eStara offers both PC to Phone and Phone to Phone (click to callback) functionality.

What it doesn't offer is phone to phone click to call. That's the missing link - and that's the key path for this space.

That is what click to call is all about - it's about keeping the user in control and giving the user convenience. That means using their own device, and making it ring when they want it to ring.

You click on a phone number and *your device* starts ringing, you pick it up and the callee is on the other end of the line.

If I've installed Skype, I want to Skype you. If I've installed Busta, I want to Busta you. If I'm using a SIP hardware phone, I want that to dial you when I click your link.

That's click to call. That's the future.

From your last couple of posts you're obviously with eStara, and that's great (and good to have you here). If you want to explain how you see the eStara model as a great product and where it's heading then I'm all ears and quite happy to be persuaded, but please do it openly and disclose your interests first.

Dean

Reply from ianplain on Sep 27, 2006 - 05:10 PM

Hi

Quote:

You click on a phone number and *your device* starts ringing, you pick it up and the callee is on the other end of the line. If I've installed Skype, I want to Skype you. If I've installed Busta, I want to Busta you. If I'm using a SIP hardware phone, I want that to dial you when I click your link. That's click to call. That's the future.

To this end it means getting the browsers to play nicely.

Click to call has been arround in many variants for many years, but it is still to get off the ground. This problem is that maybe 80% of web users dont have a Voip client. Now if mozphone came as part of firefox and IE had a builtin client then things may move on, But until then its very problomatic, Personaly I use my laptop and PDA all over the place. So the phone I want to use changes all the time. And this is can be a problem.

I do think its telling that Ebay has had skype for a long time now and they are yet to do anything "converged" with it.

Ian

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