François-Charles Sirois at the Montreal Canadian Club

On November 18,2013, François-Charles Sirois, President and CEO of Telesystem, gave a speech on the theme: Catalysing innovation in media and technology.

Speech of François-Charles Sirois at the Montreal Canadian Club

On November 18,2013, François-Charles Sirois gave a speech on the theme: Catalysing innovation in media and technology. Here it is:

Taking a chance

I would like to approach my topic for today – innovation – by sharing with you a personal anecdote that leads me to reflect greatly on where certain companies stand on this issue and, above all, on risk-taking.

I was in a chic Los Angeles restaurant, which is well known for its exquisite desserts, enjoying a good meal with some business partners. When it came time to choose one of these famous desserts, my eye fell on the very first item on the menu: crepes!

Now, I’ve been making crepes for at least 25 years, and I like to think that I make excellent ones. So I ordered their crepes, just to compare. The waiter went into the kitchen, then returned to tell me that they weren’t serving crepes that evening because they were missing an ingredient. Since crepes only call for three basic ingredients – eggs, milk and flour – I was a little doubtful that they were really short of one. So I asked if I could speak to the chef.

Those who know me are aware that I enjoy challenges, especially when I’m convinced I’ll win. Within earshot of a number of patrons, I embarked on a lively discussion – about crepes – with the chef. Despite my tenacity, he stuck to his guns: The other desserts, in his opinion, were excellent. So I replied, in all seriousness: “How about a crepes competition? Chef versus me, right now, in the kitchen!” The restaurant’s other patrons quickly reacted to this challenge, and waited for the chef’s reply… visibly calculating the impact on his credibility, he agreed to go back into the kitchen to see what they could do. Twenty minutes later, four waiters brought us every dessert item on the menu – with the chef’s compliments. Every item was there, except the crepes!

I started to wonder: Why did the chef prefer to make every other dessert on the menu – on the house – rather than prepare a dish of crepes? Granted, if the combination of ingredients is wrong, the crepes will be awful. Was he really putting his and his restaurant’s credibility on the line? Where was the risk in simply trying?

The answer is easy: He put in a lot more effort, at a higher cost, for zero benefit and a dissatisfied client. In short, I believe that he lost a great opportunity. I have never seen a restaurant where the chef was willing to take up the crepes competition challenge. In looking back on the general ambiance that night and the other patrons’ enthusiasm, I see that this could have led to a series of events ultimately benefiting the restaurant. But we’ll never know.

Whatever the innovation, rule number one is that you have to take a chance… and a risk.

Just like this chef, many companies prefer to continue along a path they’re familiar with, even if it means more work. I’m always surprised to see how entrepreneurs who innovate can destabilize large organizations that won’t even take a chance, and the risk that goes with it.

At Telesystem, three ingredients are combined to form the basis of our strong international platforms:

1. innovation, which enables operating leverage
2. scale, an essential component to a big financial and market impact
3. international acquisitions, for very fast growth

And obviously, partners are essential in the completion of any undertaking, to ensure success, whatever the strategy.

A company can refuse to innovate, but – somewhat like making an omelette, which calls for two eggs and milk – it’s interesting to discover that adding a little flour gives you ten crepes. Innovation is a very powerful lever that lets you do ten times more – for the same amount of human effort and financial resources.

A bit of history

Innovation has been part of our DNA since the beginning… and over the past 40 years, the lever of technology has always formed the underpinnings of our platforms.

In 1972, my grandfather, Simon, founded Setelco, which became Telesystem in 1984. In those early years, Setelco was a call centre and message service for businesses. My grandfather, who was constantly on the lookout for new technologies, launched the first pager network in Chicoutimi in 1974 – a move that directly impacted his operations and operating leverage. Manual message-taking was replaced by subscriptions to an automated pager service. This platform positioned our company to serve more clients, improve the quality of its service and raise its profitability, for the same amount of effort.

When my father bought out Setelco in 1978, the company’s client base didn’t extend much beyond Chicoutimi, but he was able to invest in the existing platform. Armed with this combination of technological and financial leverage, he was able to make more than 30 acquisitions and thus consolidate 65% of this industry in Canada in less than seven years. This growth, which could not have happened organically, came about through the companies we acquired during this period.

In 1992, with the help of BCE, Telesystem bought Teleglobe – a very well-established company that was using only 5% of its capacity. In turning toward the global arena, the organization tackled a market that was 50 times larger, with assets presenting growth potential of around 2,000%! The company was already profitable, and its returns were multiplied thanks to a combination of three factors: an under-utilized network, major expansion in the global arena and new fibre optic technologies that enabled us to install the first Internet cable between the Americas and Europe.

Without my going into a lot of historical detail, you’ll understand that our objective was to combine innovation with a strong company, then add a sound global expansion strategy.

Positioning ourselves 15 years into the future

Completing great projects means operating in a great industry. From 1972 to 2005, we worked in telecom – an industry that has seen the greatest growth worldwide. In 1995, we came to realize our overweighting in this industry and that we risked becoming a marginal player with no added value, so we took a chance on content and applications.

Between 1995 and 2010, we invested in more than 100 tech start-ups, so we could still be players when the big wave arrived. Which wave was that? There have been several, and the challenge was being in the right place at the right time. We came to define our long-term growth strategy in highly targeted areas, such as digital content distribution and data analysis, based on the companies we created, acquired and managed during these years.

Although we began to wind down our involvement in venture capital in 2010, we still support organizations that finance start-ups, such as Anges Québec and Notman House. Many people ask us why we exited from this sector. The effort required to support a start-up, versus the benefit and added value of growing a well-established company through innovation and acquisitions, is incomparable.

We therefore chose to grow the companies we already own that showed the most potential for being large media and technology players. At the same time, we co-founded Tandem Expansion – a growth capital fund – in 2010, thus transitioning from venture capital to support for significant Canadian tech companies. Tandem’s objective is to help establish more market leaders and keep them in this country, and to restrict the sales of companies to foreign interests.   Today, Telesystem is a media and technology holding company that focuses on strategic partnerships, international leverage and acquisitions. Our areas of specialization fall into four categories: digital content production and distribution, data analysis, industrial innovation and growth capital.

I am also very pleased to be working with my cousin Denis, who’s in charge of our companies that specialize in IT, more specifically data analysis – a field that many of our key businesses operate in, which is expected to post significant growth over the next 5 to 10 years.

Despite his many corporate responsibilities, I have succeeded in keeping my father involved in some of our industrial technology companies, which is a good fit with Pangea, his agriculture-based venture. He is also very involved with Tandem Expansion, which he co-founded with Brent Belzberg. Our family business dynamic is highly effective: Each of us has his particular responsibilities, and we draw on the expertise of an experienced team that has closed every type of transaction imaginable. This frees me up to spend most of my time on our media endeavours and the abundant opportunities that this field has to offer.

A media and technology tsunami

In the 1990s, Telesystem experienced spectacular growth, through its subsidiary TIW, as a result of its involvement with building mobile networks in the developing world. Since basic telephone infrastructure was non-existent in these countries, the introduction of mobile phones was revolutionary, translating to millions of subscribers.

The opportunities we had in the 1990s pale in comparison to those of the next five years in media and technology. Of the 1.3 billion subscribers worldwide who possess a Smartphone today, 400 million live in the developing countries. By 2019, their number will exceed 5.6 billion, and 4 billion of these people will be in the developing world.

The number of pay TV subscribers is expected to pass the 1-billion mark in 2018. Approximately 10 million are in Canada, accounting for barely 1% of the world market. And all of these mobile/Internet/TV subscribers will want local content, which will lead to exponential growth in the global content production market. All of this represents a tsunami of opportunities with an unprecedented massive impact. On top of that, the distribution of digital content and apps represents an opportunity to offer most services without any local infrastructure, while greatly reducing operational risks and providing for considerable profitability despite low per-subscriber revenues.

Telesystem Media

Our media focus revolves primarily around the production and distribution of digital content. By working with TV broadcasters, cable operators and mobile operators worldwide, our companies are now serving millions of subscribers.

Using music as our template, we created a subsidiary – Telesystem Media, based in Los Angeles – in 2012. Its mission: to set up a direct relationship with the music industry and world-renowned artists, for the benefit of our media companies.

To accomplish this mandate and gather our companies around a shared objective, we brought on board an entrepreneur who amply represents Telesystem’s values: Frédéric Lavoie, who is responsible for our Los Angeles office and team. We also decided to set up partnerships with some agents of recognized artists, in order to bring more specific expertise into the group, along with closer ties to some of these artists.

While the Telesystem Media project is a blend of vision and execution, everything is in place to make it a success and create leverage for our own companies. Like most of our historic successes, we are proactive and take risks in trying out new concepts, even if we start out small.

Monopoly or Risk?

Every large company has a duty to work with innovative entrepreneurs within their ecosystem to find their next business lever. The larger and more mature a company, the more results-driven it will be and increasingly less inclined to take risks. This also applies to our large media companies in Canada, notwithstanding our exceptional economic climate and regulatory environment.

For a reason that escapes me, however, most Canadian media groups operate only in this country. The greatest risks they take involve primarily the acquisition of well-established assets, which they trade back and forth as if they were playing a game of Monopoly, where the game is restricted to the number of properties on the table… There are way too many opportunities in international media to warrant staying within Canada’s borders. We need to change things up.

In the game of Risk, any player who has too many forces in a single country must send troops to other countries in order to try and conquer the world. Every Canadian media group needs to develop an international arm and use its strong assets locally to benefit from the enormous growth that will materialize in years to come.

I’m not looking to criticize my colleagues in the media industry, but rather to get all players to realize that opportunities in play today will last no more than another five years. Nor am I trying to get every media group to make a decision to plunge into the international music scene. Although this is the niche we have chosen, many others obviously exist. Each Canadian media asset can be run on an international scale.

“Adopt an entrepreneur”

No, it’s not a new UNICEF program – rather, it’s an image I would like each of you to recall when you come across an entrepreneur who needs you. To the extent that our Canadian media groups need to make their mark worldwide, the responsibility for creating and establishing partnerships with our entrepreneurs and, eventually, setting up major new head offices in Canada rests with our institutions and large companies, not with our entrepreneurs! Here’s why.

I recently read an article about an entrepreneur who had a solution that was perfect for a large company. Close to a year later, after eight meetings with various stakeholders, he had yet to speak to the right person in the organization (even though it was clear that this company needed the solution he was offering).

Many of our large companies view projects created by entrepreneurs as an irrelevant diversion or, worse, as a potential threat to one of their existing profitable services. I strongly believe that large companies can win big by developing an innovative project outside of its own offices.

The opposite side of the coin is that I’ve seen way too many great projects that were developed but could not break through in the industry or be put into place in the large company, despite its almost-immediate benefits for them.

Any large company that makes a move and awards a contract, allocates the funds for an order, starts up a pilot project, shares its customers, promotes their ideas, etc. is directly helping the entrepreneur prosper and, in so doing, gets an opportunity to develop a new platform or partnership based on novel ideas and ways of doing things!

This is why I believe that, if you’re the president or a vice-president, director or employee of a large company, you need to adopt an entrepreneur in your industry.

The entrepreneur’s risk

I would now like to talk about a crucial element that directly impacts the creation of large businesses: entrepreneurial risk.

For an entrepreneur who’s just launching a company today, financing options are few and far between. Most often, he must turn to venture capital funds. Through their investments, these funds rank at the top of what the entrepreneur is building, however long the term and whatever the capital amount invested. So everything the entrepreneur has created is at risk.

Additionally, most small companies don’t automatically think about making acquisitions or even anticipating which companies to buy and when. The balance between innovation and acquisitions is a very delicate one. From the very early days, when a company is first launched, acquisitions need to be anticipated and included in its business plan. Many entrepreneurs wait too long to forecast their acquisitions and face a shortage of funds that are critical to the business.

They increase their risk even more when they take on the responsibility of proving their innovation is a technological success and then making it a commercial success with too little funding. As a result, any offer to purchase – no matter how low – prompts the entrepreneur to reassess his or her personal risk and deal with pressure from investors who simply want to sell.

Each time someone wants to buy one of our companies, I ask myself, first of all, if it should be bought. Canadian entrepreneurs and the institutions that support them need to ask themselves this question as a matter of course.

You need to operate from a position of strength in the local market if you want to make acquisitions abroad, either with a strong partner or as a profitable company that’s in control. Additionally, you need to know exactly where operational synergies lie, to avoid “buying yourself” a load of problems – hence the importance of platform and focus. But many entrepreneurs find themselves in this situation and decide to sell anyway.

We need to realize that risk is different for the entrepreneur versus the investor institution. It’s entirely normal for an entrepreneur to ask for capital to buy a business abroad while seeking to sell a portion of its shares in order to cut his or her personal risk and focus on the integration challenge that awaits.

When it comes time to do business, funding for our small companies must come from our institutions. The importance of waiting for the right opportunity at the right time is often mentioned, but when it’s time to complete an acquisition, we need to move fast – sometimes very fast – and our institutions owe it to themselves to be at the table.

The support that large companies provide to entrepreneurs looking to make acquisitions and create a large-scale head office is essential, just as it was for us on several occasions. I extend a special thank-you to National Bank, which has always supported Telesystem. This was the first institution that made it possible for us to make a number of acquisitions in the 1980s and continues to support us today in many of our undertakings. I would also like to thank BMO, which along with NB, is supporting Stingray Digital, as well as the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Investissement Québec, for having supported us during the most recent Stingray acquisition attempt in the U.S. Finally, on the topic of Stingray, I must thank Novacap – an excellent partner – and Eric Boyko, our “super-entrepreneur” whose motto is “go go go”.

To all of our other partners and entrepreneurs, you’ll understand that I’m unable to single you out for thanks, but you know that we are extremely grateful to you.

Building from our Montreal base

I remember being in my father’s office in the mid-1990s. Serge Godin, an entrepreneur of that era, called him to finalize the purchase of an insurance IT company owned by Teleglobe – a transaction worth approximately $150M. As he hung up, my father explained to me that the activity in question was no longer a strategic one for Teleglobe, but it was important to Serge. It was probably a huge deal for CGI at the time. They now make acquisitions worth billions of dollars, and their annual economic spinoffs are probably much higher than that $150M transaction in the 1990s.

What would be the impact for Quebec if Serge and CGI hadn’t received any institution funding at the time? In 1995, the whole thing would probably have been positioned as excellent news – CGI sold at a profit. Yet we can all understand the economic benefits of keeping CGI in Quebec today.

This month, four Quebec-based tech companies (IBwave, Créaforme, iWeb and PCO innovation) were sold. I don’t blame the entrepreneurs for selling – in fact, from what I see, they have done an excellent job. But could any of these companies have become a major tech head office? Did at least one group offer to invest and keep them in Quebec?

Do any other Canadian media and tech companies – aside from CGI – enjoy worldwide influence today? Have any of them bought out their foreign competitors? I checked QG100, a list of Quebec’s 100 largest companies abroad, of which we are founding members. After some reflection, I discovered that there are no major players – at least in Quebec. A city that boasts of having one of the best pools of tech and multimedia resources should be home to more Canadian companies…

Let’s make it our goal to add at least six international companies, based in Montreal, Quebec or Canada, by 2020 – all of them clearly supported by our institutions and our large Canadian organizations.

Take a chance… and a risk. Go global, support our entrepreneurs and give them a reason not to sell their businesses. This is what we will do every time – as we have been doing for 40 years.

And don’t doubt it for a minute – Telesystem understands the value of Risk all too well… and that Monopoly doesn’t go far enough!

Stingray Digital ranks #15 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM Program

Stingray Digital is named as one of Canada’s fastest growing technology companies in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM awards for technological innovation, entrepreneurship, rapid growth and leadership, based on the percentage of revenue growth over five years. Stingray Digital’s exceptional increase in revenues from 2008 to 2012 resulted in a 15 ranking.

“Canadian Fast 50 companies innovate, demonstrate leadership, create jobs, and invest in R&D,” said Richard Lee, Deloitte’s National Managing Partner, Technology, Media & Telecommunications. “They are remarkable companies that show dedication, drive and commitment that are keys to growth in the Canadian technology sector.”

Stingray Digital’s CEO and Founder Eric Boyko credits worldwide scale achieved through targeted acquisitions and the agility and skills to adapt to customer needs with the company’s revenue growth. Boyko said, “We are thrilled and proud to be recognized by Deloitte for this prize. Our company’s tremendous growth is the result of the hard work of our management team and all of our employees.”

Now in its 16th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM program recognizes leaders in the Canadian technology industry and tracks the successful growth of Canadian-grown global leaders. The program augments the broader Deloitte North American Technology Fast 500™ initiative, with winners automatically eligible for this elite ranking.

To qualify for the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM ranking, companies must have been in business for at least five years, have revenues of at least $5 million, be headquartered in Canada, own proprietary technology, and conduct research and development activities in Canada. A panel of industry experts evaluate and judge companies based on four key criteria: competitive advantage; size, growth, and market attractiveness; management effectiveness and organization; and financial performance.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM program is Canada’s pre-eminent technology awards program. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features four distinct categories including the Technology Fast 50TM Ranking, Companies-to-Watch Awards (early-stage Canadian tech companies in business less than five years, with the potential to be a future Deloitte Technology Fast 50TM candidate,) Leadership Awards (companies that demonstrate technological leadership and innovation within the industry) and the Deloitte Technology Green 15TM Awards (Canada’s leading GreenTech companies that promote a more efficient use and re-use of the earth’s resources in industrial production and consumption.) Program sponsors include Deloitte, Bennett Jones and OMERS Ventures. For further information, visit www.fast50.ca.

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Information :
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514-664-1244, poste 2283
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

Bose® and Stingray360 create a new dimension of comfort and luxury for hotels across Canada

Bose systems and Stingray360, a division of Stingray Digital Group, are joining forces to bring to market an unparalleled audio-visual offering for the high-end hospitality niche. The renowned reputation of Bose for cutting-edge theater and music systems combined with Stingray360’s proven track record in developing sensory enhanced commercial environments will offer an all-in-one solution to hotels striving to provide attractive technology-driven entertainment options to their guests.

“Stingray360 is no stranger to redefining the acoustic, aromatic and visual ambiances of hotels,” stated Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital, whose sales force has had the chance to collaborate with and learn from industry leader Sofitel in recent years. “With Bose on board, we now have a platform we can leverage to further enhance the quality and breadth of our services, making us one of the best offers on the market,” he proudly affirmed.

Stingray360 is Canada’s leading provider of sensorial marketing solutions, offering digital signage, scent and music services to more than 61,000 locations from coast to coast. With its vast selection of pre-programmed music that spans genres as well as its expertise in custom playlist design for brands, the company has quickly grown to become the number one commercial audio provider in the country.

About Bose

Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, then a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, the company is driven by its founding principles, investing in long-term research with one fundamental goal: to develop new technologies with real customer benefits. Bose® innovations have spanned decades and industries, creating and transforming categories in audio and beyond. Bose products for the home, in the car, on the go and in public spaces have become iconic. From the company’s home entertainment systems and Wave® music systems, to noise cancelling and audio headphones, digital music systems, Bluetooth® speakers and professional solutions, Bose has changed the way people listen to music.

Bose Corporation is privately held. The company’s spirit of invention, passion for excellence, and commitment to extraordinary customer experiences can be found around the world — everywhere Bose does business.

The Bluetooth® word mark is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such mark by Bose Corporation is under license.

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Information:

Stephanie Johnston
Stingray360 Marketing Manager
514-664-1244 ext 2279
sjohnston@stingraydigital.com

Bose Professional Systems Division
508-614-6441
Bose_Professional_Systems@bose.com

Eric Boyko, President and Co-Founder of Stingray Digital, honoured at the 2013 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

Stingray Digital Digital is pleased to announce that Eric Boyko is the recipient of the 2013 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Media and Entertainment category. Eric received the prize in a ceremony honoring Quebec entrepreneurs held on October 30. Awarded by Ernst & Young through the 2013 Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year Award, this recognition highlights Eric’s important contributions to the entertainment industry, and honors his success in business, his leadership and vision, as well as his social involvement.

A prolific entrepreneur with successes in digital technologies, Eric Boyko cofounded, more than seven years ago, Stingray Digital. Today, under his leadership and contagious motivation, the company has 75 million subscribers in over 105 countries.

For over 20 years now, Ernst & Young has been honoring entrepreneurial spirit and contribution with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award all over the world.

About Stingray Digital

Stingray Digital is the main provider of multiple platform musical services worldwide, with more than 75 million subscribers in 105 countries. Stingray Digital owns the following entities:

• Galaxie, a leading TV digital music service offered in Canada and the United States (www.galaxie.ca);
• The KARAOKE Channel, a TV and internet karaoke service, owner of the largest library of karaoke licenses (www.thekaraokechannel.com);
• Music Choice Europe, a leading TV digital music service in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com);
• Concert TV, an on-demand video service broadcast into 45 million households in the United States and Canada (www.concerttv.com);
• Stingray360, number one in the field of sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com);
• Stingray Music, a music rights management service for movies, TV, advertising and more (www.stingray-music.com).

Stingray Digital is majority owned by Telesystem, Novacap and Boyko Investment Corporation. The company, whose headquarters are in Montréal, employs 200 people in its Canadian offices in addition to brick and mortar locations in Los Angeles, in the United States, London, in England and Tel-Aviv in Israel.

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Source :
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514-664-1244, poste 2283
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

iPerceptions releases the first digital research solution designed to reduce cart abandonment

iPerceptions, Inc. the inventor of Active Research™, the evolution of Customer Experience Management and Digital Analytics, today announced the release of the iPerceptions Purchase Optimization and Conversion Solution. This is the first digital research solution that links behavioral data with attitudinal data from real customers to identify purchase barriers and process drivers that can be optimized to significantly improve online conversions and reduce cart abandonment.

“E-commerce sites today rely too heavily on behavioural data for answers behind cart abandonment,” said Duff Anderson, VP of Active Research at iPerceptions. “Although behavioral data is useful to understand actions, it doesn’t explain customer intentions, frustrations or unmet needs. Insight into why visitors act the way they do is imperative to pinpoint root causes of site and cart abandonment. With our new Purchase Optimization and Conversion Solution, marketers can base business decisions on real customer feedback in real situations for solid decision making.”

“Increasing conversion is an essential part of our business model,” said Eric Brassard, CEO, Woozworld. “A solution designed to help us evaluate the conversion sign-up process is highly valuable to our business.”

The iPerceptions Purchase Optimization and Conversion Solution consists of a research framework focusing on the different facets of the purchase and decision process, proven methodologies for gathering representative, targeted and opt-in feedback, and real-time associated reporting to dissect and evaluate the purchase process. Customer insights can then be directly injected into 3rd party solutions including e-commerce engines and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

For the first time, marketers using this solution can leverage attitudinal and behavioral data to:

• Identify purchase barriers to increase online conversion;
• Diagnose bottlenecks and reduce cart abandonment;
• Evaluate purchase drivers and prioritize initiatives to increase purchase intent;
• Measure purchase horizon and consideration stage to nurture prospects.

This solution leverages the iPerceptions Active Research™ Platform, which engages customers in the ‘Moment of Truth’ across digital touch points. Insights are fed into business intelligence reporting, integrated and injected into the organization’s other business systems.

Availability The iPerceptions Purchase Optimization and Conversion Solution is immediately available to iPerceptions Enterprise customers as a value-added option.

About iPerceptions

iPerceptions, Inc. is the inventor of Active Research™, the evolution of Customer Experience Management and Digital Analytics. The company’s solutions are powered by the Active Research™ Platform, which addresses specific business objectives by capturing visitor perceptions in the ‘Moment of Truth’ using advanced engagement technologies and trusted research frameworks to drive actions in existing business processes. Founded in 1999, iPerceptions has more than 22,000 clients worldwide that trust iPerceptions for in-depth analysis of real visitors’ behavior. See how iPerceptions can improve the entire customer lifecycle and your bottom line today, visit www.iperceptions.com and www.iperceptions.com/blog/.

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Media contact:
Barbara Reichert
Reichert Communications, LLC
650-548-1002 or barbara@reichertcom.com

Coveo Solution Named Trend-Setting Product of 2013 by KMWorld Magazine

Today, Coveo announced that Coveo Service and Support Knowledge Access has been named a KMWorld Magazine “Trend-Setting Product” for 2013, the eighth consecutive year that a Coveo solution has received this honor.

This year, more than 700 products were assessed by the judging panel, which consists of editorial colleagues, analysts, system integrators, vendors, line-of-business managers and users. All products selected demonstrate clearly identifiable technology breakthroughs that best serve the vendors’ customers.

Many companies are challenged with the proliferation of data, in multiple systems, communities, social, on-premise and in the cloud. Knowledge is everywhere and hard to manage. Compounding this challenge, increasingly knowledgeable customers drive requirements for much higher levels of information relevance. Coveo solves this challenge by placing customer- and case-relevant knowledge from anywhere, related to the agent’s context, directly in front of them. With the ability to crawl, consolidate and contextualize knowledge, companies are better able to serve customers, build better products and increase sales.

Coveo’s customer service solutions have won numerous accolades this year, including the 2013 Service Leaders Award from CRM Magazine, the 2013 Audience Choice Award from the Technology Services Industry Association and the 2013 CRM Watchlist.

For a full list of KMWorld’s 2013 Trend-Setting Products, visit www.kmworld.com.

Supporting Quotes

Hugh McKellar, Editor-in-Chief, KMWorld: “Coveo Service and Support Knowledge Access was selected by the panel because it demonstrates thoughtful, well-reasoned innovation and execution for the most important constituency of them all: the customer.”

Diane Berry, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communication, Coveo: “KMWorld is a well-respected authority on the content, document and knowledge management markets, and we’re honored that our technology has been recognized by this organization as a Trend-Setting Product of 2013. For years, CRM has promised the 360-degree view of a customer or case – and yet systems continue to proliferate and fragments of that information exist in many of them, as well as in social media and online communities. With Coveo’s unified indexing and insight technology, knowledge required to be more relevant and responsive to customers can be leveraged, wherever it resides.”

About KMWorld

KMWorld (www.kmworld.com) is the leading information provider serving the Knowledge Management systems market and covers the latest in Content, Document and Knowledge Management, informing more than 45,000 subscribers about the components and processes — and subsequent success stories – that together offer solutions for improving business performance. KMWorld is a publishing unit of Information Today, Inc. (www.infotoday.com).

About Coveo

Coveo’s highly advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight platform transforms knowledge management initiatives by redefining how people access and share fragmented knowledge around the customer-focused enterprise. Coveo brings together the collective and yet fragmented information from cloud-based, social, and on-premise systems, and injects it into the context of every user, every time. Coveo connects people to contextual content, and through content, to relevant people. This enables more efficient customer service, increased sales, shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development and increased profitability. Coveo’s advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight platform securely connects with and crawls all systems to create a virtual integration layer, by federating and enriching structured and unstructured information.

The Company’s lines of business inject existing knowledge into every Customer Service interaction, personalize online customer experiences within high-end websites, and increase overall return on knowledge by making the collective knowledge easily accessible & relevant, so that all employees can stop reinventing the wheel. More than 2,000,000 people globally and more than 500 companies use Coveo to achieve their business goals. Among Coveo customers are L’Oreal Switzerland, Lockheed Martin, YUM! Brands, GEICO and SunGard. For more information, visit www.coveo.com, follow us on Twitter @coveo or like us on Facebook.

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For information:
Diane Berry
Coveo
418-263-1111 ext. 200
Office 908-627-5470
dberry@coveo.com

Stingray Digital acquires Intertain Media and continues growth strategy in commercial music

Stingray Digital, a worldwide leading provider of multiplatform music services, announced today that it has acquired 100% of the shares of Intertain Media, a Winnipeg-based company providing digital media services to commercial businesses across Canada. The terms of the deal between the two private companies were not announced.

“Stingray Digital’s commercial music and digital media services for businesses is an important area of focus for the growth of our company,” commented Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital. “We recognize that achieving scale in this business allows us to develop and deliver best-in-class services to our customers. The acquisition of Intertain helps us achieve this goal,” he added.

“With Stingray being the largest background music provider in Canada, we are confident that our clients will be well served and benefit from an innovative and fast growing national company like Stingray,” commented Bill Baines, President of Intertain.

Stingray Digital’s commercial music services currently serve more than 61,000 commercial locations in Canada, and this acquisition will add more than 600 new locations and key customers. Intertain’s customers for in-store music and on-hold messaging include Newfoundland Liquor Corporation, Sleep Country Canada, Dormez-Vous, Holt Renfrew and Crane Supply.

Stingray Digital is the largest provider of music services in Canada both for residential use through the Galaxie music service delivered to more than 10 million homes in Canada and enjoyed by 60% of Canadians on a regular basis, and for commercial use with now more than 61,000 commercial locations receiving Stingray Digital-produced music programming.

About Stingray Digital Group Stingray Digital is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 75 million subscribers in 71 different countries. Our properties include:

• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV in Canada and in the US (www.galaxie.ca);
• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com);
• Music Choice Europe, the leading digital music service on TV in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com;
• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed to 45 million homes in the US, Canada and Europe (www.concerttv.com);
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com);
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com).

Stingray Digital is financially backed by Telesystem and Novacap. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company has 200 employees in offices across Canada and additional offices in Los Angeles, London, England and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

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Information:
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514-664-1244 ext 2283

gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

Stingray Digital’s Concert TV Inks Worldwide Distribution with Eagle Rock Entertainment

Stingray Digital, a Montreal-based provider of music services to multi-channel operators, is pleased to announce that they have entered into a worldwide distribution deal with Eagle Rock Entertainment which will allow for greater distribution of the Concert TV service into new territories.

The new deal includes pay-per-view, video on demand and TV-everywhere rights for a vast library of top titles from the biggest and most popular musical acts in the world. As a result of this new expanded territory deal, Stingray Digital becomes a preferred distributor of Eagle Rock Entertainment’s renowned library. Concerts from Eagle Rock will feature such artists as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Usher, Jay-Z, Ozzy Osbourne, Queen, Nirvana, Metallica and many more. Hundreds of classic performances as well as current concerts will be offered in standard definition and in high definition.

“Concert TV has grown into the preferred destination for TV viewers to watch the best live concert recordings on demand”, explains Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital. “This new agreement with Eagle Rock will enable us to offer an even greater library of popular concerts to an even greater number of customers in new territories around the world”, he adds.

“Eagle Rock are delighted to extend our successful North American relationship into Europe and Asia. We are confident that Stingray will be successful in delivering Eagle’s on demand content to a range of new platforms” commented Geoff Kempin, Executive Director at Eagle Rock.

The Concert TV video on demand service is currently available to close to 50 million subscribers throughout the US, Canada and Europe from leading cable TV and IPTV operators.

About Stingray Digital

Stingray Digital is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 75 million subscribers in 71 different countries. Our properties include:

• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed in the US, Canada and Europe (www.concerttv.com).
• Music Choice Europe, the leading digital music service on TV in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com)
• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV and multiplatform in Canada, in the US and in Latin America (www.galaxie.ca)
• Galaxie Music Videos on Demand, a complete library of current and classic music videos in multiple genres and several languages
• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com)
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com)
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com)

Stingray Digital is financially backed by Telesystem and Novacap. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company has 200 employees in offices across Canada and additional offices in Los Angeles, London, England and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

  – 30 –

Information:
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514 664-1244 poste 2283
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

Coveo Named to CRM Watchlist for second consecutive year

Coveo today announced that it has been named a winner of the 2013 CRM Watchlist, a compilation of innovative companies that are predicted to transform the customer service industry in the coming year.

The CRM Watchlist is awarded by best-selling author, analyst, ZDNet blogger and CRM thought leader Paul Greenberg. Entrants are judged in areas such as financial performance, management, vision, technology and thought leadership.

Greenberg notes that the Watchlist “plays a very specific role in the pantheon of technology companies and service providers. It’s comprised of those companies that I think that we all should be paying serious attention to, because one way or the other they are going to make a difference in a customer-centric world.”

Coveo was named a winner due to its ability “to provide dynamic information that leads to valuable insights that can impact companies.” Greenberg also praises Coveo as “an impressive addition to the Salesforce ecosystem,” noting that “case information, subject matter expertise and references and solutions to problems are represented…in what I have to say is a seamless and easily manageable way.”

This is the third award Coveo’s Customer Service & Support Knowledge Access products have received in 2013. Earlier this year, the company received a 2013 Service Leaders award as the “Top Recommended Search Platform” by CRM Magazine. Coveo for Salesforce, recently launched on the Salesforce AppExchange, also received CUSTOMER Magazine’s Award for Product of the Year, for its highly advanced search for Salesforce.

The review of Coveo in its entirety, as well as a list of the other winners, can be found on Paul’s ongoing series for ZDNet.

Paul Greenberg, Founder, CRM Watchlist: “Actionable insight is the best kind – the kind of specific idea about someone or something that leads someone or something else to do something with it – not about it. Through several strategic and valuable new additions and alliances during the past year, Coveo continues to be one of the industry leaders in deriving high-quality insights from growing varieties of data.”

Diane Berry, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communication, Coveo: “Paul Greenberg is one of the most influential and knowledgeable thought leaders in the CRM industry. We’re honored by his view of Coveo and by his excitement about how our knowledge access applications transform customer service. Our approach – bringing Content into Context™– literally brings related content from any combination of systems, directly into the context of the user. We are particularly honored by the recognition of our recently launched application, Coveo for Salesforce, which makes information from any combination of systems immediately accessible via search in Salesforce. “

About Coveo

Coveo’s highly advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight platform redefines how people access and share fragmented knowledge around the customer-focused enterprise. Coveo brings together the collective and yet fragmented information from cloud-based, social, and on-premise systems, and injects it into the context of every user, every time. Coveo connects people to contextual content, and through content, to relevant people. This enables more efficient customer service, increased sales, shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development and increased profitability. Coveo’s advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight platform securely connects with and crawls all systems to create a virtual integration layer, by federating and enriching structured and unstructured information.

The Company’s lines of business inject existing knowledge into every Customer Service interaction, personalize online customer experiences within high-end websites, and increase overall return on knowledge by making the collective knowledge easily accessible, so that all employees can stop reinventing the wheel. More than 2,000,000 people globally and more than 500 companies use Coveo to achieve their business goals. Among Coveo customers are CA Technologies, L’Oreal Switzerland, Lockheed Martin, YUM! Brands, GEICO and SunGard. For more information, visit www.coveo.com, follow us on Twitter @coveo or like us on Facebook.

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Source:
Jessica Hohn-Cabana
418-263-1111 x233
Office 508-353-3454
jcabana@coveo.com

Coveo receives TMC’s CUSTOMER Magazine’s Award for 2012 Product of the Year

Coveo announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named Coveo for Salesforce Service Cloud as a CUSTOMER 2012 Product of the Year Award winner.

Coveo for Salesforce injects Salesforce Service Cloud with data from multiple external sources and across the Salesforce Platform, automatically related to the customer service agent’s work, directly within the Salesforce UI. Coveo for Salesforce automatically “reads” case information and presents relevant information and experts who can help solve the case, transforming customer service performance.

This award marks the latest honor for Coveo’s customer service solutions, which won the TSIA Fall 2012 TechBEST Award for Best in Show, a prestigious CODiE Award for Best Relationship Management Solution, and was named a finalist for Data Innovation of the Year in the 2012-2013 Cloud Awards.

“We developed and launched Coveo for Salesforce to help customer service teams transform their performance in our big data world,” said Diane Berry, senior vice president, marketing and communication, Coveo. “We’re honored to have received this recognition so soon after our launch, which was just last September, during Dreamforce. The market excitement about our application has been extremely rewarding, and we would like to thank CUSTOMER magazine for this recognition.”

“Coveo was selected to receive a 2012 Product of the Year Award for its achievement in advancing customer experience management technologies. Coveo for Salesforcehas demonstrated excellence as well as provided ROI for the companies that use it,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC.

The 15th Annual Product of the Year Award winners are published in the January/February 2013 issue of CUSTOMER magazine, www.customerzone360.com.

For more information about the CUSTOMER 2012 Product of the Year Awards or any of the TMC media properties, please visit www.tmcnet.com. For an interactive look at Coveo for Salesforce, please watch this video.

About Coveo

Coveo’s advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight Platform redefines how people access and share fragmented knowledge around the social enterprise. Coveo brings together the collective and yet fragmented information from social, on-premise, and cloud-based systems, and makes it actionable for every user and customer, every time, with highly advanced enterprise search-based applications.  Coveo connects people to contextual content, and through content, to relevant people. This enables more efficient customer service, increased sales, shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development and increased profitability. Coveo’s advanced, Unified Indexing and Insight Platform securely connects with and crawls all systems to create a virtual integration layer, by federating and normalizing structured and unstructured information.

The Company’s lines of business bring actionable insight to Customer Service operations, high-end websites for personalized online experiences, and advanced enterprise search initiatives, so that all knowledge workers can tap into the collective knowledge and stop reinventing the wheel.  More than 2,000,000 people globally and more than 400 companies use Coveo to achieve their business goals. Among Coveo customers are CA Technologies, L’Oreal Switzerland, Lockheed Martin, YUM! Brands, GEICO and SunGard.  For more information, visit www.coveo.com, follow us on Twitter @coveo or like us on Facebook.

TMC’s CUSTOMER Magazine

TMC’s CUSTOMER magazine premiered in September 2012 and is the industry’s new, definitive source for news, product information, and strategies for communications that engage customers and potential customers. Each issue of CUSTOMER includes news and insights on the latest developments in agent training, analytics, ERP, IVR, social CRM solutions, mobile apps, workforce management and more. Please visit www.customerzone360.com for more information.

  – 30 –

Source:
Jessica Hohn-Cabana
Coveo
418-263-1111 x233
jcabana@coveo.com

Galaxie Music service rapidly expands in the Caribbean and Latin America

Stingray Digital, a Montreal-based provider of music services to multi-channel operators, announces recently signed deals in several countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

The Galaxie Music Service has been selected by television service providers in Barbados, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Marteen, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras México, Ecuador, Panama and El Salvador. With these new customers for Galaxie, the service is now available in 16 different countries in the region and in more than 1 million households.

“Stingray Digital is proud to be launching the Galaxie music service with so many of the top television service providers in the region,” said Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital. “We have introduced more than a dozen Spanish and Caribbean local channels as well as many service enhancements like on-screen visuals and multiplatform access. Operators recognize that we offer the best service and have responded by signing long term contracts with us,” he added.

The Galaxie Music Service includes 50 commercial-free, professionally-programmed music channels in all popular genres including Salsa, Reggaeton, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Classical and many more selected from a collection of more than 200 channels in dozens of languages. The music is complemented by attractive visual display on the television along with the album cover art-work and details of the currently playing song. Subscribers to the operators’ television services will receive Galaxie for free as part of their television package. Stingray’s music service also includes a complete suite of music video content for VOD.

About Stingray Digital Group

Stingray Digital is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 75 million subscribers in 61 different countries. Our properties include:

• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV and multiplatform in Canada, in the US and in Latin America (www.galaxie.ca)
• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com)
• Music Choice Europe, the leading digital music service on TV in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com)
• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed to 45 million homes in the US and in Canada (www.concerttv.com)
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com)
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com)

Stingray Digital is financially backed by Telesystem and Novacap. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company has 200 employees in offices across Canada and additional offices in Los Angeles, London, England and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

  – 30 –

For information:
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com
Tel: (514) 664-1244 ext. 2283

FileTrek announces reseller agreement with NuTech Integrated Systems

FileTrek, a provider of real-time and forensic solutions to outbound and inbound file-based threats challenging enterprises announced today a partnership with NuTech Integrated Systems, a premier value-added reseller of security, risk, legal, and compliance solutions.

“At NuTech, we are constantly looking for innovative technology in the cyber security and e-Discovery arenas. We have a long history of providing our customers with best of breed tools that make an immediate impact and provide a substantial return on investment,” said Bill Silver, President, NuTech Integrated Systems. “After reviewing FileTrek’s new IP tracking technology, we knew our clients would be excited to augment their existing security portfolio with these unique solutions for enabling early warnings of attacks while reducing forensic investigation costs,” said Harry Young, Vice President of Sales, NuTech.

“FileTrek provides corporate stakeholders a new way to regain control over their biggest blind spot, enterprise end points, enabling more preventative and investigative efficiencies” said Dale Quayle, CEO, FileTrek. “Forming a strategic partnership with a trusted advisor like NuTech allows us to broaden awareness and provide companies with unprecedented accountability over their IP in motion.”

About FileTrek

FileTrek Inc. is a privately held company with headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and a regional office in Los Angeles, California. FileTrek’s Worklog Data Collector (WDC) is transparent to users and can be scaled across thousands of desktops. The innovative technology provides complete visibility over sensitive information including the location of a file, who has worked on it, how it has been moved, and the genealogy relationships of files. For more information about managing your data in motion, please visit www.filetrek.com.

About NuTech

Founded in 1989, NuTech (www.nutech.net) is a leading National Systems Integrator that focuses on and maintains vast experience and expertise in helping the world’s largest companies meet and exceed the moving targets of I.T. regulatory compliance. NuTech solutions address regulations such as SEC 17a-3 and 4, NASD 3010, Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, The Patriot Act. NuTech customers include Dow Jones, Pitney Bowes, ADP, Viacom, and more.

– 30 –

Source:
Jake White
VP, Marketing Communications, FileTrek
310-362-5571
jwhite@filetrek.com

Telesystem supports Notman House

Telesystem is proud to announce that it is making a financial contribution to Montreal’s Notman House, as part of a fundraising campaign currently underway to renovate and integrate the adjacent St. Margaret’s Hospital building. As a result, Telesystem has been named to the Notman House Founders Circle.

“Notman House gives young entrepreneurs a chance to contribute to Montreal’s economic vitality, with their thirst for knowledge, their determination and their creativity. Entrepreneurship, technology and innovation – which together drive the economy, be it here or elsewhere – have been essential ingredients in Telesystem’s own history and DNA as a company builder. That’s why we are proud to support this project,” said Telesystem President and CEO François-Charles Sirois.

Notman House aims to become a leading global force for innovation and a hub for Montreal’s web-tech community. Up-and-coming entrepreneurs, startups, initial investors and technology groups – which together contribute to the dynamic character of Notman House – are welcome to make use of its offices, work and meeting rooms, event facilities and Internet café.

Current Notman House occupants include FounderFuel – a startup accelerator program for webpreneurs, as well as a number of programmers and developers looking to make their mark in the online and technology communities.

About Telesystem

Founded in 1984 by Charles Sirois and currently led by François-Charles Sirois, Telesystem is a private corporation that builds innovative international media and technology businesses. As a co-owner and partner, Telesystem is committed to maximizing the value of these businesses over the long term and making them industry leaders in Canada and around the world. Over the past three decades, Telesystem has built more than 100 companies and been a driving force behind some of the country’s most compelling entrepreneurship success stories. It also provides support to entrepreneurs and youth through its two foundations, Enablis and TRIOOMPH. For more information about Telesystem, please visit www.telesystem.ca.

About Notman House

Once the home of Scottish photographer William Notman, Notman House was designated a historical landmark by the Quebec government in 1979. Today, it serves as Montreal’s technology hub and home of the web. For further details, please visit the Notman House website.

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For more information:
Nancy Defoy
Senior Director, Communications and Marketing
Telesystem
Tel.: 514 397-8466
ndefoy@telesystem.ca

Coveo announces $18 million funding led by Tandem Expansion Fund

Coveo announced today that it has secured $18 million in funding, in a round led by Tandem Expansion Fund, Canada’s largest late-stage technology investment firm. All existing investors also participated in the round, including BDC Venture Capital, Propulsion Ventures SEC and The Solidarity Fund QFL.

The funding will support Coveo’s expansion as the market continues to heat up for solutions that enable actionable insight from big data. Coveo’s advanced search technology redefines how people access fragmented information and collaborate around the social enterprise. Organizations are increasingly data-rich but insight-poor, fueled in large part by the data variety explosion, the inability to integrate information from legacy systems, exponentially growing social media, and the move of many organizational systems to the cloud. Coveo brings together this collective knowledge for every user, giving them actionable insights into customers, products, projects, people and more.

The company has grown significantly during the past several years, including several year-over-year quarters in 2012 of 80 to 100 percent growth in license revenue, and has been operating at or close to profitability. This funding will be used to expand Coveo’s sales and marketing efforts, and to help scale operations in advance of anticipated hyper growth.

Coveo recently launched Coveo for Salesforce, a cloud-based application integrated into the Salesforce UI which brings the collective knowledge to every Salesforce user, delivering actionable insights for every customer interaction. Coveo automatically recommends content relevant to what the user is working on, whether that is an account, a lead, opportunity, or a case. It consolidates fragmented information from across a variety of cloud-based and social platforms, or on-premise databases or systems. Coveo for Salesforce is currently available for free trial via www.coveo.com, and is expected to be available via the Salesforce AppExchange within the next few weeks.

Tandem Managing Director Andre Gauthier joins the Coveo Board of Directors concurrent with the funding. Mr. Gauthier has significant experience in financial management including multi-jurisdiction mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, reporting, corporate governance and regulatory compliance of US and Canadian listed companies. Gauthier was executive vice president and CFO of Telesystem International Wireless Inc. (“TIW”) until it was sold to Vodafone Group Plc (“Vodafone”) in a transaction valued at US$4.5 billion.

Other late-stage companies in the Tandem Expansion fund portfolio include Beyond the Rack, CiRBA, Acquisio and Solace Systems.

Supporting Quotes

Andre Gauthier, Managing Director, Tandem Expansion Fund: “Our investment philosophy is to find great companies at a stage where they are ready to take their growth to the next level. Coveo has invested heavily in its technology, the market timing is a perfect storm for solutions that enable greater insight into highly fragmented data, and its customers rave about the ROI of the technology. We think Coveo is about to experience explosive growth.”

Louis Têtu, Chairman and CEO, Coveo: “Companies are struggling mightily with big, fragmented data, and are recognizing the need for powerful information access and consolidation technologies like never before. This is a major shift brought on by the need to better engage with customers, ensuring that every customer experience is more relevant and additive. The goal of the social enterprise is to connect customers and people at the center of all operations, and this is what Coveo enables through information access. ”

About Coveo

Coveo search technology redefines how people access and share fragmented knowledge around the social enterprise. Coveo brings together the collective and yet fragmented information from social, enterprise and cloud-based systems, relevant to every user and customer, every time. Coveo connects people to contextual content, and through content, to relevant people. This enables more efficient customer service, increased sales, shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development and increased profitability. Coveo’s advanced search and unified indexing technology securely connects with and crawls all systems to create a virtual integration layer, by federating and normalizing structured and unstructured information.

The Company’s lines of business bring relevant insight to CRM for Sales & Customer Service, Web Content Management systems for personalized online experiences, and Enterprise Content so that engineering and operations can tap into content and stop reinventing the wheel. Among Coveo’s more than 400 customers are CA Technologies, Lockheed Martin, YUM! Brands, GEICO and Boston Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit www.coveo.com, follow us on Twitter @coveo or like us on Facebook.

  – 30 –

Source:
Jessica Hohn-Cabana
Coveo
418-263-1111 ext. 233
jcabana@coveo.com

The KARAOKE Channel to collaborate on a new entertainment service for Xbox LIVE

The KARAOKE Channel, a property of Stingray Music USA Inc., an affiliate of the innovative Montreal-based provider of multi-platform music services Stingray Digital Group Inc., today announced their collaboration on “Karaoke” for Xbox 360, an exciting new entertainment service that will be available for download through Xbox LIVE in time for the holidays.

The KARAOKE Channel will draw on its leading expertise in the karaoke business to provide Xbox LIVE members with streaming of a complete library of karaoke songs, further enriching the unique experience Xbox 360 owners already enjoy.  With a library of over 8,000 songs including the latest hits and golden oldies, in top genres like Pop, Rock, Country, R&B/Hip-Hop and more, there will be songs for everyone in the family to enjoy.

“As the owner of the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet, the KARAOKE Channel will combine its expertise with the advanced capabilities of the Xbox 360 platform from Microsoft to develop the best in-home karaoke experience ever,” says Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital Group Inc. “Now anyone can access our vast library and sing in a fun and interactive way right from their Xbox.”

“Karaoke” for Xbox 360 is simply fun  

“Karaoke” for Xbox 360 is easy to launch and makes it easy to sing. Karaoke fans will sing along to scrolling lyrics on screen while their avatar performs the song on stage with a full complement of stage props, backup band and an adoring audience. The more songs are sung and poses struck, the more moola, props, fans and fun are earned as achievements are awarded.

Songs don’t require downloading; they play immediately via streaming for a robust karaoke experience. To keep the party going, songs can be queued via the top navigation through search, browse or SmartGlass integration, which connects a tablet or mobile device to the Xbox 360 console. Songs can be added to Favorites so they’re super-easy to find, or can be found through the History list to sing them over and over again. Other options include key change and a lead vocal track to help sing less familiar songs. To access all of the features, an Xbox 360 Headset, Xbox Wireless Microphone or an Xbox 360 compatible USB microphone is required.

Available on Xbox LIVE in time for the holidays, “Karaoke” for Xbox 360 will have a selection of free sample songs that will change frequently. Full access to the entire library is available for blocks of 2, 6 or 24 hours by redeeming Microsoft Points. Songs are added to the library on a regular basis as they are produced and licensed, giving everyone a great reason to launch The KARAOKE Channel on Xbox LIVE to discover new songs to sing.

About The KARAOKE Channel

The KARAOKE Channel, with a library of thousands of professional quality karaoke songs, has been spreading the fun of karaoke on TV, as a video on demand service available in more than 55 million homes worldwide, online, with The KARAOKE Channel ONLINE community and download store, and as a mobile app for iPhone and iPod touch and Android. For more information, visit www.thekaraokechannel.com.

About Stingray Digital Group Inc.

Stingray Digital Group Inc. is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 75 million subscribers in 56 different countries. Its properties include:

• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV in Canada and in the US (www.galaxie.ca);
• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com);
• Music Choice Europe, the leading digital music service on TV in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com);
• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed to 45 million homes in the US and in Canada (www.concerttv.com);
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for businesses (www.stingray360.com);
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com).

Stingray Digital Group Inc. is majority-owned by Telesystem, Novacap and Boyko Investment Corporation. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company has 200 employees in offices across Canada and additional offices in Charlotte, Los Angeles and London, England. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

– 30 –

Source:
Sophie Roy
Cohn & Wolfe
514-845-7025
sophie.roy@cohnwolfe.ca

Learn more about the CVTCORP’ continuously variable transmission

Daniel Girard, President and Founder of CVTCORP, gives a demonstration of the toroidal continuously variable transmission and explains its origin (in French only).

Stingray Digital continues its international expansion and acquires Israeli digital music broadcaster Musicoola

Stingray Digital, the leading supplier of music services for multi-channel television service providers worldwide, announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire of Musicoola, a Tel-Aviv based digital music broadcaster. With this new addition, Stingray Digital reinforces its position as one of the most important companies in the digital music market with an established presence in more than 50 countries. This is the 8th acquisition for Stingray since its inception in 2007.

Based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Musicoola offers a full suite of linear music channels tailored to local tastes to television service providers in Israel, Angola, Hungary and Romania. Musicoola’s services will continue to be offered to existing customers, and the integration of the companies will begin immediately.

“As part of our plan for global expansion, we are continuously seeking strategic acquisitions that fit with the Stingray Digital model and allow us to further expand the distribution of our various music-related properties”, stated Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital. This continued international expansion will extend the firm’s global reach and enable Stingray Digital to strengthen its position as the most important supplier of music services to cable, IPTV and satellite television service providers, with services now offered in more than 50 countries.

“Musicoola is an ideal fit for us, since there are ample opportunities for synergies between our respective platforms and services. This acquisition will allow us to expand our product offering to new customers in new countries, strengthening our presence in the Middle East and Africa, while deepening our penetration of the European market,” Boyko concluded.

About Stingray Digital

Stingray Digital is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 75 million subscribers in 51 different countries. Our properties include:

• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV in Canada and in the US (www.galaxie.ca)
• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com)
• Music Choice Europe, the leading digital music service on TV in Europe and Africa (www.musicchoiceinternational.com)
• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed to 45 million homes in the US and in Canada (www.concerttv.com)
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com)
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com).

Stingray Digital is majority-owned by Telesystem, Novacap and Boyko Investments Corporation. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company has 200 employees in offices across Canada and additional offices in Los Angeles, and London, England. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

– 30 –

Information :
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514-664-1244 poste 2283
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

FileTrek announces European expansion with empowered technology

FileTrek, Inc., a leader in secure file sharing, project collaboration and tracking solutions for the extended enterprise, today announced an exclusive partnership with Empowered Technology to meet increasing opportunities and demand in Europe, while rapidly growing FileTrek’s European presence.

“European organizations are grappling with the same mobile content management issues as the U.S., As mobile devices and cloud services continue to proliferate in Europe, there will be further demand for the FileTrek solution,” said Dale Quayle, CEO of FileTrek. “Due to their ongoing commitment to excellent product delivery and customer service, Empowered Technology was the obvious partner for delivering our innovative solutions to European customers. We are excited to announce Empowered Technology as our exclusive U.K. business development partner.”

The FileTrek solution launched on February 15, 2012 is the only combined cloud-based file sharing and tracking solution on the market. FileTrek is designed to allow secure file sharing, project collaboration, and the ability for managers to track content and data with enhanced compliance-friendly audit reporting. The solution is easy to use, transparent to users and can scale across thousands of desktops and mobile devices to maximize individual and workgroup productivity. The company recently released FileTrek for iPad, a management dashboard tool designed for workgroup managers and other team members to easily and transparently track the flow of projects, data and collaborative activity while on the go.

“FileTrek’s innovative tracking technology secures intellectual property being shared by an increasingly mobile workforce, making it a very timely solution,” said Paul Donovan, President of Empowered Technology. “We expect a positive reception from European organizations and look forward to helping accelerate FileTrek’s European market penetration with our regional expertise.”

The partnership is FileTrek’s first distribution deal outside of North America. For more information, please visit www.empoweredtechnology.co.uk or contact your local account executive at +44 118 324 0360.

About FileTrek

FileTrek is privately held with headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and an office in Los Angeles, California. FileTrek is a software provider of mobile content management and tracking solutions for complete visibility of sharing, syncing and versioning activities on the desktop and in the cloud. FileTrek solves the modern dilemma of data sprawl, empowers IT professionals, and improves efficiencies in companies of all sizes. For more information about managing your data journey, please visit www.filetrek.com.

About Empowered Technology

Founded in 2010, Empowered Technology is privately owned with headquarters in the U.K. The company assists IT vendors to successfully launch product and services in the international arena. Empowered Technology represents several IT vendors. For more information about the company, please visit www.empoweredtechnology.co.uk.

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Media contacts:

William McCormick
Grayling Connecting Point
415-442-4023
wmcormick@graylingcp.com

Miranda Joseph
Empowered Technology
+44 118 324 0360
miranda@empoweredtechnology.co.uk

Stingray launches digital music audio channels in Croatia

Stingray Digital, a Montreal-based provider of music services to multi-channel operators, announces the launch of Music Choice on B.net in addition to the KARAOKE channel currently available on B.net.

“It is an exciting day for Stingray Digital to be launching the Music Choice service with B.net,” said Eric Boyko, President and CEO of Stingray Digital. “TV service operators around the world are recognizing the value of commercial-free digital music channels as an important value-add benefit for their subscribers,” he added.

Subscribers of the digital basic tier will enjoy 45 uninterrupted digital music audio channels across all key genres and eras. The service will also be available on mobile, smart phone, tablets and pc. These 45 music channels are programmed by experts in a variety of genres. Subscribers to Bnet’s digital cable service will enjoy a channel line-up with different genres including Rock, Pop, Blues, Urban, Jazz, World Carnival, Hit List and many more.

The music is complemented by attractive, theme-based images that are displayed on the television along with the details of the currently playing song and the song playing next.

About Stingray Digital Media Group

Stingray Digital is the leading multi-platform music service provider in the world, with more than 60 million subscribers in 48 different countries. Our properties include:

• The KARAOKE Channel, the world’s largest licensed karaoke library and karaoke service on TV and Internet (www.thekaraokechannel.com)
• Galaxie, the leading digital music service on TV in Canada and in the US (www.galaxie.ca)
• Stingray360, a leader in sensorial marketing solutions for business (www.stingray360.com)
• Stingray Music, music licensing for film, television, advertising and other (www.stingray-music.com)
• Concert TV, a video-on-demand service distributed to 30 million homes in the US and in Canada (www.concerttv.com)
• Music Choice, the original digital music pioneer in Europe (www.musicchoiceinternational.com)

Stingray Digital is financially backed by Telesystem and Novacap. Headquartered in Montreal, the company has 200 employees in Montreal and Toronto, Canada; London, England; and Charlotte and Los Angeles in the USA. For more information, visit www.stingraydigital.com.

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For more information, please contact:
Gary Pelletier
Stingray Digital
514-664-1244 ext 2283
gpelletier@stingraydigital.com

FileTrek releases management tool on iPad

FileTrek, Inc. today released FileTrek for iPad, a management dashboard tool designed for workgroup managers and other team members to easily and transparently track the flow of projects, data and collaborative activity while on the go. FileTrek for iPad provides live activity updates of projects, displays how project files are related and how those files are being changed, with real-time data syncing and updates. The FileTrek iPad app is built for members of workgroups that require timely distribution of frequently updated files and the ability to track those files and data wherever it resides. Follow this link for a demo.

“The speed of the mobile work environment can make it very difficult for managers and team members alike to meet in-person to review and report on the status of shared projects,” said Carol Mason, Director of Product Management at FileTrek. “Managers want to view data and activity while on the go, and team members want to report the status of their work without having to write a report or make a phone call. FileTrek for iPad simultaneously presents three up-to-date feeds of information – people, projects and data, all on a single pane of glass. It will change everyone’s mindset as to how to get projects done with greater efficiency, and even have some fun while doing it.”

The dashboard app is an extension of the FileTrek solution launched on February 15, 2012. The application is the only combined cloud-based file sharing and tracking solution on the market. FileTrek is designed to allow secure file sharing, project collaboration, and the ability for managers to track content and data with enhanced compliance-friendly audit reporting. The solution is easy to use, transparent to users and can scale across thousands of desktops and mobile devices to maximize individual and workgroup productivity.

FileTrek for iPad features include:

• Access: With FileTrek for iPad, a worker in the field can access data through a tablet and have the same secure view of spreadsheets, presentations and memos as a manager in the company offices. Any existing FileTrek project or document that has been synced or shared can be added to the dashboard with a single click. There are no limits to the number of “favorite” projects, people and files that can be tracked.
• Robust Tracking Capabilities : FileTrek’s innovative data tracking feature allows users to obtain a comprehensive view of all activity within a workgroup or project, who has worked on it, and the various changes that have been made to it. The app provides reliable access to the most recent versions. A file map tracks project dependencies and illustrates how files are related.
• Event Feed: Receive live activity updates of all your FileTrek projects, access and revisions. You can see up-to-date sharing activity within a project, who has been added, who has been removed, information on what files have been reviewed, changed or removed, an intuitive cover flow interface allows users can visually flip through snapshots of files to easily access and view all the documents and files related to the project(s) they are working on.
• Management Tools: FileTrek for iPad is an innovative solution for people that manage multiple projects at any given time such as sales staff, real estate agents, creative services professionals, health care providers, etc. The dashboard is particularly useful for members of workgroups that require timely distribution of frequently updated files.
• Pricing and Availability: FileTrek for iPad is free and available now for existing Team and Enterprise accounts from the iOS App Store.

Follow this link to download.

About FileTrek

FileTrek is privately held with offices in Los Angeles, California and Ottawa, Canada. FileTrek is a software provider of mobile content management and tracking solutions for complete visibility of sharing, syncing and versioning activities on the desktop and in the cloud. FileTrek solves the modern dilemma of data sprawl, empowers IT professionals, and improves efficiencies in companies of all sizes. For more information about managing your data journey, please visit www.filetrek.com.

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Media contact:
Jake White
VP, Marketing Communications, FileTrek
310-702-4955
jwhite@filetrek.com

3 hours per day to success

In 2012, François-Charles Sirois, the founder of TRIOOMPH, spent three months working toward one of his lifelong dreams: learning how to play the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird. He hopes his efforts inspire young people to pursue their own dreams and achieve their goals.

Click below to find out how he did: 

Coveo Earns SIIA CODiE Award for Best Relationship Management Solution

Coveo today announced that it has won a 2012 SIIA CODiE Award for Best Relationship Management Solution. The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries. The CODiE Awards showcase the software and information industry’s finest products and services, honoring excellence in corporate achievement.

“This year’s winners reflect excellence and vision,” noted SIIA Vice President for the Software Division Rhianna Collier. “I’m proud to congratulate them on the success of their applications, platforms, and products.”

Coveo is one of 28 winners reviewed and voted upon by SIIA members. Awarded the “Best Relationship Management Solution,” Coveo Insight Solutions for Customer Service provides the front-line intelligence needed to transform customer service and support. By turning disparate data from all sources into insight about customers, their products, challenges, interactions, history and more, organizations are able to provide a more engaging experience. Flexible and modular, Coveo Insight Solutions leverage the Coveo Insight Methodology, a reference framework developed through more than 700 implementations. This combination results in a new level of actionable insight and the ability for organizations to better innovate, know, serve and sell to their customers.

“True customer engagement focuses on an organization’s ability to understand, adapt and respond to customer needs in a completely agile, real-time fashion,” said Diane Berry, Coveo senior vice president, Marketing and Communication. “The growth of social media and increasing move to the cloud has accelerated information fragmentation—while volumes are also growing exponentially. Our Insight Solutions, built on the Coveo Advanced Enterprise Search platform, help companies tame this growing and increasingly complex challenge by instantly assembling and presenting contextually relevant information for each user – whether that user is the customer, on a website; or a customer service agent or salesperson. And this is regardless of where the information is located – in the cloud, behind the firewall or in social media. We are honored to receive this CODiE Award, which is our third CODiE in four years. We are very appreciative of this recognition from the SIIA, the CODiE judges and SIIA members.” For more information about the CODiE Awards, visit www.siia.net/codies/2012.

About Coveo

Coveo transforms companies’ ability to gain insight from diverse and overwhelming amounts of unstructured and structured data, whether it exists behind the firewall or in social media. Coveo’s unified indexing technology connects broadly with all systems to create a virtual integration layer, from which role-based Insight Consoles present consolidated, correlated information mashups. Greater insight enables more effective and efficient customer service, more relevant customer experiences, increased sales and shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development, and ultimately, increased profitability.

Coveo customers range from Fortune 100 companies such as Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo, and Verizon, to Global 2000 companies such as GEICO and CA Technologies, to mid-sized businesses such as Terumo Medical and Children’s Hospital of Boston. For more information, visit www.coveo.com.

About SIIA

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education, and intellectual property protection to more than 500 leading software and information companies. The SIIA Software Division provides a forum for companies developing the applications, services, infrastructure and tools that are driving the software and services industry forward. For further information, visit www.siia.net/software.

About the SIIA CODiE™ Awards

The SIIA CODiE™ Awards, originally called the Excellence in Software Awards, were established in 1986 by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), now the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), so that pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other’s work. Since then, the CODiE Awards program has carried out the same purpose – to showcase the software and information industry’s finest products and services and to honor excellence in corporate achievement.

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For information:
Jessica Hohn-Cabana
Coveo
418-263-1111 x233

Coveo honored as a 2012 technology services recognized innovator

Coveo announced it has been named a Spring 2012 Recognized Innovator finalist by the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA), the leading association for today’s technology services organizations, at the Technology Services World (TSW) Best Practices conference today in Santa Clara, California. The company was named a finalist in the “Innovation in Products” category.

The Recognized Innovator Awards have become highly regarded in the technology services industry, representing the only independently judged awards program that recognizes innovation in technology services products and service offerings documented with customer case studies of measurable business value and results.

Recognized Innovator finalists were selected by a panel of judges, including industry experts and TSIA members. As a Recognized Innovator finalist, Coveo will be featured in TSIA Research, and conference attendees can learn more about the company’s offerings during the Innovation Tour that will be conducted at the conference on May 7. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 9.

“Coveo’s solutions deliver value to technology companies and they truly understand product innovation,” said John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for TSIA. “As one judge noted, ‘Insight is clearly seen in this excellent application.’ This is one of the many reasons why it’s our privilege to honor Coveo as a Spring 2012 Recognized Innovator finalist and a proven leader who can leverage innovative technology and continue to raise the bar for the entire technology services market.”

Services operations—including education services, professional services, support services and field services—are all looking for a competitive edge: something that allows them to make a unique claim in the market. Often, companies look to innovative technology to provide that competitive edge. The Recognized Innovator ‘Innovation in Products’ category provides documented case studies showing how their innovative products enable service operations to better compete through means such as increased productivity, cost reductions, increased revenues, improved customer satisfaction, or improvements to other key performance or financial metrics.

Coveo Insight Solutions for Customer Service provides the front-line intelligence needed to transform customer service and support—by turning disparate data from all sources into insight about customers, their products, challenges, interactions, history and more. Flexible and modular, Coveo Insight Solutions leverage the Coveo Insight Methodology, a reference framework developed through more than 700 implementations. This combination results in a new level of actionable insight and the ability for organizations to better innovate, know, serve and sell to their customers.

“We are honored to be named a finalist once again for the TSIA’s Recognized Innovator awards,” said Diane Berry, Coveo senior vice president, Marketing and Communication. “It is always a pleasure to be recognized for those qualities that are part of our DNA—innovation and delivering customer value. We look forward to participating in Technology Services World and having the opportunity to collaborate, share best practices and demonstrate the transformative nature of our Insight Solutions for Customer Service.”

TSW events have a strong reputation for delivering a solid program filled with impactful content. More information on Technology Services World and the Technology Services Recognized Innovator Awards can be found at www.technologyservicesworld.com.

About Coveo

Coveo transforms companies’ ability to gain insight from diverse and overwhelming amounts of unstructured and structured data, whether it exists behind the firewall or in social media. Coveo’s unified indexing technology connects broadly with all systems to create a virtual integration layer, from which role-based Insight Consoles present consolidated, correlated information mashups. Greater insight enables more effective and efficient customer service, more relevant customer experiences, increased sales and shorter sales cycles, faster innovation for better product development, and ultimately, increased profitability.

Coveo customers range from Fortune 100 companies such as Lockheed Martin, PepsiCo, and Verizon, to Global 2000 companies such as GEICO and CA Technologies, to mid-sized businesses such as Terumo Medical and Children’s Hospital of Boston. For more information, visit www.coveo.com.

About TSIA

The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is the world’s leading organization dedicated to advancing the business of technology services. Technology services organizations large and small look to TSIA for world-class business frameworks, best practices based on real-world results, detailed performance benchmarking, exceptional peer networking opportunities, and high-profile certification and awards programs. TSIA corporate members represent the world’s top technology companies as well as scores of innovative small and midsize businesses in four major markets: enterprise IT & telecom, consumer technology, healthcare & healthcare IT, and industrial equipment & technology. For more information, visit www.tsia.com.

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For information:
Diane Berry
Coveo
418-263-1111 ext. 200