BEDFORD, Mass., Feb. 27, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SoundBite Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:SDBT), a leading provider of on-demand customer contact solutions, announced that it has acquired essentially all of the assets of Mobile Collect, Inc. in an all-cash transaction of approximately $500,000 plus additional contingent consideration of up to $2 million based upon a certain percent of text messaging revenue. This additional consideration will be earned and paid in future periods. Mobile Collect is a Software as a Service (SaaS) provider of mobile communications solutions and a pioneer in Free-to-End User (FTEU) text messaging. The acquisition accelerates SoundBite's vision of delivering a hosted, multi-channel communications platform to its clients.
"This acquisition accelerates SoundBite's commitment to deliver a multi-channel communications platform to our clients across a number of strategic vertical markets," said Peter Shields, President and CEO of SoundBite. "Mobile Collect's customer base and domain expertise in text messaging and collections are complementary to our strength in automated voice messaging, email, campaign management, and reporting and analytics. SoundBite will offer its clients the power and flexibility to design, implement and measure robust customer contact campaigns to achieve the business results they seek -- whether it is more efficient collections, outstanding customer care, breakthrough marketing, or increased customer loyalty."
Alan Berrey, the founder and CEO of Mobile Collect and an industry veteran, will join SoundBite as Vice President of Market Development, Text and Mobile Messaging. "I am excited to be joining SoundBite and share the company's commitment to making mobile messaging a strategic component of its multi-channel platform," said Berrey. "Working together, we can leverage our combined expertise to deliver a more holistic, multi-channel offering to our clients and become a key ingredient in any organization's customer communications strategy."
As mobile phone usage continues to grow in the U.S., text messaging has nearly doubled year over year. According to the 2007 CTIA Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey, more than 240 billion text messages were delivered in the U.S. during the 12-month period ending July 2006. In an effort to interact and communicate with valued customers, businesses are adding text messaging as another delivery channel for important customer communications.
FTEU text messaging makes it possible to deliver these text messages without consumers incurring any cost for the communication. This is critical for any business attempting to collect a debt or deliver an informational message to an individual's mobile phone.
Mobile Collect provides text messaging solutions for collections applications and was the first company to request and implement FTEU text messaging with major U.S. mobile carriers. Mobile Collect currently provides its service to a number of enterprise organizations, including three of the top ten U.S. issuing banks.
About SoundBite Communications
SoundBite Communications is a leading provider of automated customer contact solutions that are delivered through a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. Organizations rely on SoundBite's on-demand solution to initiate and manage customer contact campaigns across a variety of collections, customer care, and marketing processes. SoundBite helps organizations increase revenue, enhance customer service and retention, secure payments, and can also improve contact center efficiency by increasing agent productivity and enabling agentless interactions. The company's multi-tenant customer communications platform is used by organizations across a number of industries, including collection agencies, financial service providers, retailers, telecommunications providers, and utilities. SoundBite's clients use the service to place approximately one and a half billion calls annually. SoundBite is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.SoundBite.com.
(SDBT-F)