CounterPath
CPAH] [TSX

The inception of CounterPath, a pioneer in providing innovative desktop and mobile VoIP software products and solutions, can be traced back to a simple problem— how can the company free users from the tethered desktop phone and use the same for creating documents, emailing and other productivity enhancements. CounterPath started by focusing on developing the world’s first softphone that could easily take the place of an everyday hardphone. This is before mainstream VoIP services even contemplated having services across anything except a hardphone. “With the development of our softphone, we worked with the major standards bodies to define the basic technologies that are still used today in most softphones,” remarks Todd Carothers, EVP of Sales and Marketing. The launch of CounterPath’s X-Lite empowered tens’ of millions of users “test” a softphone for their environment. This not for commercial use solution works across any device, over any network with any call server platform. “To this day, the high-level of interoperability separates us from the competitors. And you could say we pioneered the mainstream, acceptable softphone for the VoIP industry,” adds Carothers.

CounterPath provides a user experience focused platform through its two commercial product lines Bria and Stretto. Bria represents the softphone product line that is a full-feature voice, video, messaging, presence, and collaboration application. Its server compliment, Stretto, focuses on building a technical bridge from the edge into the network core. Stretto delivers on four themes, User Management, Mobility and Messaging/Presence and Collaboration. User Management enables detailed provisioning that works with an existing Microsoft development for authentication. Even more, the entire Microsoft (or other) database of users can be instantly enabled via Stretto to Bria users. Stretto also enables User Enhanced Metrics and tools to help diagnose issues in the field. The second theme, Mobility, enables softphone to work in the mobile world. This means mobility is not an afterthought, but a forethought as it relates to user experience.

“The importance of CounterPath is not the product or even the quality we deliver—but, the fact we deliver a unified, unbeatable user experience across any device, over any network using any call platform,” extols Carothers.

We deliver a unified, unbeatable user experience across any device, over any network using any call platform

This is important because Enterprises are struggling with making the old call platform solutions fit within the new paradigm of the “WhatsApp” world. “CounterPath has developed a bridge for these two-opposing worlds and created the best user experience possible.”

CounterPath has been behind some of the largest brands in the Unified Communications market, assisting them with innovative solutions. “With thousands of customers and over 20 Mn deployments, CounterPath has become one of the pioneers in contact center solutions,” explains Carothers. In one instance, inContact—a contact center software leader, needed a softphone that would work with their cloud IP-PBX and ACD, provide multiple high-quality voice codecs and efficient media engines. The firm also wanted to customize and lock down softphones, encrypt communications, simplify provisioning and maintenance of softphones via a single platform and support multi-channel contact centers with voice, chat, email, SMS and even social media. InContact evaluated and selected CounterPath’s Bria Contact Center solution to enhance its cloud offering. CounterPath customized and re-branded Bria to meet the user interface design requirements for inContact. Besides delivering HD voice quality, it increased productivity by allowing agents to only interact within a single call center application.

CounterPath is evolving its products and business model to focus on the cloud– in particular with the launch of Bria X. It enables users to use softphones across desktop, mobile and tablets supporting voice, video, messaging, presence, and screen sharing for a very low price of $3/month. “This is extremely disruptive to the Telecommunications sector that now offers screen sharing alone for $10 / month,” says Carothers. “This also marks a significant advent of CounterPath entering the services space.”