Category: South Africa

Combining Layout International’s NewsPublish and Sophi.io’s smart AI and ML engine reduces the hours long process of print laydown to just minutes

TORONTO, June 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io, a suite of AI-powered optimization, prediction and automation tools developed by The Globe and Mail, has partnered with Layout International, a supplier of cutting-edge enterprise technology, to transform print production. Sophi will provide the smart AI/ML technology to fully automate the end-to-end print production workflow to save publishers time and money and enable them to focus on creating high quality content.

Print laydown is typically a long and arduous process, involving multiple editors and page designers and taking hours to complete. Without the rigid constraints of a template, Layout International customers will now have the opportunity to create a print-ready paper that is indecipherable from a paper prepared by human page designers, and the entire process takes just minutes. And for Layout International’s over 200 customers, this partnership means seamless integration of Sophi into their current NewsPublish editorial workflow.

“We’re excited that working with Sophi.io enables us to offer our customers cutting edge new capabilities in the form of an end-to-end automated print solution that dramatically increases efficiencies. Our customers will be able to run and rerun their print paper in just minutes, whenever they chose, all within the NewsPublish Enterprise content management system that they already use daily,” said Jean-Michel Habis, CEO of Layout International.

The Sophi suite of tools is designed to identify an organization’s most valuable content (not the most popular content, but the content that drives conversions or retention or the metric that matters most to that organization) and place it in the most valuable places across their digital entities, or behind a paywall when the subscription revenue outweighs the predicted advertising revenue. In addition to NewsPublish powered by Sophi.io, Sophi provides site automation, a fully dynamic, real-time, personalized paywall, and analytics solutions to publishers across the world.

“Print laydown is a massive undertaking,” said Greg Doufas, Chief Technology Officer at The Globe and Mail. “We see this partnership with Layout International giving publishers the freedom to focus on content creation and the specific design elements that page designers want to spend their energy on. The best part is that NewsPublish powered by Sophi.io is getting better and smarter every day, so Layout International customers will always be on the cutting edge of technology with this solution.”

To learn more, please visit www.newspublish.org or email sales@layoutintl.com.

About Layout International
Layout International (www.layoutintl.com) meets the growing technological needs in the market by providing highly customizable enterprise solutions. They serve more than 200 clients, supplying them with cutting-edge technology to improve the way they work. They enable many organizations to digitally transform their processes, migrate and integrate to work on a single platform.

Layout International Media Contact
Ghassan Halawi
Vice President of Sales, Layout International
+961 70 855685
ghalawi@layoutintl.com

About Sophi.io
Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) is a suite of AI-powered optimization and prediction tools that helps content publishers make important strategic and tactical decisions. Sophi solutions range from Sophi Site Automation and Sophi for Paywalls to Sophi Analytics, a decision-support system for content publishers. Sophi is designed to improve the metrics that matter most to your business, such as subscriber retention and acquisition, engagement, recency, frequency and volume.

Sophi.io Media Contact
Jamie Rubenovitch
Head of Marketing, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail
416-585-3355
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com

Zoom Phone Appliances Provide an All-In-One Desk Phone Solution for Calls and Meetings, with Hardware Solutions from Poly and Yealink

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced the launch of Zoom Phone Appliances, a new category of hardware optimized for the hybrid workforce, from home offices to shared huddle spaces, addressing use cases across industries. Zoom Phone Appliances combine Zoom technology with hardware from Poly and Yealink to provide video and audio capabilities and touch display, in an all-in-one desk phone solution for HD video meetings, phone calls, and interactive whiteboarding.

“Zoom continues to demonstrate fast pace of innovation and ability to scale globally with its robust cloud phone offering, Zoom Phone,” said Elka Popova, VP of Connected Work Research at Frost & Sullivan. “Zoom Phone has always been a disruptive alternative to legacy phone solutions and the new appliance program further enhances its value proposition by enabling businesses to video-enable workspaces with purpose-built appliances that are easy to procure, deploy, and manage.”

“The traditional workplace is evolving and adapting, and our goal is to empower the workforce to accomplish more by blurring the lines between voice and video,” said Graeme Geddes, Head of Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms at Zoom. “The new Zoom Phone Appliance program boasts a selection of purpose-built Zoom Phone hardware from Poly and Yealink, streamlining communications, removing friction, and enabling a powerful communications experience.”

Zoom Phone Appliances simplify licensing, installation, use, and management, benefitting both the end users and IT departments. Additional highlights of Zoom Phone Appliances include:

• A full-featured desk phone with powerful Zoom capabilities. Zoom Phone Appliances are always on, and always ready for instant communication and collaboration. Easily start ad-hoc or scheduled meetings, make and receive phone calls, check voicemail, and virtually collaborate with content sharing and annotation
• Centralized management through Zoom Admin Portal: Simplified, scalable, centralized management with remote provisioning and updates
• No additional licensing required: Login to a Zoom Phone Appliance with your Zoom account and create an instant office experience
• Personalized for the user: Syncs with the user calendar, status, meeting settings, and phone for an integrated video-first unified communications experience
• Simplified onboarding with Zero-touch provisioning: Minimizes need for IT support with a simplified set-up and user experience
• Touch display with interactive whiteboarding: Collaborate with colleagues with interactive whiteboarding that can easily be exported and shared
• Zoom Certified: Zoom Phone Appliances are introducing a new certified hardware category, ensuring these devices are purpose-built for an optimal Zoom Phone and meetings experience. More devices will be added to this category over time

The inaugural class of Zoom Phone Appliances features innovative solutions from two Zoom hardware partners — Poly and Yealink — with others to follow.

Poly CCX 600 Desk Phone and CCX 700 Desk Phone with integrated video camera

“We are excited to be among the first to integrate a native Zoom experience into our Poly CCX family, as Zoom Phone Appliances,” said John Lamarque, Vice President and General Manager, Voice Collaboration, Poly. “This brings the Zoom platform that we all know and love front and center on the device’s touch display, providing a powerful and immersive experience.”

Yealink VP59 Smart Video Phone

“We are delighted to unveil the new, reliable, and cutting-edge VP59 video phone, a Zoom Phone Appliance,” said Alvin Liao, Vice President of Product, at Yealink. “The VP59 video phone’s touch display will be powered by Zoom’s industry-leading video communications platform, providing customers with a user-friendly interface and intuitive experience.”

Zoom Phone Appliances are available through the Zoom Hardware-as-a-Service program as well as from authorized Poly and Yealink resellers. To learn more about Zoom Phone Appliances, visit the Zoom Phone Appliances website and read our blog.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Zoom Public Relations
Farshad Hashmatulla
Product PR Manager
press@zoom.us

The fully integrated, easy, and secure payments solution is now available in the US, Canada, Europe and United Kingdom, to save Hoteliers time and money.

SAN DIEGO, June 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cloudbeds, the fastest growing hospitality management platform, announced the launch of a fully integrated payments solution and a new Financial Services division in the US, Canada, UK, and EU. Cloudbeds Payments is a robust payment solution that provides hoteliers an affordable and efficient method of managing all types of payments. Cloudbeds Payments features a state-of-the-art terminal, transparent fees, built-in reporting, analytics, security, and world-class (in-house) support that hoteliers need to focus on their guests rather than time-consuming payments acceptance and reconciliation.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a6b2363-8d1b-4e56-9a1c-44eeda1b9bfb

Typically, hospitality payment solutions are complicated and are time-consuming, which impacts guest relations with inconsistent and slow customer service while consuming too much hoteliers’ time with management and reconciliation. Hoteliers can now avoid manual card entry and lengthy verification processes with third-party vendors. Instead, payments are quick, easy, and completely integrated into the Cloudbeds platform.

“The best part about Cloudbeds Payments is that it’s fully integrated into their existing interface,” says Tarek, Finance Manager, Convo 212 in Athens, Greece. “My guests pay directly on my website and it’s immediately reflected in their reservation and on our reports. It accepts all credit card payments, handles the verification process and makes reconciliation a breeze.”

“Our previous payments process was very lengthy – manual card entry, the verification process, reconciliation, chargebacks, disputes – it took too much time and effort. Cloudbeds Payments helped us speed up every aspect of the customer payment process. It’s easy and efficient for guests to book and for us to manage,” remarks Austin, Property Manager at Rancho Caymus Inn in Napa Valley, California. “Cloudbeds Payments saves our staff so much time.”

In keeping with its focus of innovating to help hoteliers build revenue, save time, and increase guest satisfaction, the Cloudbeds’ Financial Services division has built a next-generation solution that will save properties 10 to 15 hours per month in reconciliations. In addition to its world-class support team, Cloudbeds Payments offers an in-house dispute management team composed of industry experts who intimately understand the hospitality business to better support hoteliers and guests. Cloudbeds expects to roll out Payments to additional countries in the upcoming months, including Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand.

“Cloudbeds is on a mission to empower lodging businesses with every tool they need to emerge from the pandemic successfully,” says Richard Castle, Co-Founder, and COO. “Cloudbeds creates a seamless experience that elevates every aspect of their business – from how their staff operates to their guest experience. Our payments solution is the first of several upcoming financial services designed to help lodging businesses spend more time with their guests and less time managing their property.”

About Cloudbeds

Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds is the fastest growing hospitality management platform in the world. Its SaaS platform provides tools to manage better properties of all types and sizes, allowing property managers/owners more time to focus on their guests while building revenue, driving bookings, and increasing operational efficiencies. Trusted by more than 20,000 hotels, hostels, inns, and alternative accommodations in more than 155 countries, the Cloudbeds suite is a fully integrated platform of capabilities designed to help properties unify their management, reservations, and booking systems, grow revenue, and automate workflows with confidence and ease. For more information, visit www.cloudbeds.com.

Media Contact:

Austin Edgington
austin@austinedgecomms.com