Hill & Co. Provides Their Real Estate Agents Innovative Unified Messaging Technology

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SAN FRANCISCO – (Jan. 22, 2008) – Hill & Co. Real Estate is the first residential real estate brokerage in San Francisco to implement a complete, advanced Unified Messaging (UM) technology to meet the communication needs of their geographically dispersed and highly mobile workforce.“Having a reliable unified messaging system is no longer a ‘want to have’—it is a ‘must have’, especially in the world of selling real estate,” said Jeremy Ferguson, Director of Technology at Hill & Co. “Our agents are always mobile and geographically dispersed throughout the San Francisco area. We needed a reliable, user-friendly communications system that helped our workforce stay in touch with each other as well as our clients. We also needed to upgrade our IT and communication systems to stay ahead of the competition.”After evaluating a few unified messaging solutions, Hill & Co. decided to implement and deploy Active Voice Kinesis* throughout their organization and all service branches. “We chose Kinesis because it offers the best-of-breed Unified Messaging system that met our specific needs and the easiest way to migrate from traditional VM to Unified Communications in a gradual approach without the need to replace other existing investments or retrain our staff,” Ferguson explained.The largest single value Hill & Co. has realized through Kinesis is its ability to improve their agents’ ability to respond to clients in a timely manner.Commenting on agent experience with Kinesis is Ron Sebahar, a broker associate at Hill & Co. “The ability to instantaneously know, via e-mail, when a client or anyone integral to the real estate transaction process has left a message in my voicemail box has proven extremely valuable in allowing me to respond quickly and demonstrate a higher level of responsiveness, care and professionalism. This technology is perfectly suited for my often erratic schedule, which keeps me away from my desk for long periods. Having experienced several successful years in the real estate industry, I now truly believe that timely communication is crucial and this technology helps to achieve that,” he said.Ferguson added: “For over 50 years, our company has harnessed a reputation in San Francisco as a premier brokerage firm; we want to elevate that reputation among our peers by providing our workforce advanced technologies that will help them succeed in what they do best.”“We are pleased that Hill & Co. found our Kinesis Unified Messaging solution to be the perfect match for their specific business communication needs after evaluating other solutions,” said Eyal Inbar, General Manager of Marketing, Active Voice. ““In a highly competitive market such as real estate, companies like Hill & Co. have to look at strategically improving their organization to stay ahead of the competition. Active Voice’s ability to integrate with their existing phone system and infrastructure, as well as emulate the telephone user interface of their aging Octel voice mail system allows Hill & Co. to not only gain a competitive advantage of increased productivity, but eliminates any need to retrain employees or replace their existing IT investment .”About Hill & Co.Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City\'s finest properties. With three offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco\'s complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.About Active VoiceActive Voice, LLC, a subsidiary of NEC Unified Solutions, is a global leader in Unified Messaging, computer telephony and voice messaging solutions, powering the communications infrastructure of businesses worldwide. The Seattle-based company has offices in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands. Over 200,000 Active Voice systems have been installed in more than 60 countries. Active Voice’s products are sold and supported through a network of independent telecommunications manufacturers, dealers, computer resellers and strategic partners. For more information, visit our Web site at www.activevoice.com or contact Active Voice\'s Sales Support at 1-800-284-3575 or by e-mail at sales@activevoice.com.* The registered trademark KINESIS is licensed from Kinesis Corporation (www.kinesis.com), designer and distributor of ergonomic computer accessories. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.