Plivo Blog

Meet Our Team: An Interview with Kunal

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:23:15 -0700

1. How long have you worked at Plivo?

I joined Plivo in February 2012 as the second hire. Its been a year full of constant learning and fun filled excitement. I came in right out of college having worked on mini python project. It was after I had finished my work with prosody (XMPP Server) under Google Summer of Code, Venky reached out to me through github.

2. What has been your greatest accomplishment within the company so far?

I learned a lot of good stuff at Plivo. One of the greatest accomplishments personally for me would be learning how to create end to end products and working on a stack. Something which I am keen on working now is internal analytics, we have a whole lot of data dumped on S3 which is crying to get on a graph!

3. What websites/apps do you visit/use/think are great?

You’ll find me on reddit and quora.

4. What are the software tools you use at work?

I work on a Debian VM running on 13” MBA. vim and Xcode for writing code. I usually have Advanced REST Client open on my chrome for quick API tests. Wunderlist to manage my daily tasks and we use asana and github Issue tracker internally. We use HipChat with customized hubot scripts running on it which notifies us about customer details, current calls running on our system or some payment fraud which has been triggered.

5. What is your day to day like?

I have worked on a variety of stuff at Plivo, right from the code running on our API proxy to the call and message graphs you see when you open plivo dashboard. Currently I’m working on rolling out the iOS SDK. So a typical day starts by adding tiny features along with fixing the bugs that have come up out of our beta.

6. Hobbies? Interests aside from Plivo?

I do some light reading here and there. Trying my hand at cooking currently.

7. Any inputs/tips/suggestions for folks deciding to join startups as initial team members?

Before deciding to join a startup, try to work with the team for at least a week. Figure out how things move around, and what kind of work is expected out of you. This would also give you a brief outline about the culture of the company.

Connect with Kunal on Twitter

Plivo: Softlayer Tech Partner Spotlight First, We’d like...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:28:00 -0700

Plivo: Softlayer Tech Partner Spotlight

First, We’d like to thank our friends at Softlayer for having us participate in their video series. They are a great partner on many levels. Now to the story!

Businesses face a fundamental challenge in the worlds of telephony and messaging: Those worlds move too slowly, require too much telecom knowledge and take too long to adopt. As a result, developers often forgo phone and SMS functionality in their applications because the learning curves are so steep, and the dated architecture seems like a foreign language. Over the last twenty years, the web has evolved a lot faster than telephony, and that momentum only widens the gap between the “old” telecom world and the “new” Internet world. Plivo was created to bridge that gap and make telephony easy for developers to understand and incorporate into their applications with simple tools and APIs…

Read the full post here.

Plivo + PyLadies Workshop

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:19:18 -0700

We’re so excited to have members of PyLadies SF join us this weekend to develop their Python skills!

During the two day tutorial, participants will:

1. Learn python basics, including types, containers, functions, iterators and generators.
2. Learn how to create a web application in Python (using flask).
3. Use the Plivo package to learn how to make outbound telephone calls.
4. Create an Interactive Voice Response application. IVR is used to interact with humans on a telephone, for example: When someone calls a number, you can ask for the option of selecting a language preference. ‘Press 1 for English, Press 2 for Spanish’ and then depending on the input you can control the flow of the call.
5. Learn how to create a conferencing app which will let you connect multiple users using Python and Plivo.

PyLadies is an international mentorship group with a focus on helping more women become active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community. Their mission is to promote, educate and advance a diverse Python community through outreach, education, conferences, events and social gatherings. Learn more here!

Got waitlisted for the event or can’t make it? Reach out to our community manager Rachel at rachel@plivo.com or at @rachelmaesmith to be added to the Plivo events newsletter.

Get Started with your Free Developer Account

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:01:00 -0700

by Kunal Kerkar, @tsudot

Language: Python (see comments for additional languages)
Function: API Call

Preliminary Steps

1. Go to www.plivo.com/accounts/register and sign up for an account.

2. Follow the steps in your activation email. You now have access to $10 free developer credits each month until you upgrade to a standard account.

3. Create an Endpoint by visiting this link, https://www.plivo.com/endpoint/. Click on ‘New Endpoint’ and fill in the required details. For the purpose of this tutorial,
Username - yoda, Password - obiwan, Alias - obiwan

Make a note of the username Plivo assigns you. It will be something like yodaXXXXXX where XXXXXX are random numbers

How to Setup a Softphone

1. Download a Softphone.

If you are using Windows/Mac. Download X-Lite http://www.counterpath.com/x-lite-download.html
For linux, Download blink. http://projects.ag-projects.com/projects/documentation/wiki/Repositories

2. Open the softphone. On Mac, in the menu bar, click X-lite -> Preference. Choose the Accounts tab and click on the ‘+’ button.

3. Use your endpoint credentials here,

User ID - yodaXXXXXX
Domain - phone.plivo.com
Password - obiwan
Display Name - Yoda
Authorization Name - yodaXXXXXX (same as your username)

Click on OK when you’re done.

4. Your endpoint entry in the list would be shown as Enabled.

To Make the Call Using API

1. Install the Plivo Python package by typing the following in the terminal and hitting enter:
pip install plivo.
If you don’t already have Pip installed, youll want to follow this guide (for Mac) first: http://guide.python-distribute.org/installation.html#installing-pip

2. Copy this code in your prefered text editor.

https://gist.github.com/tsudot/5209760

Make sure you replace the auth_id and auth_token variables with your AUTH ID and AUTH TOKEN found here, https://www.plivo.com/dashboard/

Replace the ‘to’ variable with your full endpoint SIP URI.

For eg. sip:yoda130320221021@phone.plivo.com

3. Save it as plivo_call.py. Run the script by typing ‘python plivo_call.py’ in your terminal.

Welcome to Plivo! Should you have any questions, feel free to ping our 24/7 live chat support at www.plivo.com

Free Plivo Developer Accounts for Life

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:15:00 -0700

To show our appreciation for developers, and to make it easy to get started with Plivo, we now offer free developer accounts for life to all new registrants!

What does this mean?
You will be given $120 credit every year which can be used to build voice applications. While these accounts are meant for getting your feet wet with our platform, they also provide the freedom needed to prototype and test applications before fully committing.

Restrictions

1. Plivo numbers cannot be purchased nor can you receive inbound voice calls and SMS on Plivo phone numbers; however, you can bring your own phone numbers. Services like virtualphoneline.com (comes with free minutes!) let you get numbers that you can use with your developer account. A comprehensive list of services and documentation which will describe this in more detail to come.

2. Outgoing voice calls and SMS to regular phones, including mobile and landline phones, will not be possible.

Now the Possibilities!

Apart from the above two restrictions listed above, you can do everything else on a developer account, such as:

1. Place and route calls between Endpoints. Endpoints could be any regular SIP phone, browser phones using our Web SDK or even Mobile SDK. You can even use any physical SIP devices like Polycom/Cisco phones. Find documentation here, here and here.

2. Use all of our powerful APIs and XML and build advanced applications like PBXs, conferencing bridges, and IVRs. There are no restrictions on this. You can even use our high quality text to speech feature with the developer accounts.

3. Bring your own phone numbers (DIDs) from various external providers at no extra cost. These can be services offering free or paid international DIDs. In fact , once you upgrade to a regular account these DIDs will still work. :)

The Fine Print
1. $120 is credited to your account @ $10/every calendar month. There are no rollovers of remaining credit.

2. When you charge your account for the first time, your account becomes a regular account. A regular account has no limitations.

Extra Bonus..

Create your first real application, blog about it to the world and we will upgrade you a $240 per year developer account. That gives you $20 every month for life.

Sign up for your free developer account today and get started with this tutorial!

If you need help getting started, or would like more information, please e-mail hello@plivo.com or ping our 24/7 live chat support at www.plivo.com. Attending Pycon US 2013? Stop by our booth (#322) to receive a larger free dev account and register in person.

Plivo to Take Part in the Innovation Showcase

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:11:46 -0800

We’re proud to announce that Plivo has been chosen as one of the four companies to attend the Innovation Showcase at Enterprise Connect!

“The third annual Innovation Showcase program takes place at Enterprise Connect Orlando 2013 later this month. The mission is simple: identify and recognize young firms with innovative approaches to enterprise communications. This year a record 20 companies applied.

The submissions tell a broad story. Some of the applicants were geared more toward the CMO than the CIO. Some seemed to be inspired by science fiction shows, and others were highly targeted toward specific platforms such as Lync or Google Apps. A few were aimed at at specific verticals. A few innovations were in the area of management tools, and a fair share were cloud solutions. Of course, as always, a heavy share of solutions focused in the core areas of voice, conferencing, and mobility.

Each year, four companies are selected to be in the Innovation Showcase. As always, the four selections are unranked within the Showcase. This year’s Innovation Showcase includes the following four companies…”

Read the full article here

If you will be attending Enterprise Connect, stop by and say hello; we’d love to meet you!

Sansay & Plivo

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:01:01 -0800

We’ve teamed up with Sansay to offer a new and powerful cloud communications platform and couldn’t be more excited!

“Sansay’s newfound interoperability with Plivo gives Sansay devices the ability to easily work with the cloud communication functions and messaging services offered by Plivo. This will allow the newly-minted coalition to pursue not only over the top (OTT) markets, but also the growing market for Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) in voice and video alike.

Under the arrangement, Sansay’s SBCs will provide the necessary security features to ensure privacy on the calls, as well as the various technical aspects of such communications like packet header manipulations, transcoding and call routing. Meanwhile, Plivo will be serving as more of a face-forward sort of functionality, serving as the API platform from which several major VoIP applications—hosted PBX messaging, call recording, WebRTC and several others—can be introduced…”

Read the full article here!

Transcription: What’s New & How to Use

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:20:00 -0800

About a month ago, we launched new transcription capabilities that enable enterprises and developers to build even more powerful applications, like true visual voicemail. With this update, recorded calls (in English) can be transcribed in two different ways:

1. auto- strictly done by a computer, fast (usually complete within 5 minutes).
2. hybrid- recording is checked by an actual person, leading to a much higher quality overall (usually complete within 20 minutes).

Currently, transcription support is for calls 120 seconds or less; however, we’re in the midst of extending that time to cover entire conference calls. Stay tuned for updates!

How to Use
Transcription ties in with the recording features. What that means is that wherever there is a possibility to record a call, you can transcribe it too. The functionalities in Plivo that let you do this are:

1. Record API
2. Record XML
3. Conference API
4. Conference XML

With respect to transcription, all the features above use the same set of parameters:

1. Transcription type- auto or hybrid (as discussed above)
2. Transcription URL- This is the URL to which Plivo will send the transcription text once the call has been transcribed.
3. Transcription Method: This is the type of HTTP method used by Plivo to send the request to the Transcription URL. The valid values are GET or POST.

Pricing
Auto $.05/min
Hybrid $0.35/min

Check out our detailed pricing for all services at www.plivo.com/pricing, ping our 24/7 support at www.plivo.com for more information, or sign up for an account today!

Come and Meet Us!

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:00:52 -0800

While we’ve been working on new and exciting features (stay tuned!), we’ve also been marking our calendar with several events that will allow us to bring the Plivo story to more enterprises, service providers, and developers.

During the upcoming weeks, you can find us at:

Channel Partners- will be in attendance February 27 & 28 and look forward to talking with more service providers about how Plivo and our partners can enable service providers to jump off the raise to zero and deliver some compelling applications.

SXSW- will be in attendance March 9-12 and will be spending a great deal of time with our friends at SoftLayer. By leveraging dedicated servers with SoftLayer, we are able to deliver the ultimate level of call quality.

PyCon- Come see how Plivo works! Because we are a gold sponsor, we will have a booth (#171) and be holding demonstrations the 14-16th. Stop by to get your Plivo gear and information about our free developer accounts.

Enterprise Connect- will be in attendance March 18-20th to discuss everything that is possible with Plivo. We will give a a WebRTC demo on the 18th that should not be missed.

If you will be attending any of the events mentioned above, please get in touch, we’d love to meet you! You can drop an email to Mike (mdl@plivo.com), Rachel (rachel@plivo.com), or connect with us on Twitter.

Meet Our Team: An Interview with Nishad

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:03:00 -0800

1. How long have you worked at Plivo? How does it feel being the first hire?

It’s been a year now since I joined and it’s been a crazy year at that. I met Venky at a coffee shop about a month prior to joining. When he explained Plivo’s vision to me, I was very excited. I really didn’t think in terms of being a first employee. I knew that both Mike and Venky were on to something awesome and that the problem they were solving was as genuine as it was challenging. I always wanted to be involved in a startup that was technological, as opposed to say an e-commerce venture, and I wanted to be involved from the very early stage. Plivo was perfect and I considered myself really fortunate to have gotten this opportunity.

2. What are some of the major changes you’ve seen? Can you give some insight to how the company has evolved since you started?

Well, obviously things have changed. We’ve grown pretty quickly. There has been growth in revenue, team, and our appetite for new features. The time I joined was when Plivo moved into it’s first office ever in Bangalore. We (Venky, me, Kunal- who came later, and Mike- remote from France), literally lived there for a few months getting the first version of our API and UI ready. We soon got a call for the YC interview and it was around the same time that we’d decided to shift to a bigger office. We were super thrilled after we got through to the summer batch of YC 2012. The team grew bigger after that and we launched publicly in June. We were really happy with the response to our initial set of features. After “Demo Day” at YC, we also got funded by a marvelous set of investors who didn’t just bring in money but gave proper guidance and shared invaluable experience as well. Now we have our HQ at SF. I’ve missed out many things but it’s been crazy in a nice way. So many things happened and so many things changed. However, one thing has remained the same. We still think the same way in terms of new challenges and features. We still pump code in with the same zeal and fervor.

3. What were you doing before you joined Plivo?

I was working at Adobe for about two and a half years in the Flash Builder team. It was a good experience. I did things varying from evangelism to working on the media installation scripts. That’s where I first used python and started loving it’s simplicity and power.

4. What websites/apps do you visit/use/think are great?

Github for reading code, twitter for finding out what else is interesting to read, this nice app called Readefine that makes any article pleasing to the eye.

5. Hobbies/Interests aside from Plivo?

I read a bit, like solving crosswords, listen to quite a lot of music, and I like to drive on empty roads.

6. What are you most looking forward to?

I am looking forward to the coming year and adding some really exciting features to Plivo. I am hoping to get to a stage where we can deploy stuff even faster than we are doing now. What I’m looking forward to the most is finishing the really awesome things we have planned for 2013 :)

7. Any inputs/tips/suggestions for folks deciding to join startups as initial team members?

Before joining Plivo, I was told “Don’t treat a start up as a job, treat it as a lifestyle”. That is so true. If you are planning to join a startup, make sure that everything about the startup excites you and conforms with your DNA. The aim of the start up, the founders’ vision, the work that you’ll be doing, etc. As an early member, you play an important role in deciding the fate of the company, so it’s good to give it a lot of thought before taking the plunge.

Connect with Nishad on Twitter
Interested in joining the Plivo team? We’re hiring!

What Rails Girls Taught Me

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:48:06 -0800

by: Rachel Mae Smith, @rachelmaesmith

(Photo courtesy of Jessica Allen)

If you’ve ever had the urge to build something, but were too scared or skeptical of learning to code, my advice to you is just try it.

Coming from a non-technical background, I’ve always been intimidated by the idea of learning to code. Not only did it seem too complex for me to understand, but I was also unsure as to how to go about starting. Amongst other qualities, that’s what makes Rails Girls so wonderful. They give you a foundation, tools to start, and the support of friendly coaches who help guide you through a fairly easy tutorial. Building an app in a few hours seemed overwhelming on the days leading up to Rails Girls, but when the day comes, you’re surrounded by others who know as little as you do, making the workshop much less intimidating. And although the coaches have years of experience, I didn’t feel like an idiot for having a question or for having a syntax error… make that a few syntax errors.

(Photo courtesy of Jessica Allen)

I always knew there would be a lot involved in learning a programming language, but what I didn’t know was how strong and supportive the Rails community is. Developers want to build cool things, but they also want to help others do the same. They support one another by sharing code and making it open source, which makes development much easier, especially for those just learning. Because of resources like Twitter Bootstrap and Ruby Gems, basic add-ons like buttons and forms take only a minute to add instead of hours. The accessibility of these tools lowers the barrier for people, such as myself, who are interested in building something that works and is aesthetically pleasing.

(Screenshot of my first Twitter Bootstrap button!)

After one workshop, will this be something I’m going to continue? Yes. While I don’t have intentions of becoming a full time developer (right now at least), I do think that it’s a critical skill to have. To be able to see your ideas come to life without relying on someone to do it for you is empowering and liberating. Here are a few additional tips I learned:

Tips!
1. Keep your code clean and organized. It will make it easier to work with and to share with others.
2. Every little detail matters. Always double check your punctuation and spacing.
3. There’s a lot you can do with basic tools, and the internet is full of them!

So if you’re scared to learn, don’t be. If you don’t think you have the right mind for it, you do. At least give it a shot before dismissing it as something that’s not right for you. Who knows, you might just have fun.

Plivo Sponsors Rails Girls

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:09:24 -0800

Plivo is proud to be a sponsor of the Rails Girls workshop in San Francisco this weekend! Our own community manager, Rachel (@rachelmaesmith, rachel@plivo.com) will be taking the workshop, so feel free to introduce yourself if you happen to be attending. For those of you not familiar with Rails Girls, they’re a nonprofit volunteer community dedicated to providing tools to women to help them understand and build their ideas. They make technology more approachable by hosting hands-on workshops worldwide, all of which are free to the participants.

We are so happy to be involved with this awesome organization and urge you to check them out! To find a workshop near you, please visit their website or follow them on Twitter.

Plivo Launches SDK That Lets Developers Connect WebRTC And SIP

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:54:00 -0800

“WebRTC, the new in-browser framework for real-time video and audio chats, will likely be a major trend this year. While it’s exciting for developers to easily add browser-to-browser chat features to their apps, however, being able to call regular phones from the web and to integrate WebRTC into existing calling solutions is still a necessity for many developers. The YC-backed VoIP startup Plivo, which raised a $1.75 million funding round last month, just launched a new SDK that makes it possible for developers to connect their WebRTC apps to standard SIP lines.

This means users can call regular phone lines from their browsers over WebRTC and, maybe more importantly, developers can integrate WebRTC into existing calling solutions for call centers and enterprises. This, of course, also works the other way around, and users can use their regular SIP-based numbers to call WebRTC users.

As Plivo co-founder Venky Balasubramanian (who goes by Venky) told me earlier today that this new SDK allows developers to bring “the past and today together.” Many businesses still rely on standard landlines, after all, and while Venky acknowledged that being able to add some WebRTC functionality to existing web apps is interesting, he noted that “just WebRTC isn’t good enough,” as the real power of WebRTC is only unleashed when it can interoperate with other systems, too. Enterprises that want to use WebRTC especially need to be able to integrate it into their existing workflows, and the new Plivo SDK wants to help them do so.

“WebRTC represents the future of communications,” said Venky…”

Read the Tech Crunch full article here.

Plivo Party Friday

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:48:10 -0800

To celebrate the new year, Plivo is throwing a WebRTC beta party and everyone is invited! WebRTC enables a complete transformation in how we communicate and eliminates the need for complex endpoints. Now the browser is your phone and the possibilities are endless.

So share this link (http://webrtc.plivo.com) with your family, coworkers, and friends and start 2013 with some fun!

Note - we have limited the number of people per room to 5 to avoid chattiness so it is possible that you and a friend end up in different rooms. Our apologies if that does happen, please call back! Also, if you feel so inclined to tweet about your experience please use the hashtag - #plivowebrtc

New Year, New Challenges, New Opportunity

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 05:30:28 -0800

While you’re updating your list of what vices to break and how many pounds to lose, take a minute to consider your current work situation. Do they offer a relaxed work environment? the opportunity to work with highly motivated individuals on an industry changing product? competitive salaries and full medical benefits? Well, we do!

At Plivo, you won’t just be another face in the crowd. You will be a valued member of a team focusing on one goal: the unification of telephony and web. Unlike other companies, you’ll be working directly with the founders as well as the teams in both San Francisco and India. Each member is encouraged to share their opinions and ideas— we can’t wait to hear yours!

If you would like the opportunity to help shape and build Plivo from the ground floor, apply to one of the open positions listed below.

Developer Evangelist
Dev-Ops Engineer
R&D Engineer, Telecom
R&D Engineer, Infrastructure
R&D Engineer, Web

Cloud Communications (for the first time EVER) Brought to You by WebRTC

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:03:00 -0800

posted by: Mike Lauricella, @mlauricella

“Wait - let me download that plugin.”
“I am waiting for the Webex client to install, I should be in the meeting in about 5 minutes, or maybe an hour.”
“Oh wait, I don’t have the right version of flash installed. What the hell is flash?”
“I think Skype just crashed….”
“I have to install a SIP what? I don’t want to install anything else”
“Of course my computer is plugged in, oh you are saying I need a plugin”
“Screw this, I’ll send an email.”

These are the typical statements the average user makes when trying to communicate on the web today. It’s just too complicated. This is why we need WebRTC; it’s why businesses and consumers will run, not walk, to WebRTC. If this is done right, that same average user should not know the term WebRTC, but rather they should only know that their ability to communicate just became simple. (This is my plea for marketing departments to not blindly copy the engineers, hopefully we learned from DSL)

What’s great about WebRTC is that it brings voice and video to the Web natively. Many have thrown around cloud communications for some time. The truth is cloud communications will truly exist for the first time with WebRTC. You can’t say you are in the cloud while still anchored to the ground. WebRTC cuts those ties. And as a result, the possibilities of communications are limitless because it is now in the hands of Web developers who will do for communications what they have been doing with information. Thanks Al Gore…

Costs will come down as a result of WebRTC, which is unavoidable and scary to the establishment. But that is not the story of WebRTC. The story of WebRTC will be innovation. It will change the way businesses communicate. It will democratize communications and change the way people in third world countries communicate; it may even give some the ability to connect to the world for the first time, ensuring that their voices are heard. Imagine, in the next major social protest when the government blocks traditional voice and SIP calls. It will be WebRTC that enables the protester to be heard and seen by the world, in real time.

While many have talked about the death of the PSTN, it isn’t dead yet. I am not going to say that WebRTC will put the nail in the coffin, but it does deliver a serious body blow.

While throwing its fists about WebRTC also smacks SIP around. An amazing technology that has led to a great deal of innovation now has to share the stage with something simpler and more powerful. Some like to say SIP is dead now as well. This notion was bantered about at the recent WebRTC Expo. I am not ready to go there just yet but I do believe that WebRTC will finish what SIP started.

I did see a number of people from companies that are stalwarts of SIP (I don’t care to name names) at the WebRTC Conference and Expo in November and they did have a bit of a concerned look on their face (one could even say a deer in headlights expression). It was all fun and games when they were driving the revolution of SIP against legacy TDM networks. I hope they understand that turnabout is fair play, especially in the world of technology.

Are there issues for WebRTC? You bet. While all the major players are at the table, some disagree about the best way to advance the standard. Some, like Microsoft, are proposing alternative technical models. Apple is following closely but with cards held tightly to their chest. There are numerous security and privacy concerns. The patent trolls are gearing up to do what they do best. I believe these issues will work themselves out. These issues have no choice but to work themselves out; the WebRTC train has loudly left the station and there’s no turning back

It’s very safe to say that Plivo has some exciting plans for WebRTC in 2013, stay tuned!!

Thanks MOM!! I am sure you are the only one that made it this far…

‘Tis the Season!

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:07:08 -0800

The holidays are finally here and the Plivo team is excited to celebrate! We’d like to share our holiday spirit and show appreciation for our customers, existing and new, by adding a little something extra to your Plivo accounts. Send us a tweet (@plivo) with the code #PLIVOHOLIDAY when you charge up your account this week and we’ll add an additional credit of 50%.

Details

This promotion is valid for customers that recharge or charge their account for the first time in the amount of $25, $50 or $250. The maximum amount for the promotion is $250. To receive the credit follow Plivo (@plivo) on twitter and send us a tweet including the code #PLIVOHOLIDAY. The credit will be added to your account within 24 hours. One offer per customer while supplies last.

Ex. If you charge your account for $50 then the Plivo team will sneak in and add $25, if you charge for $250 then we will slip in another $125!! Thanks for being a customer!

Tips & Tricks for Finding an Office Space

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:07:00 -0800

posted by: Rachel Mae Smith

San Francisco is a great place to be. There’s tons of great restaurants, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, a large population of creative and passionate people. It’s no wonder why individuals as well as companies move here. Given that real estate is limited, finding an office space can be complicated. Here are a few points we learned from finding our space:

1. Consider working with a broker
If you’ve never gone through the leasing process before in San Francisco, it can be overwhelming. Brokers not only know what spaces that are on the market, but they also communicate with the landlord, or landlord’s broker, for you— talk about a time saver! The best part is that the landlord, not you, foots the bill, meaning their services are free of charge.

We had help from the amazing team at Jones Lang LaSalle. If you’re in the market, do yourself a favor and get in touch with either Hugh (hugh.scott (at) am.jll.com) or Travis (Travis.James (at) am.jll.com).

2. Don’t expect to move in right away
Unlike renting an apartment, it can take anywhere from 1-4 months to complete the leasing process for an office space. The least time consuming aspect is actually finding the place you want. After that, there’s a lot of back and forth to negotiate terms and specifics (where the broker comes in handy). Be prepared to work out of a temporary space while documents are finalized and signatures are collected.

3. Know your budget and timeline
Before you get started or speak to a broker, project a budget that covers potential employee and revenue growth for the next 1-2 years. This should give you an idea of what you can and cannot afford and how much space you’ll need. It’s also not uncommon for landlords to require a 2-3 year lease, so knowing your growth plan will come in handy when you’re actually looking at spaces. If you think you’ll expand quickly, and need a bit of flexibility, look for a shorter sublease. It seems like common sense, but avoid signing a long lease at a rate you’re unsure if you can pay or not. Of course it’s hard to say no to a gorgeous office space but remember, you can always upgrade as your company grows.

4. Location, location, location!
It’s important to remember your employees as well as your customers when choosing an office space. Is the location safe at all hours? Will it be a hassle for commuters to get to work? Are there nice restaurants in the area for client lunches? There’s a lot of hype surrounding office spaces in SOMA. Just make sure it’s right for you and your company. If your customers are there, it might make more sense to pay the extra money to be close. If not, try venturing out to nearby, cheaper neighborhoods.

Now for the fun part, pictures of our new space:

(Entry way)

(A bit of the conference room)

(Our co-founder Mike hard at work, resisting playing the Wii)

(The snacks, of course)

(Our view from the 6th floor)

Plivo Ensures Quality and Security for Imprezzio, Inc.

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:26:00 -0800

Plivo helps Imprezzio, Inc., a leading software company, provide their customers with a high quality and secure solution to manage client relationships.

Challenge

- Needed a scalable, secure and reliable solution
- Targeting high profile Fortune 100 financial and insurance customers
- Required a powerful, open platform with a quick, responsive support team for a smooth integration

Solution

- Implementation allowed Imprezzio to create a secure, customized solution
- Plivo’s feature-rich platform ensured the creation of a complete solution
- Use of dedicated media servers ensures mandatory quality and security

“Reliability and scalability were top priorities to serve our fortune 100 insurance and financial customers. Plivo has completely lived up to that expectation.” - Kelly Birr, CIO

Read the full case study here!

More About Our Funding Announcement!

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:18:58 -0800

Wow, yesterday was a great and exciting day for all of us at Plivo! If by chance you missed it, we raised a $1.75M seed round from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Qualcomm and SV Angel. We’ve accomplished a great deal already and we’re just getting started. We’re excited to build out a world-class team, spread the Plivo message far and wide, and truly bring telephony to the Web.

We’ve Got Some Big Thank-you’s in Order!

Thank you to our investors for believing in our team’s passion, excitement, and ability to tackle the market that lays in front of us. To our customers, we thank you for entrusting us to provide you with a critical service. We understand the importance of our role in your continuing success and will be with you every step of the way. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you and we look forward to the opportunities that lay ahead. Last but not least, thanks to the Plivo team! We appreciate your hard work (though, is it still work when you are having this much fun?) and dedication. Go Green!

Read More News Coverage Here:

Official Press Release

VentureWire: Plivo Raises $1.75M to Take Telephony to the Cloud

TechCrunch: YC-Backed Telephony Startup Plivo Raises $1.75M From Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Qualcomm Inc. & SV Angel

Venture Capital Dispatch: The Daily Startup

VentureBeat: Funding Daily: Deal-vember

Nojitter: Plivo Gets Some Cash to Expand Its Service

WebRTC World: Cloud-based Telephony App Platform Plivo Raises $1.75 Million in Funding

Fortune: Venture capital deals

Programmable Web: Today in APIs

VC Circle: Morpheus-backed Plivo raises $1.75M from Andreessen Horowitz, others

DealCurry: Telephony Startup - Plivo Raises Seed Funds From Battery Ventures, Qualcomm and Horowitz