Category: Our News

Kalaam Telecom, an exclusively enterprise focussed ISP, based in Bahrain, made its GITEX debut at the 37^th GITEX Technology Week held in Dubai.  A 12-year old company, Kalaam Telecom has created its points of presence across the Middle East and Europe to enable voice and data communications across the globe for its customers.

“GITEX has always been a great platform for technology companies, especially when great innovations are happening around cloud, IoT, and digital transformation. This year we had some unique propositions around Software Defined WAN, IPTV and Cloud Contact centre solutions. We showcased these at the show and the response was overwhelming,” says Veer Passi, CEO, Kalaam Telecom.

Traditionally, companies with multiple branches used to connect the various branches using legacy methods. Moreover, a lot of manpower was required to manage the networks. Passi explains how software defined WAN is a very disruptive technology that makes connectivity across several branches based on zero-touch provisioning. “SD-WAN provides end-to-end solution which simplifies and secures the WAN/branch office networks. All one needs to do is to ship few boxes to the branch locations, plug in internet and all the policies are downloaded from cloud and the sites go live in a span of two to five minutes.”

He adds that the solution counters the constant concern of IT department that revolves around management of various branches, and getting visibility of what’s happening on the network across multiple locations. “In our SD-WAN solution, there’s a strong BI tool integrated by which on a single window, IT can see what’s happening in various branches and get detailed reports if needed. We have partnered with Versa Networks from USA, which is rated as one of the best SD-WAN providers by Gartner and we are the exclusive partner for the Middle East. We are the only operator in the region who have done implementations in the region around SD-WAN technology and it has been very well-received.”

In contact centre space, Kalaam Telecom has partnered with Splicecom. The cloud-based contact centre solution that allows companies to rest on the investment that Kalaam has made; all they need are IP phones connected to Kalaam’s core through internet or MPLS connectivity. “By doing so, they get all features of a contact centre without having to make a large investment. Moreover, they get visibility into cost per agent. As a result of this, they can focus more on their business objectives rather than the technology for managing the contact centres.” Kalaam has done a deployment for Kanoo Travel, the largest travel agency in the Middle East for their contact centres in UAE, Bahrain and Saudi. This unified communications platform eases their cross-region communication, ensuring unified customer experience from the region. With efficient reporting and meeting clients SLA’s, this consolidated contact centre also gives them the flexibility to centralise their business.

In IPTV space, Passi says Kalaam Telecom has gone beyond legacy IPTV solution to offer a 360 ° infotainment platform. This means customers get an easy-to-use app through which they can check-in, place orders, lodge and track complaints as well as give feedback on various services. The operator has further partnered with various facility management companies as well as content providers to be able to provide a customised offering for the Hospitality and Healthcare clients as per their requirements.

The operator also displayed its cloud proposition at GITEX 2017.  To improve how enterprises manage multiple cloud platforms, Kalaam Telecom has created a single panel by doing an API with AWS, IBM stack, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba and the likes. Clients can now have a single portal for login, implementation and management of all their clouds. “The bottom line is to give a single window solution to the customer, a one-stop shop,” Passi says.

At a time when other mainstream telcos are also turning towards enterprise business segments, how is Kalaam Telecom planning to maintain its competitive edge? To this, Passi says that the operator is ahead of the curve in terms of innovative managed solutions and since being relatively smaller in size, ensures it’s more nimble than other larger operators. Moreover, the operator is focussed on providing industry specific experience to the enterprises. “Our go-to-market is very quick and our solutions are unique with regional traction. It’s all about evolving and creating unique managed solution experience,” Passi says.

Kalaam Telecom, the 2^nd largest ISP for business in Bahrain announced its partnership with Versa Networks, USA – an industry leader in disruptive software-defined networking technology to launch Bahrain’s First Secured SD-WAN (Software Defined Wide Area Network) infrastructure, that provides end-to-end solution which simplifies and secures the WAN/branch office networks. The launch took place at a recent Business luncheon held at the Downtown Rotana Bahrain on 22^nd May 2017.

In today’s world, enterprise challenges rapidly increase with growing business and technology needs, such as increase in demand of cloud applications, non-centralised manageability of multiple branches, increase in security threats and longer time to prepare branch for business. Kalaam’s next generation feature-rich Secured SD-WAN solution mitigates the above challenges by securely supporting application growth, network agility, and simplified branch implementations, thus delivering exceptional quality of experience for both on-premises and cloud-based applications.

Mr. Veer Passi, chief Executive Officer – Kalaam Telecom said “beingone of the leading telecom provider for businesses in Bahrain, it is very essential for Kalaam to constantly understand the challenges of the enterprises and mitigate them with a latest disruptive solution. Partnership with Versa Networks USA, a ‘Cool Vendor’ according to Gartner and “Strong SD WAN provider” according to Current Analysis, allows kalaam to provide tremendous advantages for enterprises to set up multi-branch communication – local & international within hours with a deep set of security capabilities including firewall, UTM, DDOS, Antivirus and DNS security.

He also added “Some advanced features consist of real time graphical analytics, deep dive view of networks and application performances helps to understand the usage, trends and threats to immediately action any notable incidents. This partnership delivers a broad set of capabilities for building agile and secure enterprise WAN / Branch network at a very low cost. Based on experience of some recent deployments & international research, the savings from SD-WAN adoption could range between 50% – 80% vs the traditional MPLS based WAN infrastructure.

Mr. Kumar Mehta CEO and CDO of Versa Networks said “The demand for next-generation, hybrid WAN architectures is rapidly increasing across the Arab states of the Persian Gulf as their economies enter the digital transformation age. Businesses of all types, from retail and finance to the oil industry, are requiring more agility, better economics and business alignment from their secure networks.  Versa is excited to partner with Kalaam Telecom and help them address this clear market need with a powerful managed SD-WAN service based on the Versa Cloud IP Platform”

Kalaam Telecom, the second largest telecommunications provider for corporate services in Bahrain, today announced its partnership with Dar Al Shifa, a newly opened medical center in Bahrain to provide end-to-end telecom solutions including data and voice thus, optimizing healthcare costs.

Further to support the patients, Kalaam has provided a premium unique number 16161616 to the Medical Centre which will benefit the patients in reaching the Centre more conveniently.

Mr. Veer Passi, CEO – Kalaam Telecom said “Different industries require different solutions and Kalaam has invested in understanding the core fundamentals of each industry, which helps us to provide unique and customized solutions. We are grateful to this opportunity in playing a key role in supporting and understanding the needs of the medical industry in Bahrain and serving their customers in the most efficient way.”

Mr. K.T Mohammed Ali, Managing Director – Dar Al Shifa said: “As a high profile medical centre that aims for the best in all aspects of its operation, we are pleased to have Kalaam Telecom as our Internet, Voice & ICT solutions provider that has helped us ease our operations with the dedicated connectivity of latest VoIP Technology & IP Telephony and a unique number that differentiates us in the market. As a new medical centre in the Kingdom, aiming for expansion in future, we look forward to enhancing our relationship further.”

Kalaam Telecom – the 2nd largest ISP* for corporates in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has been entrusted to deliver high speed dedicated internet services to the Al Raja School, one of the oldest private schools in the Kingdom. The School was sponsored with a Platinum Internet package providing the school with high speed business services. This has also aided for expansion of their IT infrastructure for the better advancement of the school.

“Internet and technology are an integral part of the learning experience for students.  Technology is extensively used by the students in addition to the research studies, creating original work, and collaborating and communicating with each other. We are thankful for Kalaam’s support to Al Raja School.” Joshua Perkins Al Raja School Principal.

Veer Passi, Chief Executive Officer, Kalaam Telecom expanded on this saying:
“It gives us tremendous pride to be a leading solutions-provider for telecom services in Bahrain. We support and facilitate e-learning in Bahrain by providing Internet, Cloud & ICT managed solutions to educational institutions. Thereby, we are certainly enthusiastic in playing a small part in our future generation’s education. We are also working on creating an awareness program to educate teachers, students and parents alike on the importance of harnessing the power of the internet in education and whilst bringing awareness of its threats and vulnerabilities.”

About Kalaam Telecom:
As the first, alternative and fully-licensed telecommunications provider based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Kalaam Telecom offers advanced internet, voice, data, cloud & ICT managed services to business customers. Having launched operations in March 2005, Kalaam serves both small & medium business customers and large corporations, government institutions with various telecom managed solutions across different industries in Bahrain. A key indicator has been the amount of renewed and continuous business awarded to Kalaam over the past eleven years. This also includes providing support the growth of digital transformation to further enhance business offices.

About Al Raja School:
Al Raja School is Bahrain’s oldest private school, and its mission is to provide students with education that prepares them to be strong members and contributors to their community.  Technology has always been part of the school’s learning process. In every classroom there is an interaction multimedia white board and the students have access to the internet under the school’s supervision.

Manama 25^th September, 2016: Kalaam Telecom, the second largest telecommunications provider for corporate services in Bahrain announced its partnership with Invita, a leading multi-lingual Contact Center providing an extensive range of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services in Bahrain.

This partnership enables Invita’s World Class Contact Center facility to meet and exceed customer expectations across diversified channels such as automated call Distribution – ACD, Video Contact Center, chat & email support, social media management and workflow management system over Kalaam’s redundant MPLS links with local and international voice services.

Mr. Veer Passi, Chief Executive Officer – Kalaam Telecom said “Kalaam has always been facilitating the BPO sector in Bahrain and is keen on evolving this sector by providing innovative and highly resilient solutions including connectivity to customers over latest technology platform and cost effective voice solutions over physical & cloud based PABX options. Our extensive network allows Invita, the regional ISO certified BPO service provider, to deliver enhanced customer experience with high availability and scalable business needs. Kalaam’s dynamic network has been playing a key role in elevating industry segments like BPO’s to its highest standards.”

Mr. Rahul Bhalla, Chief Executive Officer, Invita said: “Our State-of-the-art facility requires 24/7 high availability and 100% uptime in order to provide highest standards of service to our customers. This was made possible with Kalaam’s innovative and sustainable voice solutions and we are delighted to have Kalaam as our technological partner in sharing the same vision of advancing the BPO sector in Bahrain.”

About Kalaam Telecom
Kalaam Telecom is a fully licensed telecommunications provider based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The company offers advanced voice, Internet, data, and value added services to business customers. Having launched operations in March 2005, Kalaam serves both small & medium business customers and large corporations across different industries in Bahrain.

About Invita
Invita is a leading regional ISO certified BPO services provider with its headquarters in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain and with offices in Kuwait. Invita is a fully owned subsidiary of BBK bank, launched in 2006 as an integrated end-to-end Customer experience service provider and later diversified into IT and Training Services. Invita offers full-service expertise for multiple industries, including Government, Banking, Telecom, Retail, Healthcare, Insurance and Travel, managed from its state-of-the-art facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. A highly skilled team, comprising of over 90% Bahrainis, combined with global expertise and cloud technologies reflects Invita’s commitment to deliver quality standards in the BPO industry.

Kalaam Telecom, the second largest telecommunications provider for corporate services in Bahrain and Microsoft corporation, the world’s leader in software and cloud solution provider have announced joint plans to deliver innovative software and cloud experiences to enterprises in Bahrain.

Mr. Veer Passi- CEO, Kalaam Telecom said “Kalaam can now offer a variety of cloud computing services such as Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) over its highly reliable, redundant and self-healing telecom services to have seamless connectivity to Microsoft Azure. This collaboration offers a variety of Microsoft services to enterprises; such as access to Microsoft software, third-party software, business transaction services, web hosting & streaming media services and line-of-business (LOB) applications.”

Mr. Srinivasan, Commercial head of Kalaam Telecom stated: “Enterprises from around the world are using the cloud in incredible ways to accelerate and transform their business. We are excited to be working closely with Microsoft to offer tremendous value addition to enterprises to run the entire business efficiently at less expense. As demonstrated by this partnership with Microsoft, Kalaam is seeking to build sustainable, long-term partnerships with global technology leaders, with the ultimate goal of providing tools and technology that helps to grow business without any limitations.

Sherif Tawfik, General Manager for Microsoft Bahrain and Oman said, “We are pleased to partner with Kalaam Telecom to provide Bahrain’s enterprises with Microsoft cloud computing services which have been designed to accelerate innovation across teams and skillsets, with integrated intelligence that powers business insights, leverages open and on-premises technologies, and provides industry-leading security.

Kalaam Telecom, the second largest telecommunications provider for corporate services in Bahrain announces a strategic agreement with Etisalat UAE, by establishing a Point of Presence (PoP) in Etisalat’s SmartHub, the region’s largest capacity, content, internet and data hub in the Middle East. The announcement was made during a special signing ceremony at International Telecoms Week (ITW), the world’s largest meeting for the global wholesale telecommunications community held in Chicago 8-11 May 2016.

Mr. Veer Passi, Chief Executive Officer – Kalaam Telecom said “SmartHub offers access to terrestrial and submarine cable systems such as ‘The East African Marine system’ (TEAMS), ‘India-Middle East-Western Europe’ (IMEWE), SeaMeWe3, SeaMeWe4, TGN gulf and others to offer a diversified and protected route to extend Kalaam’s network to even more geographical locations.”

He also added: “Joining SmartHub’s ecosystem will strengthen our Global connectivity solutions for enterprise customers by providing them a complete and robust redundant architecture. This new co-location includes a core network node that provides improved Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Ethernet and SDH services carrying traffic from existing carriers at SmartHub to Bahrain and the rest of GCC and Middle East.”

Ali Amiri, Executive Vice President, Etisalat Carrier and Wholesale Services said: “We are delighted to have Kalaam Telecom join Etisalat’s SmartHub as a member of our growing SmartHub community. Our SmartHub is now a leading regional telecommunications service hub, providing regional connectivity and advanced services to our partners. The continuous flow of partnerships with SmartHub signify Etisalat’s position as a central hub of regional connectivity in the telecom market.

April 3rd, Manama, Bahrain: Kalaam Telecom, the second largest telecommunications provider for corporate services in Bahrain, announced its partnership with Gulf Customer Experience (Gulf CX), the new leader in Digital Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in the GCC.This partnership enables Gulf CX to seamlessly engage with customers across multiple channels, utilizing a cloud contact center infrastructure to provide a seamless customer experience.

Kalaam’s redundant solution ecosystem with The-Next-Generation-Technology provides co-location with multiple datacenters, MPLS links over fiber and microwave connectivity, local and International voice services that support inbound and outbound calls, two way SMS services and business continuity planning (BCP).

Mr. Veer Passi, CEO of Kalaam Telecom stated: “Kalaam intends to play a significant role in meeting the Economic Vision 2030 by facilitating and supporting the growth of emerging industry segments like BPOs in Bahrain. The flexible network deployment allows startups like Gulf CX easy scalability based on business needs and aligns with Kalaam’s product portfolio, offering a one-stop solution to this sector.”

Rami Sweis, CEO of Gulf CX said, “We are pleased to have Kalaam as our strategic telecom partner. Our business requires 24×7 service, flexibility and streamlining of connectivity and voice solutions, and we relied on Kalaam for months to help us reach our target deployment date of March 1, 2016. We appreciate their dedication and contribution toward our current and future operations that extend beyond Bahrain.”

As the first provider of a fully cloud based omni-channel contact center, Gulf CX integrates CRM, social media marketing, ticketing, geo-fencing and analytics solutions.   According to Sweis, “Our clients engage with us for reliable and innovative customer experience solutions, and they have high expectations in terms of business continuity and quality of service. We are committed to deliver on our promises and have offered superior service from day one.”

About Gulf Customer Experience
Our industry-leading customer experience solutions are customized and tailor-made to meet our client’s specific goals and business requirements. We are the preferred service delivery partner for brands who value customer experience as a competitive differentiator. As consulting, training, digital and technology professionals, we operate multi-channel, world-class customer experience centers, delivering a memorable and “wow” experience with every interaction. Our passion for service is embedded in everything we do, and we deliver on this promise.

About Kalaam Telecom
As the first, alternative and fully-licensed telecommunications provider based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Kalaam Telecom offers advanced voice, internet, data, and value added services to business customers. Having launched operations in March 2005, Kalaam serves both small & medium business customers and large corporations across different industries in Bahrain. Our policy of openness and frankness is central to our management’s philosophy. A key indicator has been the amount of renewed and continuous business awarded to Kalaam over the past ten years.

November 10th, 2015: Kalaam telecom was the first alternative, fully licensed telecom service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, having been launched in 2005. Celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, Kalaam offers managed telecom solutions mainly to the enterprise market. Kalaam’s success was regionally acknowledged, being shortlisted as finalists for “Best Enterprise Service Provider” in MENA region by Telecoms Middle East Awards 2015.

At a recent reception held at the Bahrain National Museum, Kalaam Telecom’s Chairman – Mr. Nezar Al-Saie stated: “The Government of Bahrain has been the most liberal in the region in terms of opening up the telecom sector. This liberalization fostered growth for alternative service providers to offer unique and advanced solutions, playing a key role in developing state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure in the country.

Mr. Al-Saie added that the “Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) played a critical role in providing level playing field to all the telecom operators through even handed regulations, and creating greater competitive market, allowing opportunities to alternate operators like Kalaam in providing end-to-end telecom solutions including Data, Internet, Voice, ICT and Cloud.”

Kalaam is now the 2^nd largest ISP for fixed wired broadband in Bahrain, with many top-ranking companies in different industries, some of which are amongst the Forbes Middle East Top 500. Through strategic partnerships, both local and International, Kalaam is able to offer international reach, with presence in UAE and UK allowing Kalaam to meet the international needs of it’s customers as well.

13^th September, 2014: Kalaam, the 2^nd largest ISP (in fixed broadband services) for businesses in the Kingdom of Bahrain has been selected as finalist for the TWME [Telecoms World Middle East Awards] 2015 in the “Best Enterprise Services Provider” category. The winners will be announced at the Telecoms World Middle East Awards Ceremony on 14 September, 2015, in Dubai.

“We are honored to be short-listed as finalists and be recognized alongside some of the top telecom operators in the MENA region,” said Veer Passi, CEO of Kalaam. “Being selected out of a pool of 250 nominated companies from 37 countries is an achievement in itself as it is indicative of our striving for excellence. The primary factors that led to Kalaam being nominated and selected was to be the first telecom operator in Bahrain to successfully conclude a M&A transaction in the telecom segment (with the acquisition of Lightspeed communication, a subsidiary of Orange Jordan in 2014). Completing ten years as an exclusive enterprise-focused ISP, Kalaam achieved a significant growth of 203% between April 2014 to March 2015. We are pleased that the independent panel of judges at TWME Awards recognized that Kalaam’s growth and continued dedication providing connectivity solutions that demonstrate superior workmanship and a dedication to technical excellence”, Veer Passi added.

Kalaam Telecom was established in March 2005, and now in its 10^th year of operations. In March, 2015 Kalaam  launched a complete range of solutions-ecosystems for various industry segments in, including banking & finance, hospitality & travel, education, manufacturing and retail enterprises.

About the Telecoms World Middle East Awards 2015
The Telecoms World Middle East Awards is an annual recognition ceremony that is held in Dubai at the end of the TWME Conference. Now in its 11^th year, the conference and the awards brings together the leaders of the telecoms industry to celebrate the success and amazing achievement in the telecoms industry in the Middle East over the past year. The Telecoms World Middle East Awards is designed to identify and reward those companies who have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to succeed and have continually set standards of excellence.

About Kalaam Telecom
Kalaam Telecom, the 2nd largest ISP for businesses in the Kingdom of Bahrain provides voice, data, Internet, ICT and cloud services for corporates and SMEs across all industry segment. Now in its 10th year of operations, Kalaam has been named Finalist for TWME Awards 2015 for Best Enterprise Solutions.