Switch is a cloud-based communication firm that aims to make business communication easier for a large demographic of ventures.
Most of the people behind Switch are members of the former Google Voice team, which made it easy for them to integrate their service with Google Apps. Now, the 2014-launched company expands its scope and takes measures to be Office 365-compatible as well.
When a Switch user gets a call, the platform pops up relevant information about the caller. It may include the caller's email address, LinkedIn profile or scheduled meetings between him and the user.
To make the system more appealing to Office 365 users, they can log in to Switch using their Microsoft data.
"We were always focused on the Google users," Switch CEO Craig Walker said. "They took the first step to the cloud. But you look at the amount of progress Microsoft has made in Office 365 in moving people from their in-company exchange to the cloud."
"Google created this cloud category, was an early innovator, but Microsoft has quickly closed the gap," Walker pointed out.
"This is a two-horse race; we want to enable all businesses to use Switch."
Switch confirmed that most of its inquiries came from companies using the Microsoft productivity suite.
"Microsoft is equal to or a little bigger in the cloud than Google," Walker explained.
Young companies such as Switch have a chance to offer more competitive routing services than established businesses. Big businesses such as Cisco do have the financial power to back projects that could strongly counter Switch's services, but the startup has the upper hand in flexibility and innovation.
The speed at which businesses are contracting cloud-based services helps Walker be optimistic. Office 365 and Google Apps are popular options, and as long as Microsoft and Google abstain from developing a similar platform as Switch's, Walker may see his business numbers surge.
Businesses who want to open a Switch account have to pay $15 monthly.
"The administration panel and ability to seamlessly assign accounts has been a real time saver for our IT department," commented an IT Operations Manager from Mashable.
The venture gained support from investors such as Felicis Ventures, Google Ventures, Softbank, Work-Bench, Andreessen Horowitz and Amasia.
