CallFire

by Natalia Klishina


The topic for this article was actually a suggestion from one of our employees. He thought it would be interesting for you guys to get an idea of what keeps us grounded and balanced, so that we can be happy, functioning human beings here at the office. It’s weird how much, or how little, some of us have in common. Anyway, without further ado, and in no particular order…


TJ
TJ loves yoga for the focus it brings to his day: “90 minutes of staying in the moment and pushing the mind and body to its limits creates a constant improvement that helps with the tremendous challenges and learning experiences that the day job brings.” TJ also bikes, which, too, requires discipline and focus on form — which is somehow freeing? (Beats me.)



Kim
When she comes home, Kim likes to watch TV, especially when her sports teams are on. She’s a huge sports buff and was the one who rallied us to participate in an office pool for March Madness. I’m sure it also helps that Tucker, her dog, loves to snuggle up next to her.


Ed
Ed seems all nice and harmless, but he is one of those people you don’t mess with. He does BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and Muay Thai — so that he doesn’t “have have to punch [his] coworkers in the face at work.” To each his own.

Dinesh
Dinesh likes a lot of things, from cooking at home, to hiking the Santa Monica mountains, to meditating (which he learned from his grandfather). Here’s the CEO-like part of his answer, though: Every couple of years, Dinesh does a non-profit volunteer trip, the last of which was to an impoverished area of Nicaragua to work with children with speech pathology disorders.


Pete
Pete likes to write poetry, play video games, shoot pool, play basketball, and – wait for it – help his wife with her interior design business. I asked how doing more work helps get away from work, but Pete says that it’s a good break from the norm for him, thinking about what will make a space feel more comfortable and how to make it into a reality for clients.


James
James like to take long trips in his car (which I guess is a good thing since he goes back to Irvine on weekends), with the top down and blasting his CDs. He says it gets him away from technology and all his server work.

Vijesh
Vijesh likes to spend time exercising or with his friends and family (and his wife is pretty awesome, so I can see how that is). The surprising part of his answer, though, is that the first thing he mentioned was coding. When I pointed out that coding was his job, he said that yes, but that he likes that part of his work; it’s the management aspect that is stressful. How many people can call their job their hobby?

Ryan
Ryan had a pretty simple answer: math. He’s currently taking a class on the calculus of variations… for fun…




Dan
For Dan, just being outdoors does it. That usually means cycling or trail running (Dan actually also bikes to work every day), but even road trips through scenic country do the trick for him. Considering I’ve never seen anyone else with such single-minded focus at work, I’d say he’s doing something right.


Daniel
Daniel, like TJ, is a big fan of yoga. Beyond that, he says running, swimming, and playing music helps.




Jeff
Jeff goes to the gym every day – Crunch, to be precise. I actually go to the same gym, and it’s definitely a great place to de-stress.




Jacob
Jacob likes to read and play ultimate frisbee, but his favorite way to stay grounded is actually cycling (like a few other people at the office). He says cycling is “humbling” and a “quasi-metaphor for life – with all the hills, and fast descents.” Uhm… sure, why not.

Bill
Bill likes playing music, as in playing his guitar, keyboard, or violin. He actually spends a bit of time composing.




Adam
This was an interesting revelation: Adam said almost the same thing as Bill. Adam is also a musician who plays guitar and piano (and he likes J.S. Bach by the way). Interesting coincidence. On top of that, Adam also likes to go running. He says those two things keep him from losing his mind.


Komnieve
Komnieve likes endurance sports (he bikes with the rest of our cycling enthusiasts), and spending time with family and friends. He loves traveling around the globe, and generally gets away at least once a year (he just went to Chili in December). He also reads quite a bit, usually something psychology-, economics-, or technology-related; he tries to get through three books a month (which is definitely more than I manage these days).

Natalia (me)
I actually struggled with this question for a bit, since I’m not a very grounded person, and I don’t try to be. I had a “zen” phase where I tried to go to yoga and learn to meditate and generally be a more balanced person, but then I just said “F it.” So I suppose the closest I get to being grounded is when I visit my parents in San Francisco (which I try to do once a month or so). When you’re an immigrant who’s moved around a few times, family becomes the only real constant.

/**
 * Serves to provide an excellent job experience in a talented and cutting edge environment.
 * <p>
 * Please check to see that qualifications match your skills and use the method shown in the
 * submitApplication function to apply.
 */
public class CallFireJob extends Startup implements CodeWarrior {

    public String getJobTitle() {
        return "API Developer / Engineer";
    }

    public String getCompanyUrl() {
        return "http://www.CallFire.com";
    }

    public String getCompanyInformation() {
        return "CallFire.com is a cloud telephony startup. " +
                "We’re dedicated to providing high-availability systems, " +
                "beautiful user interfaces, furious developer support and " +
                "unparalleled customer care. We are a unique group of " +
                "intellectuals with aspirations to truly change how companies " +
                "do business.";
    }

    public String getCompanyLocation() {
        return "3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA. Three blocks from the ocean.";
    }

    public String getQualifications() {
        return "Overview:  Great communicator and programmer needed for developing and supporting CallFire API's."
             + "Languages: Java, PHP, .Net "
             + "Skills:    SOAP, REST "
             + "Education: College";
    }

    public String getSalaryRange() {
        return "$60,000 - $90,000";
    }

    public String getBenefits() {
        return "Health, Dental and Profit Sharing.";
    }

    public String getCompanyAchievements() {
        return "INC 500, fastest growing companies #285.";
    }

    public String submitApplication(String contactEmail, String coverLetter, String resume) {
        Session session = Session.getDefaultInstance(getMailProperties());
        MimeMessage message = new MimeMessage(session);
        try {
            message.addRecipient(Message.RecipientType.TO, new InternetAddress("jobs@callfire.com"));
            message.setFrom(new InternetAddress(contactEmail));
            message.setSubject("API Developer Job");
            message.setText(coverLetter + " " + resume);
            Transport.send(message);
        }
        catch (MessagingException ex) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Failed to send e-mail");
        }
    }
}

by Kimberly Kohatsu

Yesterday, the CallFire team sponsored Twiistup 8, LA’s largest tech event. We met so many great people, heard inspiring presentations, and were proud to be among other Los Angeles startups making exciting things happen. As our newest team member Daniel said, “It’s incredible—Everyone here has a good idea.”

CallFire added to the Twiistup fun by holding a scavenger hunt for the chance to win an Xbox and Kinect. We advertised the first clue with posters throughout the venue.

People who texted in got a taste of CallFire’s SMS capabilities, along with their first clue. Our first participant had his answer (50 calls per minute) before registration had even begun!

Once hunters came to the table with the answer, they were handed a card with the second clue. It asked them about to identify one of our political Cloud Call Center clients that was featured in a CallFire case study.

As soon as the hunters had identified the client (Equality California), they were given their third clue, dubbed “the IVR challenge.” They were asked to call into a CallFire Hosted IVR and answer a series of multiple-choice questions. The number they called was a new 855 number, to which one of the hunters, Richard Rosen of FastCall411 happily remarked, “I’ve never called into an 855 number. I am an 855 virgin!” Of course, now he no longer is.

Once the hunter successfully completed the IVR challenge, they heard a message saying that for the last clue, follow CallFire on Twitter. Sometime between 3:00 and 3:30, the final clue would be revealed. Ben Tao of GeoDip set an alarm on his phone to be sure he remembered to check.

It must have paid off. Later that night, as the Twiistup party got underway, Ben’s name was drawn from all the participants, and he won the Xbox.

The CallFire scavenger hunt was great because at its core, it truly was an interactive demonstration of CallFire’s services. One participant told us that he definitely understood what CallFire does, but had fun learning about it along the way. I didn’t pay him to say that, but I didn’t really have to. There were a lot of CallFire goodies that we gave away at our table.

CallFire handed out t-shirts to everyone. Several people remarked how cool they were, and were impressed by the fact that they were American Apparel, not some no-name brand. (We don’t skimp at CallFire.) But that wasn’t all. We offered every participant a free CallFire toll-free number, with 1000 IVR minutes to try out the service. One attendee said, “I don’t want a shirt, give me the minutes!” Not that he had to choose.

On top of the shirts and the numbers, we also displayed frosted CallFire shot glasses, which were wildly popular. Asya Shein of Fusicology said, “That is genius!! I’ve been to a thousand of these events, and I have NEVER seen anyone do this! I’m never getting rid of this!”

The shot glasses got even more popular with the arrival of CallFire’s President, Komnieve Singh. Komnieve brought along a few tasty treats to enjoy inside the shot glasses.

To the far right of that photo is Patrick Vlaskovits, who was the main organizer of Twiistup. We want to thank Patrick for all his efforts, because the CallFire team got so much out of participating, made some awesome connections, and had an all-over good time.

And thanks to everyone who met with us, educated us, inspired us, and drank with us. CallFire loves you.

by Natalia Klishina

We’ve been hard at work here at CallFire lately trying to figure out some ways to provide our customers with better support, and one idea we’ve hit on is that perhaps this begins with providing more support to our support team. So here are some tools our developers have put in place in the last couple of weeks with just that goal in mind:

• Load balancing engine: When calls come in with a call status error, or perhaps a call status of rejected, the ops team can now route calls through different carriers to ensure successful delivery of messages and better call quality.
• Campaign administration: Need to send more than 50 calls a minute? CallFire’s dev team has built a tool that will allow the ops team to increase a client’s calls-per-minute (cpm) rate, so that those messages can reach recipients even sooner.
• Number administration: If a customer buys a phone number from CallFire and calls are, for some reason, still not being forwarded a few days later, the ops team can now view the purchase date and unique ID number assigned to that phone number, allowing the support team to provide expedited service and resolve the matter even quicker.

Those might or might not all make sense to you, but the goal is pretty simple: make it easier for our support team to help you. It’s just one of the ways in which CallFire strives to provide an excellent customer experience to all our users.

by Natalia Klishina

Earlier this year Thomas Friedman published a column in The New York Times titled “Start-Ups, Not Bailouts.” In it, he argued that what America needs is more funding for start-ups and less bailouts for old, floundering enterprises. Why? Because the former, not the latter, are America’s future. Friedman quoted Robert Litan of the Kauffman Foundation, who said, “Between 1980 and 2005, virtually all net new jobs created in the U.S. were created by firms that were 5 years old or less… That is about 40 million jobs. That means the established firms created no new net jobs during that period.” Clearly, a large part of new jobs are in start-ups — which means that there is plenty of room for smart, innovative risk-takers in this market. If you need more proof, just take a look at this TMCnet article about IT job gains. According to the latest IT Employment Index from IT trade group TechServe Alliance, there were more than 10,000 new IT jobs in the month of October, reaching a total of 3,903,000. This is a 2.2% gain from the previous year, compared to a 0.6% total growth in the non-farm sector.

What does this have to do with CallFire? Well, CallFire is one of the companies contributing to this trend, growing aggressively in a market that seems to be stagnant. We have grown by 1076% between 2006 and 2009 and expanded our staff by nearly 30% in the last quarter alone — and we don’t plan to slow down.

Of course, we’re not hiring just anyone; in a small company, hiring the brightest talent is more important than ever. Just look at our new Marketing Director Kim Kohatsu, whose goal is to “develop the brand into something meaningful and indispensable to our customers.” And she is definitely more than ready to take on her role as our brand ambassador: Kim graduated as one of the top 12 Syracuse University Scholars with undergraduate degrees in Advertising, Political Science, and French; she then went on to receive a Masters of Science in Communication from VCU Brandcenter — the leading advertising program in the nation; she has won numerous regional, national, and even international advertising awards; she has worked for clients such as the California Avocado Commission, AAA, the Hilton Family of Hotels, American Career College, Goodwill, Pioneer, Yamaha, TollFreeForwarding.com, and many others. It’s people like her who have helped this company grow so quickly in the past, and that will propel it to become even bigger and more successful in the future.

So if you’re an ambitious, innovative thinker who wants to be part of such a quickly-growing company, join us. We’re currently looking for an API Developer/Engineer to help us develop our API’s and act as a bridge with third-party developers.

-by Jeff (Customer Support Engineer)

Such is the answer I got used to providing to the question, “What do you do?”  Well, how else do you explain product support and account management for an online sourcing / procurement / contract management solution?  That is the work I’ve been doing for the past six years, originally at the small private firm of Procuri, and then at Ariba after it acquired Procuri in 2007.  Now I begin a new adventure in the world of telephony / VoIP / Cloud IVRs.  So now when people ask me what I do, I’ll tell them…  Hmmmm.

Whatever you call it, it’s my job to learn new applications (which I love doing) and to find efficient ways to use them, so that when clients call in and ask questions, they can expect knowledgeable responses.  I also have a knack for calming the excited and anxious, so that any (gulp!) bugs that find their way into the software can be repaired.  I feel very fortunate to be in an environment where innovation and collaboration go hand in hand.

I am also waiting to file my dissertation at UCLA after a rather lengthy hiatus, which I believe makes my committee chair happier than me.  So if anyone is suffering from a bout of insomnia and is looking for a drug-free sleeping aid, take a gander at http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0601/spisak.htm.  OK, I wrote this article a decade ago and it is terribly dated, so please don’t judge me on this little jewel.  My real field of research interest is in the difference between terror and horror theory, especially in theatre, as it evolved from the French classical stage up through modern cinema.  It’s a “smart” way of saying that I like scary movies.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kim, and I’m the new Marketing Director at CallFire. I’m excited to join a team of such passionate and fun individuals. In my first week, I’ve already attended a networking event that we sponsored, exchanged a non-denominational Secret Santa gift, eaten really good “welcome to the team” pizza (with my favorite topping, sausage), helped decorate the Christmas tree, and—oh yeah—worked on new marketing initiatives for the company.

As part of my duties, I’ll also be the newest contributor to the CallFire blog. So if you’re new to Cloud Calling, we can take this adventure together. Feel free to leave any burning questions you may have about CallFire in the comments, because it will probably benefit both of us to know the answers

Before joining CallFire, I was an ad agency copywriter, a search marketing analyst, and even a Wheel of Fortune champion. Looking forward to seeing what the future brings…

The CallFire team is looking forward to the third annual Digital Family Reunion holiday party tomorrow! We’ve mostly been going to tech start-up events lately, so it’ll definitely be exciting to network with hundreds of people in all sort of industries — from media, to finance, to education. Digital Family has put together a great way for business and technology professionals to expand their connections in Southern California and “to make a positive impact both locally and globally.” We can’t wait to meet everyone at the party and see what sorts of great ideas we can come up with for 2011 and beyond.

Event info:
Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 6-11pm
Wokcano (1413 5th St., Santa Monica — walking distance from our office)

CallFire is actually doing something really cool for this event! Instead of sponsoring a showcase table, we’re offering to send out an SMS Blast to participants shortly before the event, with Google Maps directions and venue information — both as a reminder and as a resource. We thought it would be a great way of showcasing something very simple that you can set up in just a few moments with CallFire SMS Broadcasting. Keep us in mind for the next time you’re hosting an event!

It’s great to see Coloft on the list of sponsors again. Last time we saw them was for the TechZulu Spotlight: LA Tech event at UCLA we went to last month. Names and faces get very familiar in the small world of Los Angeles tech. I’m also hoping to meet some people from WITI — being a woman in technology myself. And speaking of making a positive impact globally, I’m surprised and excited to see Room to Read on the list of sponsors (I thought they were in San Francisco). If you don’t know about Room to Read, you certainly should find out more. It’s an international non-profit organization that works with local communities and organizations in developing countries all around the world to increase literacy rates among children and gender equality in education. If you agree that world change starts with educated children, check out their website and donate!

Last Thursday CallFire’s CEO, Dinesh Ravishanker, and COO, TJ Thinakaran, spoke at UCLA Anderson Business school. The event, which was sponsored by TechZulu and the Entrepreneurship Association at UCLA, was a huge success and networking opportunity.

Natalia and Chathri even gave away 30 prizes to attendees of the event! If you missed the event and want to learn more about how CallFire can help your startup succeed, call 877.897.FIRE to speak to someone on our Solutions team.

This past Saturday, the American Diabetes Association raised over $280,000 at Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes 2010 — and CallFire was there to help.

Members of the CallFire team brought their friends and family along with them for the 5K walk through Universal Studios to help support the nonprofit cause. They even put together a way for other participants to call a into a local number and record their reason for walking that day.

You can listen to what people had to say by going to GeoGraffiti, clicking on any one of the recordings on the left, and then pressing the play button.

Many of you told us you were there to help find a cure and do something positive for the community; others walked for family members — in support of a brother, sister, or parent afflicted by the disease; and then there were those walking for yourselves, proudly stating that you wouldn’t let diabetes hold you back. No matter what your reason, thank you for donating to the cause and for taking the time out of your Saturday to be there.

CallFire hopes to see you again in the future at events like this!