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Comverse Technology, Inc., originally founded in Israel, was a technology company located in Woodbury, New York in the United States, that developed and marketed telecommunications software. The company focused on providing value-added services to telecommunication service providers, in particular to mobile network operators. Comverse Technology had several wholly or partly owned subsidiaries. The name "Comverse" is a fusion of the words "communication" and "versatility". Founded in 1982, the company went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market in 1986. Led by co-founder and CEO Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the company originally specialized in centralized hardware/software systems for voice and fax messaging and sold them to telecommunications companies and other large enterprises. Much of its funding came from Israeli government subsidies and tax credits provided to research and development for hi-tech firms. By the mid-1990s, one of its most successful products allowed legal authorities and intelligence agencies to record and store data collected from intercepted communications. Starting in the late 1990s, Comverse's voice messaging software became its main product and the company grew rapidly with the surge in mobile phone use, passing the $1 billion mark in revenues. It established a formidable position in the worldwide mobile voicemail management market and sold a popular short message service center (SMSC) product. While headquartered in the US, most of the company's research and development was done in Israel; Comverse became one of the more visible success stories in Israel's hi-tech industry. It was one of Israel's largest employers of software engineers, was closely followed in the nation's business press, and was the first Israeli-associated company to join the S&P 500 index. In 2006, Comverse was involved in an options backdating scandal. Alexander and two other top executives were charged in the US with multiple counts of conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and making false filings. Alexander fled the country to Namibia where he engaged in a prolonged fight against extradition. The scandal proved difficult for Comverse Technology to recover from; the company was delisted from Nasdaq, removed from the S&P 500, and spent the next several years consumed by the costly need to restate its financial reports for several years. Additionally affected by the financial crisis of 2008 and on and changes in the mobile phone market, the company underwent several rounds of large-scale layoffs and sold off parts of its business. By 2011 the company began a turnaround. During 2012 and 2013, Comverse Technology divested itself of all its holdings and ceased to exist; the two independent companies that carry on its most well-known product lines are Comverse and Verint Systems. ==Subsidiaries== Comverse Technology had multiple subsidiaries: * Comverse, also known as Comverse Network Systems or Comverse CNS, is a provider of software and systems enabling value-added services for voice, messaging, mobile Internet and mobile advertising; converged billing and active customer management; and IP communications. Comverse's solutions support flexible deployment models, including in-network, hosted and managed services, and can run on circuit-switched, IP, IMS, and converged network environments. Comverse's customer base spans more than 130 countries and covers over 500 communication service providers serving more than two billion subscribers. It typically provided some 70 percent of Comverse Technology's overall revenue.〔 Comverse has 100 local offices in 40 countries, with its corporate headquarters located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in the US. * Verint Systems (which, from 1999 to 2002, was known as Comverse Infosys〔) is a provider of solutions for analysis of intercepted communications, digital video-focused security and surveillance, and analytics and business intelligence for the enterprise.〔Longueuil, ''Wireless Messaging Demystified'', p. 248.〕 Their products are aimed to enable government and enterprises to make sense of the vast information they collect to meet performance and security goals. Verint solutions are used by more than 10,000 organizations in 150 countries.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Verint Systems Inc. )〕 Verint is headquartered in Melville, New York, with offices worldwide and 2500 employees around the globe. By 2011, Verint was 52 percent owned by Comverse Technology.〔 * Ulticom provides signaling solutions for wireless, wireline, and Internet communications.〔〔 Ulticom's products are used by telecommunication equipment and service providers worldwide to deploy mobility, location, payment, switching, and messaging services. Ulticom is headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, with additional offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Comverse acquired Ulticom in 1996 and sold it in 2010.〔 * Startel sells integrated voice, data and networking solutions for use in call centers worldwide.〔 It was originally an independent company that was acquired by Comverse Technology in 1992. * Starhome provides roaming services for mobile network operators.〔 The Starhome portfolio includes international roaming services and core network solutions across various technologies, including intelligent networks and next-generation networks. It was fully owned by Comverse Technology〔 until being sold to (Fortissimo Capital ) in 2012 for $54 million. * ComSor was a venture capital operation, created as a subsidiary in partnership with Soros Fund Management, that invested in start-up companies directly and was active in the late 1990s and early 2000s.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Comverse Technology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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