Smarsh, a company that helps manage risk and uncover value in communications data, has agreed to acquire mobile messaging and voice capture firm TeleMessage.
With this acquisition, Smarsh will combine mobile carrier partnerships in North America, EMEA and Asia and extend its ability to store and monitor employee communications on the latest consumer applications such as WeChat, WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.
In addition, the acquisition of TeleMessage will strengthen Smarsh in helping customers to meet their global regulatory compliance requirements within the SEC, FINRA, Dodd-Frank, MIFID, FCA, IIROC and others across corporate mobile devices, consumer apps, BYOD Virtual Phones and collaboration apps.
Smarsh chief product officer Goutam Nadella said, “Highly regulated firms have always needed to capture and retain their digital communications for regulatory compliance, legal discovery, and to protect their brand. However, given the new hybrid workforce and how digitally connected everyone is, it’s more challenging than ever to monitor all the new voice and text channels.
“Simply put, firms everywhere are overwhelmed by all the new channels – like WhatsApp, WeChat and more effective coverage for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) models – that are necessary for business but pose real risks, because of their variety and the volume and velocity of the data they produce. One of the biggest areas of risk is mobile communications.”
He continued, “As in many other service industries, mobile communication is ubiquitous in the financial sector. Bankers and traders use mobile phones and mobile instant messaging apps, for client communications, for commercial negotiations, to get order confirmations, and to finalise transactions. Unlike email communications, there are significant gaps in how firms capture and monitor mobile communications, which means these companies cannot trace all transactions information exchanged and information delivered over mobile devices. And that means significant regulatory and reputational risk for those firms, especially for voice communications.”
“Bottom line, if you’re a heavily regulated company doing business in 2022, you have to have a proven solution to capture, archive, and supervise mobile communications. And there’s no other company in the world that can match Smarsh. We have the most well-rounded portfolio for mobile coverage across devices, apps, and networks. Our ability to capture data at the source, retain that data, and understand the data contextually with the most sophisticated AI is unmatched in our industry. This acquisition enhances and reaffirms our market leadership.”
TeleMesage CEO Guy Levit added, “Now more than ever, regulated companies everywhere have to have a trusted solution that can allow their regulated employees use any mobile chat or mobile communication channel, while remaining compliant. We’re delighted to be a part of Smarsh now and to deliver solutions that help firms around the globe improve efficiency, reach, and customer engagements by enabling mobile communications while protecting their company’s bottom line and reputation.”
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