Bireet Desai, left with Nigel Shanahan
A Coventry company is hoping to get the whole world ranting and raving after discovering an international market for its communication systems.
Rapide Communication, based in Heron House at University of Warwick Science Park, has grown its overseas client base with help from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. The firm is at the cutting edge of a range of technologies which help businesses communicate with staff and customers.
One product, Rant & Rave, allows customers to offer feedback on a company in an instant using either text, email, the web or voice. That data is then collated and analysed to help businesses find out what clients are saying about them. Rapide also offers a service which can analyse posts on the web about the company, including on blogs and forums.
Following a trade mission to Spain last year through the ICT Cluster programme, the company is now working in and exploring markets in Europe, Asia and America with everything from medium-sized companies to blue-chip firms.
Nigel Shanahan, managing director of Rapide Communication, said: “We recognised several years ago that businesses could take advantage of new technology to communicate with their staff and customers.
“We have grown massively since then and believe international trade will be more and more important to our business
“We are working with a range of blue-chip companies to open up new markets. The Chamber’s international trade team has proved a big help.”
Bineet Desai, who is the UK Trade & Investment’s West Midlands lead for ICT cluster at the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said Rapide Communication proved that firms in the service sector could export as easily as manufacturers. He said: “There is a common misconception among many service providers that, without a physical product, it is almost impossible to export.
“But Rapide Communication prove that there are global markets out there for technology companies and they are a great success story for the region.”
By Jenny Waddington
