Norwood and Spark NZ launch voicemail app, rockets to #6 on charts

Communications tech company Norwood Systems (ASX: NOR) has earmarked a substantial rise in future revenue following the successful launch of their voicemail app with partner Spark NZ (ASX: SPK), the largest telecommunications provider in New Zealand. 

The process of rolling out the Spark Voicemail app has been a prompt one, with Norwood and Spark having collaborated for the past 18 months before the app was conceptualised in November 2019 and delivered just twelve weeks later. 

Bringing together the collaborative IP of the two companies, the recently released app will be actively promoted by Spark NZ to its business and consumer subscribers with Norwood forecasting their gross revenues to exceed $50k-$100k per week from the service partnership during the rollout phase.

“We are delighted to see that Spark has now commenced active direct end-user promotion of the Spark Voicemail service, and that Spark has now made the service generally available to all Spark subscribers,” said Norwood CEO and Founder, Paul Ostergaard. 

“Given the successful conclusion of the live testing and validation phase, we are now seeing Spark really start to drive demand for the service and we stand ready to support Spark in meeting its marketing objectives for this service.”

“This particular service was conceived of in late November 2019, contracted in January 2020 and delivered in late February 2020. This must be a record launch timeframe for a telco service of this complexity and is a testament to both Norwood’s and Spark’s agility, while providing an extremely credible reference on how Norwood can rapidly assist other telcos to bring similar hosted services to market.”

Whilst Norwood is anticipating the increased revenue will have a material impact on their cash flow, the amount will be subject to adoption from Spark customers. Since marketing of the app commenced, the iOS version of Spark Voicemail has already reached the #6 position on Apple’s NZ App Store. 

Beyond their mobile service as New Zealand’s largest telco, Spark also offers broadband and digital services to millions of New Zealand residents and thousands of businesses. 

For the half year ending 31 December 2019, Norwood Systems reported a 6% increase in revenue from the corresponding half to $286k. With the material contribution flagged by the Company from the Spark Voicemail app, the market responded well to the news with shares rising 12.5% in morning trade.