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Another very quiet day developing, any weakness or strength in the SP at the moment is not indicative of anything except that no one is sure where to take it - if the MMs can push it lower they will, but they seem to be struggling with that. Shareholders are no longer looking for the exit door, especially at current prices.

I must confess, contrary to my declared stance, I bought a few more yesterday, only a few.

The company will most likely make the next move - lets hope any news includes some new successes and not just a fleshing out of the TU.

De-rampers and trolls - has anyone else clocked the fact our merry band of de-rampers and trolls appear to have bugg**ed off for the time being. No doubt busy annoying and trying to scare some distressed shareholders somewhere.

It does suggest that even they , dishonest though they may be, believe they have reached the end of the road as far as pushing the SP down until they have more ammunition to fire.

For anyone feeling a bit jittery, including recent buyers wondering what the hell they've done, take a look at the new blog entry which was posted late yesterday.

IMO goes further than anything yet released to justify holding and buying Loopup shares and that the strategy is right; it updates on the usage numbers and expansion of MS Teams usage and the expected forward trend puts Loopup firmly in the right camp for cloud telephony and hopefully new related services.

They say: "in Microsoft’s earnings announcement on 27 July, CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Microsoft Teams now has 250 million monthly active users" up from "145 million daily active users (DAU) " in April - they point out it is a slightly different metric so hard to compare (Monthly from Daily).

They go no they present loads of other figures including things they have been told privately which should interest shareholders and reassure that MS Teams is the way to go.

They sum up by saying:
"Whatever the current figure for Microsoft Teams Calling users, it’s part of a fast growing trend. Gartner forecasts that the market for cloud telephony will grow by 18% in 2021, and Microsoft Teams Calling is understood to account for much of that market growth."

Loopup seem to be increasing their attempt to create a persuasive case for switching with their more regular stream of blogs - remember the website is not targeting us but potential clients.

https://loopup.com/en/resource-center/blog/how-many-global-users-does-microsoft-teams-calling-have/

wrt to my comment yesterday about strategic partnerships and NDA's, it stands to reason that any deal they negotiate will have all the elements in place to go to market, areas of responsibility, resources, pricing etc and by the time we hear anything they should be practically up and running. Unless all the ducks are in a row there is no deal just a warm words.

I think they a shrwd enough to ensure they don't enter any wasteful contract - after all they already have C&W on board for Meetings in about 20 countries as I recall so have experience

Welcome to any new buyers, you are the driving force here that will decide if it's under-priced or not. Existing shareholders that can't or won't buy more (like me) can "jump up and down and explode with anger" but we don't drive the price anywhere except down by selling - so I really do welcome you.

The fact you bought means you doubt the market has got it right at the moment, as do I.

Contrary to others though I'm not concerned about the cash except that "if they spent it all they may go to market for cash", but more likely use a credit facility if they need to in order to maintain the pace of expansion as the CEO's are big shareholders.

They made it clear (as clear as they ever do) they would be accelerating spending on IT and spending on pushing forward with the cloud offering - I'm really happy with that and if a few £million is gone at the next results it's no problem as long as it has resulted in better prospects and supported growth.

They have told us in last update they are not losing money operationally, so any spend will be associated with capital spend - hence I'm not worried.

"material discussions"

What does it mean - I suppose it could all amount to nothing if they don't strike an agreement his year; but to me is means "significant impact", "moved to detailed negotiation", " value can be seen". If they are in detailed discussions they will be discussion real world implementation possibilities and responsibilities and all will almost certainly subject to NDAs.

So any announcement by Loopup may also be accompanied by a statement be another party, hopefully saying how wonderful their new partner is and what a massive opportunity it is for all - I live in hope.

Internet search definition is: "significant; important." - "important or having an important effect"

Important does it for me!

I think any good announcement on strategic partnerships will be the catalyst for a strong recovery in the SP as depending upon the nature of the partnership could lead to some very significant growth opportunities.

Back in the March preliminary results they said they had:

" a growing number of material discussions with major global Microsoft partners, who are seeking an internationally-differentiated implementation of Teams Cloud Telephony for their multinational customer bases

If we take the sentence apart there's some key information there that mean these are significant potential deals - "major global " and "who are seeking" and "multinational customer bases"

So big partners with big customers around the world who actually want to team up with an entity like Loopup.

If they sign anything significant they have to announce it (can't save it up for later as is Steve's way) as it will be a significant change but least because it also provides a proof of the appropriateness of the strategy and is an external confirmation hopefully from a new unbiased and savvy industry professionals that Loopup do have something worth taking to market.

Loopup more recently confirmed some of those talks are now at an advanced stage and they would report to market on deals signed - so anytime.

Personally, I'm more enthusiastic about this than anything else as it provides a seal of approval of the concept and will likely spur other entities to take the plunge - no one likes being the first to sign a deal for something that is not proven.

More patience needed I guess.

Don't be concerned with that, it will recover very strongly provided the company delivers on it's promises, it doesn't even need to excel just perform well as the market appears to have taken a view it won't recover for a long time.

If they can gain any traction in the UK public sector, just a few wins, the doors should open for them to a very large public sector market and the UK is just one small market - I think they need to start pushing in other markets, the decision on where to focus their sales effort I think will be one of their most difficult - it should be if they are thinking strategically - I'm hopeful they have now learned their lesson and won't screw this opportunity up - they are acting like a company open for business now and not pre-occupied integrating a business (I think on hindsight buying MeetingZone was a bad move, distracting from the drive for growth).

I'm hopeful the recovery will come a lot sooner than many PI's think, time will tell.

The company has posted a new blog about the implications and context of the government signing a MOU with Microsoft, pointing out an " announcement earlier this year that the UK government has signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft. Running until April 2024, the MOU with the tech giant is aimed squarely at empowering the adoption of new technologies; supporting the management of hybrid working and advancing the transition from legacy IT to cloud solutions.

But hey expand on it, pointing out it doesn't imply that departments to hospitals etc should sign up with Microsoft - they can use other suppliers competitive suppliers:

"This agreement recognises the significance of cloud computing to the UK public sector as it continues its digital transformation,” said Philip Orumwense, commercial director and chief procurement officer for technology at Crown Commercial Service, the executive agency of the Cabinet Office. “There is no committed spend. Public sector organisations will budget for this spend in the usual way, and can get discounted pricing with the suppliers they choose. The eligibility criteria covers the vast majority of the UK public sector.”

Worth a read and very promising for Loopup who are a very credible supplier.

https://loopup.com/en/resource-center/blog/the-new-normal-will-hybrid-workforce-bring-a-cloud-transformation-to-the-public-sector/

I'm always glad to see the back of Friday as far as my shareholding is concerned - often a quiet day on which to get ambushed with a sh*te RNS or so quiet a few strategically timed trades trash the SP - we held our own so bodes well for Monday.

Have a good Weekend.

Paddyboy1 - It's always a difficult decision and obviously I can't help you, I'm not qualified or competent - I'm well down myself on this. However, I'm not good at waiting and as a result I'm already invested for as much as I'm prepared to stump up.

I think it's very cheap, will it go down or up from here is the question we ponder over, if I knew answers to questions like that I'd have been very rich a long time ago and now sitting in my Villa or sitting at the side of my pool today instead of stuck in the UK.

So here we are, the few that are left, and we seem to have weathered the storm of panic and disappointment selling. Even most of the trolls appear to have moved on for the time being.

By the level of trading, I think it's safe to say that institutions are not currently selling, we may have been hit by a combination of the activity of our long term drip seller (s) clearing out (some of us thought there was an II in the background damaging the SP for months). It is logical that they would have a final clear out on the news - if institutions are for selling, often they just give instructions to sell the lot and do it irrespective of the price. I suspect many PI's had also had enough and where just hanging on on the hope of a good update and sold anyway having lost faith ib=n the company.

So the SP has been crushed, but now we are hopefully poised for some good news with our drip-feed sellers out of the way for the time being - It feels like the path is now cleared and it's all down to the company to drive this back to a decent SP or fade into oblivion.

If Steve doesn't turn it around by the next AGM, his dismissal should be item 1 on the agenda, no matter how long he's been in charge - serial failure is unforgivable. Though I have no doubt we will see a strong recovery before then and he'll bask in the glory of rescuing us from his mistakes.

Though shareholders may feel neglected and even disrespected (like me), it is a different story on the sales side now with the new, improved website specifically targeting the Cloud Communications sales effort and acting as a customer support portal. The new monthly technical Webcasts initiative also show intent to put the effort in and I think will develop into a very useful sales support channel.

Keeping the website current and focused will be very important as it is likely the first thing customers see of the company - so I keep an eye on changes - check for new content, customer stories etc to glean any information. I noticed this morning they have introduced a new sub-tab for "Webcasts" which is great and shows intent to continue the effort - so many companies start initiatives then let it wither away as they can't be arsed which IMO is worse than not bothering in the first place.

I watched the Webcast by the way and liked Ben, who I think could grow into a very competent presenter after settling in with a few more outings. I think Steve needs to use someone like Ben (gift of the gab or even better with Charisma) for company presentations as from what I've seen he comes across as very lacklustre.

I suppose we should be hopeful as the sales effort and success rate seems to be gathering pace and I'm sure there will be loads of activity behind the scenes..

Poker: That was my thinking, places like India have their own unique market factors and Lookup simply don't have the resources or local experience to carve out a market, but a local partner maybe would. any deal must be low risk, low expenditure commitment and ready to "go to market" alliances. I have confidence that is why the deals are taking a long time to settle and they may well turn their back on some.

As well as the recent court judgement against Zoom they are/were also involved in a partnering dispute with a large reseller who as I recall was being too successful for their liking, so Lookup must only sign deals they are happy with.

I agree India is risky, especially having a local business as Vodafone and other have found out as the government mugged them for retrospective taxes and the legendary bureaucracy takes it's toll.

Strategic partnerships are the way to go IMO and could supercharge growth.

Lookup have a strategy to expand using their own leads and resources, but IMO the strategic partnership initiative represent a huge opportunity to reach new clients they wouldn't have an earthly chance of even talking to otherwise.

It is almost like a new business area at it's inception and something Loopup seem to be targeting - I'm impatient it's too slow but I suspect once they've signed up a few deals their conversion rate. It would be nice to see them sign up for a presence in India and other big "non Western" economies where the market could be huge and we have no credible representation. As far as pricing is concerned, the margins are likely to be lower (shared revenue) but the volume much higher.

News on this could arrive any time - the company said it would inform the market of any "of these "go to market" deals .

At the the risk of Jinxing things I'm reluctant to say that things have stabilised - but they have in terms of trades and selling.

It now looks well balanced, and it's now down the Loopup to gain control of the agenda - any half decent news could see a healthy rise in the SP.

Come on Steve, what has happened to that promised meeting - waiting for some good news to deliver and take out the heat I suspect. lol Lets see some of those strategic partnerships launched.

Thorden - I believe it is all about pricing and Loopup are changing their offer to meet the new realities - the reality that competitor companies are buying customers to gain market share. In this environment Loopup have been switching customers to fixed contracts so revenue/minute drops but it's more secure - a price worth paying IMO. The exercise takes time and new customers will not immediately generate revenue.

Zoom and others will be enduring the same phenomenon and they will come under pressure when some of their new customers bail on them and their offers lose appeal (Zoom have just issued a warning along with the court case settlement) - but they are not going to come out a confess their business model needs to change. Loopup have changed theirs, and all credit to them, unfortunately they acted too late and many investors lost patience and don't want to hang around through the pain to see the outcome.

So IMO Loopup have got it right in not chasing customers for whom cost is the be all and end all, they need to be creative and distinguish themselves from the growing number of base level competitors.

Loopup will never get those clients to stay in the new reality, there is no loyalty, it all boils down to cost and constantly seeking a better deal. The really good news is that they can only leave once and the weakest go first so have gone- add to that the increasing proportion of contracted clients which is now very high - so any future customer outflow should reduce to a trickle.

The entities buying market share at the moment will not be able to keep it up as the cost will eventually become prohibitive - it will be a cheaper strategy to buy paying customers by buying up companies like Loopup. That phase has not really started yet as there is plenty of room for growth, but some of these competitors will have to deliver growth to survive and will have to buy/merge or be taken over as things slow. All this is well trodden ground in IT/Comms, goes back decades, as in the fight for growth requires the buying of a customer roll.

soros - exactly, buyers or sellers, don't take anyone's word for it, check it out for yourself , it's your money and you care about it most.

We have best wishes from trolls whilst they try to stab you in the back - does anyone really need a warning? I think not, but don't believe anyone else either in making decisions, including yours truly.

There you go again trying to steal the narrative with your sly de-ramp - warning it's not worth buying until news arrives in your opinion and disingenuously wishing us well - why don't you pack it in if as you say you have no interest in the company - I believe because you have an interest in de-ramping without presenting any hard facts that can be disputed.

If that's you version of neutral, I wouldn't like you to grade us with your presence if you where being negative. The one saving grace with you mate is you are polite to try to retain your credibility.

Can't do loopup any harm at all it fending off competition and winning new business - the Chief Information Officers of potential customers will be well aware of it and might consider if they really want their clients, CEO or chairman bombarded with porn.