AloTech vs Around

AloTech is a Turkish cloud contact center platform founded by Cenk Soyak and İdris Avcı and selected as an Endeavor company in 2014. Outside Türkiye it sells the same product as Call Center Studio, running on Google Cloud. It replaces on-premise call center hardware with a browser-based system for inbound and outbound calls plus written channels.

Voice features include ACD, CTI, IVR, speech recognition and text-to-speech, number masking, predictive, preview and IVR dialers, answering machine detection and call and screen recording. Written channels cover web chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, SMS, email and video calls. An AI layer adds AI Maestro, agent assist, AI-based quality scoring (CX Quality), CX Insights and accent neutralization. Pricing is per user per month in Turkish lira with no long-term commitment: a cheaper written-only package and a full voice plus written package.

It suits Turkish companies running 10 to several hundred agents, from e-commerce support teams to outsourcers. Bulutfon and Verimor are lighter, cheaper virtual PBX options for small offices; Zendesk and Freshdesk are ticketing tools that AloTech complements through its Zendesk CTI app. Genesys and Five9 compete for large global deployments.

AloTech reports 650+ customers, 20,000+ users and over 65 million call minutes a month, with ISO 27001:2022 and ISO 42001:2023 certificates. Call Center Studio partnered with Globe Business in the Philippines in November 2025, and in October 2026 Parloa named AloTech its strategic AI partner in Türkiye.

Around was a video calling app designed for teams that collaborate in short, frequent sessions rather than long scheduled meetings. Instead of a full-screen grid, participants appeared as small floating heads on top of whatever app you were working in, so a call could run alongside a design file, code editor or whiteboard. Miro acquired Around in 2022, and the standalone Around app was shut down on March 31, 2025.

The experience centered on audio quality and low friction: AI noise and echo cancellation let people join from open offices or cafés without headsets, and auto-framing kept faces centered in the bubbles. Calls started from shareable room links, several people could share screens at the same time, and reactions and chat covered quick feedback. After the acquisition Around was offered free, and before the shutdown Miro moved its ideas into Video Calls inside Miro boards, which keep an Around-like floating mode and echo prevention.

Today Around is relevant mainly as a reference point: teams that relied on it need a replacement, and recordings could only be downloaded before the closure date. Miro users get the closest experience in Miro Video Calls; Tuple targets pair programming specifically; Slack huddles cover lightweight audio for teams already in Slack; and Zoom and Google Meet remain the default for scheduled meetings. Do not plan new work around the Around app, since it is no longer available for sign-up or use.