Appointment scheduling solutions provider TimeTrade Systems has received $5 million in venture capital which it will use to stimulate further growth. The company’s on-demand service manages and accounts for an organization’s “time inventory” and enables a high level of rules customization and comprehensive back-end systems integration to ensure end-to-end resource allocation. The service is primarily targeted at large retailers, government agencies, healthcare companies and universities –organizations that need to manage thousands of appointments efficiently.

The C Series round of funding was led by Ascent Venture Partners. Existing investor CommonAngels also participated.

“TimeTrade is solving critical business issues for organizations that depend on appointments to drive revenue or need to be more efficient in juggling complex combinations of staff time, facilities and equipment,” said Brian J. Girvan, venture partner at Ascent Venture Partners, in a press release. “Between customers who can leverage TimeTrade for consumer self-service to those that can use it for internal applications, the market potential is huge. We look forward to working with the TimeTrade team, who is transforming appointment scheduling from a cost center to a business driver.”

Ed Mallen, TimeTrade president and CEO said the company managed to double its revenue for the third consecutive year in 2006 “and we’re on track to do so again.”

“Our own recent survey revealed that 88 percent of the respondents reported happier and more loyal customers after having deployed TimeTrade’s Web-based appointment scheduling,” Mallen said. “These results translate directly to our customers’ bottom line and continue to fuel our penetration into key markets. This new round of financing will help accelerate our revenue growth by expanding our sales and marketing teams and driving new offerings with additional engineering resources.”

TimeTrade’s customers include some of the largest brand names in financial services, retail and healthcare. It also has a strong presence in the education and government sectors. Customers include David’s Bridal, HQ/Regus Business Centers, Quest Diagnostics, PETCO, Department of Homeland Security and the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission.

For more information, visit www.timetrade.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and Assignment Editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.