Broadvox Reaches For the Cloud With Cypress Buy

20 things you need to know but didn’t have had time to ask

SIP Trunking leader Broadvox just completed their acquisition of Cypress Communications resulting in a nationwide VoIP and MPLS-enabled network blending the benefits of traditional telecommunications with the latest in IP trunking.

 

In a conversation with David Byrd, the company’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing I had a chance to ask a number of questions which shine light on this deal.

 

1.       I asked David about if purchasing a company in legacy markets such as TDM is a drawback and he responded that the hosted UC offerings provided by Cypress were main drivers of the acquisition and legacy customers will be upgraded to IP over time.

2.       Regarding adding new services in a manner similar to Cbeyond, Byrd said, “We are looking at expanding the number of applications we are providing in the managed services arena but we can’t announce any yet.” He continued by saying they are working on absorbing Cypress and running on all cylinders for now.

3.       Byrd explains the company’s largest competitors are PAETEC and Cbeyond on the SIP trunking side of the house and Smoothstone, Cisco and Avaya are some of the competitors in the hosted unified communications market.

4.       I asked David if this is a big bet on the cloud for Broadvox and he responded that it is but was careful to point out it is a single leg off a three-legged stool where carrier wholesale and SIP trunking complement the new Hosted UC solutions.

5.       Broadvox is now better positioned to go after enterprise buyers as the Cypress product line has reference enterprise customers.

6.       Is this acquisition a response to SIP trunking slowing down I asked? “Absolutely not,” Byrd responded. In fact he said while the rate of growth may have slowed a bit, there is a still a tremendous opportunity for the SIP trunking market.

7.       What are the company’s plans in the video and wireless space? Broadvox has already video and HD voice-enabled their network but wireless is not an area of great investigation as of yet.

8.       Regarding an app store focus, Byrd explained they may consider this route and they are exploring how to work with GENBAND and their app store functionality in their products to provide such solutions.

9.       Broadvox recently grew 50% YoY.

10.   They will continue to support the indirect channel – David emphasized this point.

11.   Andre Temnorod will continue as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. As you may recall, I interviewed Andre (video – part 1) at the company’s recent Partner Summit in Dallas. In addition, Eugene Blumin will continue as the Chief Operating Officer.

12.   The combined company will have approximately 300 employees and $100 million in annualized revenues. This is a significant size milestone and gives the company serious scale and opens up possibilities not afforded smaller players. For example, customer service has been upgraded overnight.

13.   Broadvox will maintain its headquarters in Dallas with operations in Cleveland and Atlanta.

14.   The Unified Communications products, C4 IP and C3 IP, will continue under the Broadvox brand.

15.   The Shared Tenant Services products, C2, C2 Enhanced and C1, will continue to be branded as Cypress.

16.   The merger also provides Broadvox the ability to provide local exchange services in 32 states.

17.   Broadvox sales channel strategy will be expanded to include the direct sales force from Cypress. Channel conflict will be minimized by using the direct sales force to sell shared tenant services to contracted building tenants and C4 IP to Enterprise accounts.

18.   The Broadvox channel partners will be allowed to add the C3 IP product to their GO! SIP Trunking and GO!VBX hosted offerings from Broadvox.

19.   The Indirect Channel authorized to sell C4 IP will be revamped to increase the active members selling into medium and enterprise accounts.

20.   No current hosted unified communications platforms will be terminated. All customers will continue to be supported on C4 IP, C3 IP and GO!VBX with general market segmentation as follows:

a.       C4 IP – Medium sized businesses and Enterprises with multiple locations and requiring complex telephony and advanced UC capabilities.

b.      C3 IP – SMBs requiring basic telephony and rudimentary UC capabilities.

David Byrd tells me this acquisition is a situation where 1+1=3 and if the execution is done properly there is no reason to doubt his claim. Moreover, as customers continue to warm to having their communications in the cloud, there is no reason why the company’s hosted UC products shouldn’t enjoy SIP trunking-like growth rates.

 

To learn more about Broadvox and the Cypress acquisition be at ITEXPO in Miami, FL Feb 204 where you can check out the Cloud Communications Summit and meet Broadvox execs in-person. Moreover, Genband CEO, Charlie Vogt will be giving a can’t miss keynote.

 

When it comes to David Byrd, I must point out I could be a bit biased. After all, anyone who turns me into a cartoon character (video) and is nice enough to make my likeness thinner is a winner in my book. smiley-wink

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