ChannelVision 2018 Partner Directory

77 2018 Directory | Channel Vision nexVortex Navigates the Shifts in Communications Services By Tara Seals PROFILE Looking to discuss trends and oppor- tunities for channel partners in 2018, we sat down with Mike Nowak, vice presi- dent of sales at nexVortex, to discuss. ChannelVision: Tell me a bit about your latest portfolio initiatives that would be of interest to the channel community. Mike Nowak: Last year we launched our managed SIP (mSIP) offering, which delivers voice quality with definitive troubleshooting. It is both powerful and flexible. Customers can bring their own broadband connection, use an ISP which has a direct peering relationship with nexVortex, or we can provide a circuit with Class of Service (CoS). With mSIP, we take voice quality measurements as the voice packets leave the premises, again after they cross the access network, and at mul- tiple points as they transit our network on the way to the PSTN. We can then use those measure- ments to prove where voice quality is being delivered or where it is being compromised, and definitively trouble- shoot and fix any issues found. Channel partners love it and are using it to replace aging PRI inter- faces, as well as for large multisite PBX installations. We enhanced mSIP in 2017 by adding powerful data cor- relation and visualization tools – i.e., the nexVortex Service Monitor (nVSM) – which graphically show when, where and what is impacting voice quality. A picture is worth a thousand words, particularly when dealing with volumes of complex data. An aspect of our offerings that the channel community would be interested in is that we built, own and operate our service delivery platform. When you build it, you know how it works, you can innovate, and add value, and most importantly no third party stands be- tween you and fixing problems when they arise. CV: What are the greatest market opportunities for channel partners going into 2018? MN: Any time there is a shift in how communication services are delivered, there is opportunity. Such is the case now with communication services mov- ing to IP networks and into the cloud. Businesses need trusted partners to help guide them through this transition because it has technical, business and financial implications. Our experience is that a successful channel partner is one which is dedicated to serving first and selling later. Selling takes care of itself if you are providing valued insight, impactful solutions and help in enabling businesses to transition to the cloud. CV: What about the greatest challenges? MN: The market is changing quickly. The challenge is to embrace change and to have a strategy to keep up with it. Choose your vendors carefully. Focus on those which have a track record of innova- tion and a commitment to delivering exem- plary customer service. At nexVortex, we believe serving others comes before sell- ing, and innovation is necessary to keep our channel partners ahead of the curve. CV: What else will 2018 bring? MN: We have a number of excit- ing product innovations on tap, all fo- cused on our ongoing commitment to delivering voice quality in cloud com- munications, particularly in the hosted voice marketspace. We have made three acquisitions in the past three years and I would not rule out additional ones in the future as we continue to believe that growth, and the financial stability it brings, are important to our partners. We are committed to delivering voice quality across our entire portfolio of ser- vices. mSIP is an example, and in 2018 we will continue to innovate and invest in all service areas, including our hosted voice offering to continually address the important topic of voice quality. CV: How is your partner ecosystem evolving? MN: Our business with existing part- ners has been growing, as witnessed by our being named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for the seventh consecutive year. We continue to expand into new relationships like the ones we announced in 2017 with Telarus and Jenne. We grow our relationships carefully, because we want to be sure we properly dedicate internal resources to supporting those relationships. We are a 100 percent channel-focused company and we take those relationships very seriously. CV: What investments is nexVortex making in the channel community? MN: One key area of investment is in our industry-leading partner portal and tools. Our portal is available to partners, master agents and even sub- agents. The portal has an extensive set of tools for administration of subac- counts. This includes configuring auto- detecting disaster recovery, changing number routing, and local E911. We recently added the ability to run cus- tomer network tests and to check on the portability of numbers. Everything is built with a view of making a channel partner’s job easier. In addition to the portal and tools, we also continue to expand our post-sales team, our cus- tomer care team and our local channel account management team.