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AT YOUR SERVICE: XaaS NetFortris Strengthens UCaaS, SD-Wan Offerings N etFortris has grown consid- erably since launching in 1994 as a PBX sales and support company. Shortly after its entry into the market, NetFortris evolved into a regional CLEC focused on providing facilities-based network and TDM voice services in California and Nevada. The company then expanded into hosted voice in 2004, and acquired Seattle- based AuBeta networks in 2009, enabling a transition into a nationwide MSP with a layered voice offering. In 2017, NetFortris made an even bigger move by merging with Fonality, a voice-only company with a proprietary UC offering and a team of in-house software developers. The acquisition proved to be immensely successful, explained chief sales officer Daniel Miller, and provided NetFortris with a strategic way of deploy- ing its hosted voice service. “Fonality gave us the ability to control our own destiny as it relates to features and functions, without having to pay a license fee to a third-party service,” said Miller. “It really helped us be more competitive in the marketplace.” According to Miller, Fonality and NetFortris were an excellent fit. “It wasn’t buying a similar company and making a play for revenue or EBITDA,” Miller explained. “It was really combining two product sets that were complementary in nature, and it set us up to cross sell and grow, while also giving us a foothold in the interna- tional marketplace.” Fast forward to today, and despite the pandemic NetFortris is experienc- ing some of the strongest growth in its history. Much of this success can be attributed to the company’s SD-WAN and UCaaS offerings, which were deployed in 2017 following the merger with Fonality. According to Miller, SD-WAN has quickly become the company’s fastest- growing product line, increasing by around 35 to 40 percent year over year. In late December 2020, NetFor- tris expanded its SD-WAN offering, announcing support for the VMware SD-WAN Edge 600 and 3000 series devices, enabling the company to deliver SD-WAN services with greater process- ing power, security, and throughput as an affordable managed service. In addition to the SD-WAN announcement, NetFortris also unveiled a new all-in-one proprietary UCaaS platform late last year called Comm-unity. NetFortris built the Comm-unity platform from the ground up using the latest containerization and microservices technologies grounded in 15-plus years of experience in hosted voice. The result? A true cloud platform that’s multitenant, geo-redun- dant, and highly scalable. With this launch, Miller projects NetFortris’ UCaaS sales will exceed its SD-WAN sales in the near future. Comm-unity is now Microsoft Teams ready, and the company is working on a special integration with Salesforce. What’s more, the platform will soon contain an open API for maximum flexibility and easy integrations with third-party platforms. Two announcements to keep an eye on later this year include a managed CPaaS offering and a native SMS component for Comm-unity, both of which are tentatively scheduled for third or fourth quarter of 2021. Aside from its strong product set, NetFortris also has a deep commit- ment to its partner community. In December, the company expanded its team by adding Jay Wicker and Colm Armstrong as channel managers. The company also brought on marketing executive Rachel Turkus, formerly of Broadvoice and Packet Fusion, as senior channel marketing manager. In addition, the company announced Aaron Kanahele as its first vice president of strategic partnerships. Kanahele has worked at NetFortris for 14 years, most recently as vice president of channel sales – West. In his new position, he will work as an overlay for the channel team to build relationships with specific partners. Turkus spoke about the team’s commitment to enabling partners and helping them achieve their goals. “Our salespeople and our sales engineers are here to work directly with our partners to find the best communi - cation solution that fits their customer, not the best customer that fits our solution,” said Turkus. “I think that approach is unique to NetFortris.” o Netfortris chief sales officer Daniel Miller 60 CHANNEL V ISION | January - February, 2021

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