Hosted Voice Gets a New Force with nexVortex's agileTel Acquisition

Hosted voice is increasingly a part of the landscape for businesses, thanks to the combination of cost-cutting and extra features that are often brought into play. One of the biggest firms in the hosted voice market is nexVortex, who has established itself previously as a cloud communications leader and an expert in both hosted voice services and session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking. This status as a leader has been established by not only its expertise, but also its recent acquisitions augmenting that position. Recently the company bought agileTel, another hosted voice provider that gives nexVortex even more support in the field.

With agileTel in its grip, nexVortex now has a slate of new options to bring to bear. Since agileTel's primary focus was offering solutions to enterprise users with a franchise-style business model, nexVortex can itself make such an offer, and with not only agileTel's offerings, but also with nexVortex's. Recently, nexVortex picked up mSIP, a company that gave it access to hosted voice options as well, so with agileTel's business model and tools plus mSIP's tools plus nexVortex's own, we could be looking at a serious new power in the hosted voice market.

Better yet is word about the potential market nexVortex will be operating in. Word from the International Franchise Association says that there are around 300 business lines in 10 major groups for franchises, ranging from automotive to personal service options. All 10 categories are set to show growth this year, so those operating in those markets and those supporting those markets should see some substantial value increases. Plus, many of these systems will be moving to hosted voice technologies, so firms flush with gains may well have not only the interest in but also the capital to make these changes happen.

It's a good market combination. Not only do we have a target market of businesses likely to see expansion in the short term, giving us ready capital and potential interest in new investment, we also have a company with an expanded lineup of products ready to step in and fill any potential gaps in the system. That's a perfect storm as far as markets go, and while it may not come off just how nexVortex would like, the conditions are about as good as can be—short of a better overall economic picture—for success in the field.

The conditions are good, but good conditions alone never make success. The reaction to these conditions is just as important, and it's entirely possible to fail miserably even in an environment that should indicate success. Only time will tell how this comes out, but nexVortex has an excellent chance of making this work. 

Edited by Maurice Nagle