Simplified Networks Acquires CloudConnect

By Casey Houser
Contributing Writer

The U.S. West Coast has now witnessed the merger of two influential telecommunications companies. Simplified Networks, a provider of VoIP switching and billing services in Arizona, has announced the finalization of its acquisition of San Diego-based VoIP telephone service provider CloudConnect.

Simplified Networks works as a subsidiary of PhoenixSoft which, even as a regional provider of telephony services, has made its name in the pages of TMC for its place in events such as ITEXPO (News - Alert). PhoenixSoft has gained top honors for its Cirrus Softswitch software that allows businesses to manage their IP-based applications and control a web-based retail store for better interaction with customers.

This reach for excellence shows up in Simplified Networks’ business phone services and its call center software that runs in the cloud. CloudConnect has also built a strong presence in its own area of operation, Southern California, a geographical location that will serve as Simplified Networks’ new frontier.

In the same breath as it offers new California customers the option of using its VoIP services, Simplified Networks will also transition existing CloudConnect customers to the Simplified Networks’ systems. The announcement made this week was unclear about which products of CloudConnect’s that Simplified Networks will keep or how any existing CloudConnect staff will function in their new roles.

As with any merging of businesses, there may be room for CloudConnect to make a positive impact with continued work on its products. It has long used PhoenixSoft’s softswitch programs as a base for the creation of its own services. Simplified Networks chose to make this purchase because it saw a good set of products and services in the market. This sort of deal does not happen because one company wants to remove the other as a competitor; it happens because of the inherent value in gaining new customers and new talent.

Simplified Networks will have the opportunity to harness all the CloudConnect talent and make use of the set of products that now sits under its own roof. The biggest question from here is how managers will expand their horizons beyond just the geography of the West Coast. The previous relationship between CloudConnect and PhoenixSoft should make this a relatively easy transition with high-quality results that new and existing customers will see.