When Mitel announced the decision to discontinue MiVoice Connect, PacStates faced a dilemma shared by many channel partners: how would they serve their customers who relied on that system, the cornerstone of their communications offerings since 2002?

The tech team for the Nevada-based channel partner had certifications in Mitel MiVoice Business technology, but little real-world experience. CEO Michael Buis noted, “You can have all the certifications, but unless you have the experience, real-time client implementations will be challenging.”

Convinced that Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) was not for everyone, he felt uncomfortable recommending this option to clients, many of whom had worked with PacStates for decades. These mass-market systems relied on a public cloud, with a multi-tenant—rather than multi-instance—architecture. Not only were such systems less secure and flexible, but organizations also had no control over upgrades.

“We’re still a phone company,” said Buis. “We have over 200 years of experience in call flow design, implementation, and end-user training. Our goal is to get callers to the right party as efficiently as possible, without disrupting the whole office. We want to enhance the experience of our clients’ clients, and that requires a reliable platform.”

He found the solution during a chance meeting.

Cloud9 Infrastructure: Superior Technology, Stellar Service

At a Mitel conference, Buis met Mark Mowad, COO and Executive Vice President of Cloud9 Infrastructure. They quickly realized that the two companies shared a core value: an unrelenting dedication to serving their customers.

Cloud9 Infrastructure’s managed private cloud offered the security, flexibility, and scalability that PacStates demanded for their clients. With geo-redundant active/active data centers and dedicated virtual servers for each application, the Mitel-specific infrastructure as a service (IaaS) was a turnkey solution that also included:

• Comprehensive carrier services (e.g., unlimited inbound/outbound service within the 48 contiguous United States, international calling, Internet circuits, dedicated private line circuits, etc.)
• All calculation/collection/remittance of regulatory fees and taxes
• All billing services, with invoices featuring channel partner logos and payable to channel partners
• Intrado e911 services

In addition, Cloud9 Infrastructure had the real-world technical experience with Mitel MiVB systems that PacStates lacked. The company’s Mitel experts provided system design, installation, support, remote programming, and training. Equally important, Cloud9 Infrastructure’s team worked closely with channel partner personnel, helping them gain the hands-on experience to take on these responsibilities in-house.

With a high-quality infrastructure option and Mitel technical expertise at his disposal, Buis saw an opportunity to help a long-term client improve their organization-wide communications.

Rite of Passage: An Opportunity for Growth

Rite of Passage, which supports at-risk youth and their families, operates more than 60 locations across the continental United States and Hawaii, many in rural areas. Over half their sites use the MiVoice Connect platform; the rest use multiple, disparate systems with widely varying capabilities and security. Many modern features are unavailable, and even internal communications can be cumbersome or unreliable.

PacStates approached the organization about migrating from MiVoice Connect to MiVoice Business and unifying its communications with a nationwide numbering plan, hosted on a managed private cloud system. Having partnered with Rite of Passage for 35 years of its 40-year history, PacStates understood the nonprofit’s unique needs at the organizational and local levels. PacStates and Cloud9 Infrastructure designed a phased implementation plan to convert existing and new sites to MiVoice Business and to bring additional sites into the system. To date, Rite of Passage has migrated six locations to the new system, including one emergency deployment.

When a technology crisis jeopardized a seven-figure annual contract, Rite of Passage needed to transition the site immediately. PacStates and Cloud9 Infrastructure realigned resources to cut the deployment schedule in half. The new system went live two weeks later. This level of service and support earned the full endorsement of the nonprofit’s management team.

Now, PacStates expects to expand from 600 to 700 seats at Rite of Passage to 1,500 seats by the end of the rollout.

A Supportive Partner for Business Growth

As PacStates experienced firsthand, Cloud9 Infrastructure provides behind-the-scenes hosting and support, while the channel partner remains the single point of contact with the customer. PacStates continues to manage the customer relationship and customer experience. If any questions arise, Buis and his team know they’ll get a speedy response from the U.S.-based support team, available 24/7.

“The Cloud9 Infrastructure team is extremely good, even on the back side, with billing,” said Buis. “If we have a question, they’ll hop on a call and work through it to make sure everything is clear.

“We’ve worked with many of these clients for 25 years. Cloud9 Infrastructure has allowed us to move into this space and take care of clients in a way that I couldn’t have done on my own.”

To learn how Cloud9 Infrastructure can help expand your business, please contact us by calling 800.947.0007, emailing mitel@cloud9infrastructure.com, or visiting www.cloud9infrastructure.com.