Telarus Acquiring VXSuite Software For VoIP Diagnostics

Master agent Telarus said it will snap up the assets of LVM, a cloud-based analytics company whose VXSuite network diagnostic tools solution providers can use to monitor and troubleshoot voice traffic running over a data network.

VXSuite software will help Telarus' network of 2,000-plus partners differentiate themselves from the competition by having insight into their customers' entire unified communications environment. Using network analytics, partners can ensure the quality of VoIP traffic and work with their customers to diagnose any performance issues.

Partners will be able to use VXSuite for insight into more than 60 carrier networks being sold by Telarus, said Patrick Oborn, co-founder of Telarus, in an interview with CRN.

[Related: Telarus: VARs Not Investing In Telecom Will Be 'Blind-Sided']

VXSuite will help providers selling bandwidth wrap additional value around their offerings, Oborn said. The software will give partners the tools they need to have mature conversations that revolve around data and analytics, and not just the price of infrastructure, he said.

"We are hoping to take our partners' games to a new level. One of the reason why MSPs don’t get into the infrastructure and bandwidth side of things is because they don’t trust it -- but we can help alleviate some of those fears and really bridge the telecom and IT channel," Oborn said.

The acquisition will put solution provider partners that offer voice and cloud products to their end customers at an advantage, said Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research.

"I think for [Telarus] to pick up an optimization technology is very forward-looking," Kerravala said. "I think they are a little early, but there's no doubt that it’s the direction the industry is moving in."

Jive Communications, an Orem, Utah-based cloud-based hosted VoIP and UC company that became a Telarus partner this week, agrees that the VXSuite acquisition puts Telarus ahead of the curve, said Brian Moore, vice president of sales at Jive Communications.

"With VXSuite, we're excited about that software giving us more real-time visibility into what's happening with our customers' infrastructure. It's going to cut down on our support time, improve confidence levels with potential customers," Moore said. "Telarus' ability to deliver gives us the confidence that is going to work really well."

Jive Communications plans to offer VXSuite as a cloud-based option for its end customers, Moore said.

The VXSuite portfolio includes VXTracker for call detail record analytics, VXPulse for network performance, VXMobile for mobility analytics and VXDash for consolidated unified communications performance tracking.

Via the terms of the deal, Telarus will take over the LVM leadership team, as well as its full partner channel, which consists of more than 300 VARs and MSP resellers of the company's VXSuite software, Oborn said.

Telarus partners, now armed with VXSuite analytics, will be able to better assist their customers with purchasing decisions and advise them on network limitations they might have, Oborn said.

"We are going to monitor circuits from every carrier, we are going to put in trouble tickets within five minutes when something breaks on those carrier circuits, all for the same price you'd pay another master," he said.

The deal will be a game-changer, and competing master agents will have to respond by either acquiring or partnering with another performance and analytics provider, Oborn said.

"It's definitely an arms race in this business. The master that can create the most value for partners and MSPs is going to win," he said.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 17, 2015