Cbeyond

Cbeyond
Industry Telecommunications
Fate Acquired by Birch Communications
Founder James F. Geiger
Defunct July 2014
Headquarters 320 Interstate North Parkway
Atlanta, Georgia, US[1]
Area served
 14 Markets in the continental United States
Key people
 James F. Geiger
(Founder, Chairman, President & CEO)
Products VOIP Services, Voice Services, Network Services, Hosted Services, Cloud Services, Mobile Services
Revenue US$ 450 million (2010)[2]
Number of employees
 2,000 (2010)[2]

Cbeyond, Inc. (formerly Cbeyond Communications) was a telecommunications and information technology company based in Atlanta, Georgia, until it was purchased by and became part of Birch Comm in July 2014.[3] Founded in 1999 by Jim Geiger, Cbeyond, which developed the world's first 100% Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network,[4] provided voice, data, mobile, and cloud services to over 60,000 small and medium-sized businesses in 14 markets across the domestic United States.[5]

History and Development

Cbeyond was founded in November 1999 as a provider of managed technology services to small and medium-sized businesses,[6] and began serving the Atlanta area in 2001. In October of that year, Cbeyond opened a Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas branch, serving small and medium-sized businesses in the Metroplex. In 2002, the Denver, Colorado branch was opened, serving businesses in Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, and other locations in the Front Range Urban Corridor. In March 2004, Cbeyond's fourth market branch was opened in Houston, Texas.

On November 2, 2005, Cbeyond went public, opening at $12 a share.[7] Also in 2005, Cbeyond added SIPconnect service (see below: Technology) to its service offerings, and opened its service branch in Chicago, Illinois. In the following year, 2006, Cbeyond launched its Mobile Services division, integrating BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) service to its small and medium-size business-oriented offerings, and opened its Los Angeles, California service branch.

In 2007. Cbeyond launched new branches in the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego markets in California, and in the Detroit, Michigan market. Miami, Florida and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota branches were launched in 2008, and Cbeyond expanded into Washington, DC and Seattle, Washington (with service in Olympia and Tacoma in 2009.

In June 2010, Cbeyond launched its fourteenth branch, serving the greater Boston, Massachusetts area.[8] In October 2010, Cbeyond opened a second customer care and technical support call center in Denver, CO.[9]

In November 2010, Cbeyond expanded its service offerings to include cloud services, purchasing cloud services providers MaximumASP, based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Aretta, based in Roswell, Georgia, for a combined $40 million.[10] The acquisitions were combined in a new division within the company, called Cbeyond Cloud Services.[11]

On April 21, 2014 Birch Comm entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Cbeyond for US$323 Million.[12]

In November 2014, Cbeyond protected its users' privacy by challenging Rightscorp, when Cbeyond was asked to hand over the identities of users behind more than a thousand IP addresses.[13]

Technology

Cbeyond created the world's first 100% Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network,[14] and was the first VoIP service provider to utilize SIPconnect technology and among the first to offer Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking in the marketplace.[15] Cbeyond was also responsible for the creation of the SIPConnect Interface Specification program,[16] creating the first industry standards for interconnection between IP PBXs and VoIP service provider networks.[17] In 2006, a SIP Forum team [18] led by Cbeyond Chief Technology Officer Christopher Gatch created the SIPconnect Technical Recommendation establishing the industry standard for SIP trunking between IP PBX and service provider networks.[16]

Services

Cbeyond offers a range of managed services for small and medium-sized businesses, including:[19]

Awards

Cbeyond has received several industry awards and honors to date, including:

2001 ComputerWorld Honors Laureate [20]

2004 2004 Stratecast Partners' Best in Class IP Integrated Access Service Provider Award[21]

Named to Pulver.com's 100 Companies to Watch [22]

2005 Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Differentiation Innovation [23]

2006 Storage Networking World "Best Practices in Storage" Award in the Securing the Storage Fortress Category [24]

Medical Association of Atlanta Cooper Award for Outstanding Customer Service[25]

Top 25 performer in Fortune Magazine’s 2006 stock scorecard[26]

American Electronic Association (AeA) Southeast Spirit of Endeavor Award for Technology Entrepreneur[27]

2007 Founder, Chairman, President, and CEO Jim Geiger named Ernst & Young Southeast Entrepreneur of the Year[28]

2008 Ranked 6th on Forbes' list of Fastest-Growing Tech Companies in America[29]

2010 Awarded Internet Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award for Virtual Receptionist[30]

2012 Forbes America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies [31]

Sales Operations

Cbeyond sells its services through a mix of independent sales channels: midmarket (direct) and indirect. In May 2011, Cbeyond hired Zane Long to head up the indirect sales channel.[32] Since Mr. Long's addition to the Cbeyond team, several well-known distributors have signed contracts to sell Cbeyond services. Some of them include Innovative Business Solutions, Telecom Brokerage Inc., Communications Management Group,[33] and Telarus.[34]

References

  1. ↑ Contact Us. Cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "2010 Annual Report" (PDF). Cbeyond. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ Caldwell, Carla. "Birch Comm completes Cbeyond acquisition". Atlanta Business Chronicle.
  4. ↑ Company Profile: Cbeyond Archived 2012-01-02 at the Wayback Machine.. VoIP-News.com Retrieved on October 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ About Us. Cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ Executive Management Team Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine.. Cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  7. ↑ Cbeyond Goes Public at $12 a Share. WRALtechwire.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  8. ↑ Cbeyond Brings Innovative IT Services and Communications to Boston Area Small Businesses. TelecomRamblings.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  9. ↑ Cbeyond opens Denver call center . BizJournals.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  10. ↑ Cbeyond buys 2 Aretta, MaxiumASP. BizJournals.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  11. ↑ Cbeyond Cloud Services. cbeyondcloudservices.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  12. ↑ https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304279904579515183565989074
  13. ↑ http://torrentfreak.com/isp-protects-subscribers-from-piracy-fishing-expedition-141111/
  14. ↑ SIP Trunking Providers. SIPtrunk.org Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  15. ↑ Cbeyond's Chris Gatch Re-Elected to SIP Forum Board of Directors. TMCnet.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  16. 1 2 The SIPconect Interface Specification: A Standards-Based Approach to Direct IP Peering for IP PBX and VoIP Service Provider Communications. RobinsonConsult.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  17. ↑ SIPconnect FAQ. SIPforum.org Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  18. ↑ SIPconnect Task Group. SIPforum.org Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  19. ↑ Small Business Solutions. Cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  20. ↑ Bridging the Digital Divide Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine.. ComputerWorld Honors (cwhonors.org) Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  21. ↑ Cbeyond Communications Wins Stratecast Partners' 2004 Best-in-class Ip Integrated Access Service Provider Award Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine.. ir.cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  22. ↑ Pulver 100 - 100 Companies to Watch in 2004 Archived 2010-10-26 at WebCite. pulver.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  23. ↑ Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Differentiation Innovation. cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  24. ↑ VeriStor Client Cbeyond wins "Best Practices in Storate" Award Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine.. veristor.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  25. ↑ Cbeyond Communications Honored with Cooper Award. voipmonitor.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  26. ↑ Web Host, VoIP Firm, Cbeyond, Awarded Fortune Magazine Best Performer. thehostingnews.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  27. ↑ Cbeyond President and CEO Receives AeA's 2006 Southeast Spirit of Endeavor Award for Technology Entrepreneur: Award Recognizes Jim Geiger's Leadership and Innovation Delivering IP-Based Telecom Services to Small Businesses Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine.. cbeyond.net Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  28. ↑ Cbeyond CEO Jim Geiger Named 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Businesswire.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  29. ↑ Our annual list of the 25 fastest-growing tech companies. Forbes.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  30. ↑ Internet Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award Winners Unveiled. TMCnet.com Retrieved on October 24, 2011.
  31. ↑ Smith, Jacquelyn. Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/03/20/americas-most-trustworthy-companies/2/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ↑ Henderson, Khali. "Cbeyond Hires Zane Long as New Indirect Sales VP". Channel Partners Online. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  33. ↑ Henderson, Khali. "Cbeyond Signs CMS to Partner Program". Channel Partners Online. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  34. ↑ Henderson, Khali. "Telarus Signs New Deal With Cbeyond". Channel Partners Online. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
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