2014 By the Numbers

By David West
January 15, 2015

Just like that, we’ve flipped the calendar, and another year has begun. Before bidding a final farewell to 2014, I would like to reflect on the highlights and milestones that made the past few months great.

Customer Satisfaction

First and foremost, Equinox is in the business of taking great care of their employees, who in turn, take great care of the company’s customers. Our employees are passionate about helping carriers protect and optimize revenue, believing that each customer should not only benefit from Equinox’s products, but should also enjoy the experience. Every member of the Equinox team takes this commitment seriously. And here’s how that played out in 2014:

• Last summer, we completed our first ever customer-satisfaction survey with amazing results: 97% of respondents said “Yes, absolutely” they would recommend Equinox products to their friends and colleagues, and 87% gave their experience with the Equinox Support Team the highest rating of “Extraordinary.”
• Repeat business continues to increase. While we offer two distinct solutions: Protector (fraud management) and TeleLink (mediation/usage analytics), few customers buy the two at the same time. However, many customers do ultimately purchase both based on their experience with us over time. With several such transactions last year, now more than 40% of our current customers have deployed both solutions.
• In November we hosted our 16th Protector User Group Meeting. Boasting more users from more companies, it was the largest such event ever. The meeting—held at the brand new Music City Center in downtown Nashville—provided training, an overview of new features and functions, multiple carrier-led case studies, and a great brainstorming session.

Sales Growth

Equinox takes pride in creating and maintaining personal connections with each other and our customers. As a result, 2014 saw a continued trend of sales growth, with the highest number of active customers ever and gross sales up over those in 2013. I am proud of what we accomplished last year:

• This fall we added our 350th customer in company history — given all the changes in the telecom market over the last 28 years, we are very proud to still be around and to have served so many customers.
• Not only did we add new customers, we continued to expand our customer base in multiple market segments:
  
  • Cable/MSOs—this year Mediacom and MidContinent joined Comcast, Charter, Cox, Time Warner, WOW!, and Armstrong as Equinox customers.
  • Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) / Hosted VoIP—in 2014, Ring Central, Grid4, BCM One, and EvolveIP became customers based on our success with Earthlink, Broadview Networks, ShoreTel, PressONE, GTT Communications, TelNet Worldwide and many others.
  • Wireless—CSpire joined SouthernLINC, Nex-Tech, iWireless and a dozen other wireless carriers that rely on Equinox.
  • ILECs—as they replace obsolete TDM equipment with modern VoIP switches, ILECs such North Dakota’s BEK Communications and Tennessee’s Bristol Essential Services deployed Equinox solutions this year, joining other Equinox ILEC customers such as Lumos Networks and BVU.
  • CLECs—Granite become an Equinox customer this past year, and Frontier and Fairpoint expanded their relationship with us, joining Windstream, CenturyLink and many other tier 2 and smaller CLECs.

Happy Employees

The aforementioned milestones are exciting accomplishments, to be sure. However, these events are possible because Equinox was founded in 1986 on this simple, yet clearly-defined vision: to be a great place to work. The company’s founders have succeeded in fulfilling this mission, which is good for everyone because it means we have happy employees.

• In January of 2014 David Bastin (Director of New Product Development) celebrated his 20th anniversary with Equinox, and this past summer 2 other Senior Developers started their 20th year with the company —Johnny Sikes (data mediation expert) and Derek Drake (user interface guru). We’ll be celebrating a number of 20th anniversaries in the coming months, as a remarkable 60% of the team has been with the company for 16 years or more.

In looking at the numbers, it’s easy to see why I think 2014 was a great year! The successes we achieved are possible because the company owners have sustained what they originally set out to create in 1986, which is a great work environment. I’m surrounded by talented people who excel at their job, are happy, and dedicated to consistently exceeding customer expectations. 2015 is already shaping up to be another off-the-chart year!

About the Author: David West is Executive Vice President of Equinox Information Systems. David oversees the company’s sales and marketing team, develops the company’s long-term strategic plan, and works directly with the company’s hundreds of customers across the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia. When he is not helping Equinox achieve record growth, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing basketball, and serving his community through his efforts at Salvation Army of Middle Tennessee and St. Bartholomew's Church. To learn more, visit www.equinoxis.com or call (615) 612-1200.