Mitel Acquires Contact Center Supplier prairieFyre

Mitel, a provider of cloud and premises-based unified communications (UC) software, yesterday completed its acquisition of prairieFyre Software, a provider of contact center, business analytics, and workforce optimization software and services, for $20 million.

prairieFyre is an original equipment manufacturer that has supplied Mitel with its existing contact center solution. The acquisition is expected to further strengthen Mitel's position in the growing contact center market. Additionally, the acquisition provides Mitel a cornerstone development platform to address increasing demand for cloud-based contact center solutions, and creates strong pull-through opportunities for associated sales of Mitel's core IP telephony and UC solutions.

"Mitel's strategy centers on delivering profitable growth to our customers, partners, and shareholders. In response to customer demand, many of our IT resellers have started building out specialized contact center practices and are asking for a solution tightly integrated and aligned with Mitel's product development and roadmaps," said Richard McBee, president and CEO of Mitel, in a statement. "We believe the highly integrated nature of our existing OEM relationship with prairieFyre prior to the acquisition makes this a low-risk, high-reward, and compelling opportunity to immediately capitalize on market demand, expand revenue and margins, and positions Mitel for ongoing growth."

PrairieFyre CEO Chris Courneya will stay on as vice president and general manager of Mitel Contact Centers. "The challenging economic climate during the last few years has dramatically heightened the need for business solutions that drive hard ROI and strengthen customer interaction. Contact centers facilitate and create a natural connection point for customer engagement, sales, and support, positioning our applications as critical enablers for customer purchasing decisions," Courneya said in a statement. "The integration of prairieFyre into Mitel at this point in the market gives both organizations the scale and skills to more effectively meet this demand and grow our contact center business."