VOSS, a leader in Unified Communications (UC) service delivery software, announced today that it has appointed Norman Halvorson as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Will Blench to the role of VP Global Sales. VOSS, who closed $12 million in Series B private equity funding in September 2008, is using the funds to fuel its growth in the rapidly expanding marketing for deploying UC features (i.e. deploying integrated voice and video telephony, messaging, conferencing, presence and collaboration tools). These two strategic new hires directly support the funding objectives to grow the business.
Mike Frayne, CEO at VOSS comments; “Norman and Will are huge assets to the company and will add great value to the VOSS management team; we are delighted to welcome them on board.” He adds; “In the current economic climate, more and more organisations are outsourcing their voice and UC services to managed service providers. With a strong team in place, and an unparalleled value proposition for managed services, VOSS is very well positioned to take advantage of this market opportunity.”
Halvorson, who brings more than 20 years accounting and financial experience to VOSS, will focus on driving the company’s growth and financial success.
Prior to VOSS, Halvorson was CFO for Computer Generation Inc (CGI) out of Atlanta where he was responsible for managing the company accounts and finance team. From 2000 when CGI was acquired by Intec Telecom Systems Plc, he worked as CFO of North America, before being promoted in 2005, to North American Chief Operations Officer (COO). In 2006, Halvorson moved to Malaysia as COO for Intec Telecom Systems, Asia Pacific, growing annual revenue to £24.4m.
Commenting on his appointment, Halvorson says; “I am delighted to be joining the team at VOSS. It is exciting to be part of a company that is showing such strength in the market and has so much potential for growth.”
Blench joins VOSS from SQLstream, a company that specialises in analysing and transforming realtime streaming data, where he held the role of Global Vice President. Blench began his sales career at Hewlett Packard, where he spent six years before moving to Morse as a Sales Manager in 1998. In 2001, Blench joined the highly successful Cramer Systems as Sales Director North EMEA, and after the acquisition by Amdocs in 2006, was promoted to VP Sales EMEA, with the responsibility for 23 sales and 26 pre-sales executives.
During his tenure at Cramer, Blench played an instrumental role in the company’s success, growing sales from £7m a year to over £40m.
At VOSS, Blench will take responsibility for the company’s direct and indirect sales, and technical engineering for all regions. He says; “An economic downturn presents both threats and opportunities for companies. I see a great future for VOSS, as they have a strong value proposition and are well placed to take advantage of the market’s search to reduce communications costs. I am thrilled to become part of such a dynamic company.”
About VOSS
VOSS, a leader in service delivery software, helps organisations meet their complex and rapidly changing IP telephony requirements. Uniquely, VOSS delivers Unified Communications (UC) services and systems integration, over large networks that use disparate technologies, vendors and operating systems, in multiple locations and countries. The company’s real-time, automated and centralised service delivery platform cuts costs while speeding and simplifying the deployment of UC services.
VOSS gives users and providers unprecedented operational efficiency, enabling cost savings and performance gains, and providing a UC environment that is agile and flexible enough to change as business demands. Based in Berkshire, UK and Herndon, VA, VOSS is funded by UK early-stage venture capital firm Eden Ventures, XAnge Private Equity and Pyrford International, with select strategic investments. Founded as VisionOSS, the company is now called VOSS. Prominent service providers, large enterprises and partners, such as Cisco Systems, have deployed its solutions across Europe and North America. For more information, visit www.VOSS-solutions.com.