August 2, 2006
Smaller proves better,
eGIX shows after storm
Carmel company gets
data flowing
By Bruce C. Smith
August 2, 2006
Hours after a heavy
storm blew dozens of windows out of the Indiana
Square building Downtown in April, a Carmel company
was restoring critical communications to some of the
building's tenants. Law firms, accounting firms and
other companies effectively were shut down because
paper records were sucked out through gaping holes
in the building and blown down the street.
Some of them turned to
eGIX, a telecommunications company headquartered in
Carmel's Meridian Street office corridor, to get
back in business in temporary offices.They couldn't
wait a month for the big utility companies to
restore their phones, computer links and Internet
access, voice mail and other messaging and
communications.
Specialty companies like eGIX provide integrated
high-speed voice and data communications service and
claim to be big enough to offer the newest in the
telecom industry, but small and local enough to
respond to trouble.
"Disaster recovery is
part of our business. We do it all the time, and
we're willing to do whatever it takes because we're
Hoosiers," said Steven L. Johns, president of eGIX.
Helping companies rebound from disasters is a small
part of the eGIX operations.
The 18-year-old company
does business in 23 states with technology that goes
far beyond simple telephones.
It provides a private
secure Internet system, voice and Internet combined
systems, "Follow Me" networks of instant
communication with the same number anywhere, and
more.
In a relatively few
years, the company has become one of the stars of
Central Indiana's growing lineup of science and
technology companies.
State economic development leaders said eGIX is one
of the companies that builds Indiana's base for the
emerging economy, which in turn helps to lure more
technology and bio-science companies. "Sometimes we
think that we need a lot of big companies like
Lilly, but it took Lilly nearly 100 years to get to
the first $1 billion," said Bruce Kidd, director of
entrepreneurship at the Indiana Economic Development
Corp. "Instead, Indiana needs a lot more small and
midsized companies like eGIX. "They are the type of
company that has a stellar management team that
knows how to build a large footprint for their
business, to spread their telecom network and do the
job better than anyone else."
The success of eGIX and other companies is a magnet
for similar companies to consider moving to the
area, said Jeff Burt, director of the Hamilton
County Alliance that promotes business development.
"EGIX is a company very much on the front edge of
what's going on in the telecom environment. It's
nice to have them here, because as companies like
Aprimo and Bitwise and eGIX grow, they validate this
market," he said. "As other companies from outside
look at this region, they can look at the
concentration of these technology companies and get
a pretty good idea that this is a proven community
for development."
EGIX traces its roots to 1988 as Voice One and Voice
Net, based in Carmel. Early products and services
included voicemail. Over the years, the company has
added more services and products, and each one
advances the technology of person-to-person,
company-to-company communications anywhere, anytime,
over secure lines.
"The telephone and
communications needs of a doctor's office are
different from an accountant or from any other size
or kind of business," said James Kinnett, executive
vice president of operations for eGIX.
Key in the growth strategy for eGIX has been the
acquisition of smaller telecom companies in similar
or related niches of the telecom industry.
The company's local profile was raised nearly six
years ago when the name was changed and then it was
posted on top of the headquarters in a landmark
Carmel office building along Meridian just south of
116th Street.
Johns said the name was
changed to reflect the company's expanding products
and services and its core values of energy, growth,
innovation and exceptional service to its customers.
EGIX survived the dark
days of the early 2000s when many dot.com companies
collapsed.
The pace of mergers and
acquisitions picked up after the company -- founded
in 1988 by five partners -- received an infusion of
private capital in 2004.
Since late 2004, eGIX
has announced five acquisitions or partnerships of
telecom companies in similar or related businesses
that each bring new products, services and regions
of the country or established customers to the mix.
Among the first deals
of 2006 was the acquisition of Kiva Networking, a
Bloomington-area technology and Internet provider.
Kiva was a dominant Net
company in south-central Indiana, and the
partnership means Kiva's customers will have access
to eGIX's wider array of communications systems and
services.
Johns and Kinnett said
eGIX has seen explosive growth for two years. They
said the company's revenues are up at least 30
percent in that period.
"In the technology
business, you can never stop evolving," Johns said.
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