Nextiva Acquisition of Thrio Bolsters CCaaS Play

Nextiva is buying contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) provider Thrio in a move the buyer said will enhance its AI-based offerings.

The Nextiva acquisition of Thrio has closed, according to a Thursday announcement from the companies. They did not say how much Nextiva is paying for Thrio.

According to Thrio's website, it provides a unified routing engine to automate a workflow for inbound and outbound customer interactions. That includes voice, text, chat, social media and email.

The deal builds on the 2023 Nextiva acquisition of customer experience platform provider Simplify360, which reportedly helped expand Nextiva's "one workspace" into "social media, reputation management, live chat, and helpdesk CRM."

Many partners have known Nextiva as a unified-communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) provider, but the two recent deals seem to reflect a goal to play more seriously in the CCaaS/CX space.

The company in 2021 launched a Five9-powered contact center offering that bundled with the Nextiva Phone System. Arizona-based Nextiva went on to win Five9's U.S. partner of the year in 2022.

Buying Thrio would seem to expand Nextiva's internal CX capabilities.

"We're excited about the possibilities this acquisition brings. It's a logical step and brings us to the forefront of CX solutions," Nextiva CEO Tomas Gorny said. "Now Nextiva has a clear path to market success, with nothing in its way."

Related:Channel Futures' Top 10 Unified Communications/Contact Center Stories of 2023

Nextiva Acquisition of Thrio: Channel Impact

The technology advisor partners Channel Futures reached out to haven't engaged with Thrio in the past. Moreover, those contacted said they've only leveraged Nextiva for UCaaS.

That brand reputation could shift with the Thrio acquisition, according to Nextiva execs.

Nextiva's Olen Scott

Nextiva head of channels Olen Scott told Channel Futures that the portfolio expansion will benefit the vendor's channel partners.

"This is a big moment and something special for the partner community. Nextiva will deliver more value for partners with the best technology stack available, across all communication channels. We can’t wait to get this in the hands of our partners and together grant customers these game-changing solutions," Scott said.