Most organizations think (and say) their products and services are the best. But what really validates an organization’s reputation is when it is recognized for its products or services by a third party – even better if that source is well-respected in its industry.
That’s been the case with FirstLight. We’ve won a number of awards in recent years for our solutions. More important than the accolades themselves, however, are the proof points behind why we were recognized.
Network: Our Bread and Butter
FirstLight has been recognized by BroadbandNow as being one of the “top 10 fastest business fiber service providers” nationwide among mid-sized providers, and for having the fastest business Internet among mid-sized providers in Vermont and New Hampshire. (BroadbandNow is a research firm that helps consumers find and compare local Internet service providers through its website, aggregating reviews and ratings.)
Of course, our network quality is not just about speed, but low latency. We’ve been providing redundant, synchronous Internet on our own network since 1998, and our service is backed by a combination of Tier 1 provider connections and private peering connections throughout the Northeast. Those connections reduce hop counts and improve overall user experience.
In fact, 50% of all Internet traffic on our network is directly connected to the ultimate destination, reducing latency and improving response time. Our network is deployed regionally in a ring architecture with each region capable of operating independently. So we’re not only fast, but we’re reliable. And the bandwidth on our 24,000-mile fiber network is dedicated, not shared, so you get the actual upload and download speeds you were promised.
Great UC is What You Get
The pandemic has shone a light on the urgency and necessity of having conferencing and unified communications solutions that work and allow for teammates in multiple locations to collaborate effectively. Earlier this year, ChannelVision Magazine recognized FirstLight as a 2021 Visionary Spotlight Award winner in the Conferencing category.
FirstLight offers a range of cloud-based communications systems including our MaX Meeting platform as well as Cisco Webex Meetings and Teams for enterprise-level communications. How we differ from many other providers, however, is in our expertise and service, along with leveraging our low-latency network to provide a superior experience. We don’t just sell conferencing licenses or hardware. We help with set-up, management, and optimization.
Managing to Win
That 2021 ChannelVision Magazine award came on the heels of another award the publication bestowed on us in 2020: its “Visionary Spotlight Business Technology Award for Managed Services.”
Editors from Beka Business Media, the publisher of ChannelVision Magazine, as well as a panel of judges from independent industry resources, selected winners based on a set of evaluation criteria including “overall innovation, future industry impact of the nominated product or service, creativity and feature set differentiation, and ease of use and interoperability.” Award winners exemplify the communications industry’s overall level of excellence and rapid innovation.
FirstLight offers a host of managed services including managed security, backup and disaster recovery, cloud management, application hosting and management, managed network and firewall, and cloud migration, to name a few. Our recent acquisition of TruePath Technologies gave us added expertise in network monitoring and various monitoring platforms.
“Full Lifecycle Approach”
Lastly, Enterprise Network Magazine named FirstLight one of its “Top 10 Cisco Consulting/Service Companies.” FirstLight has been a Cisco Premier Partner for years, but again, what differentiates us from other providers is how our customers value us as trusted advisors.
Perhaps the editors of Enterprise Network put it best: “While engaging with customers, FirstLight’s Cisco expertise provides a full lifecycle approach that includes implementation, monitoring, support, consulting, and assessment services to ensure applications perform their best anytime, anywhere. Coordinated planning and strategy through business and technical reviews enable their customers to adapt to changing requirements while remaining competitive.”
In a nutshell, what makes our customers take note is how we aren’t simply solution providers; we’re partners and valued members of their in-house IT teams.
Contact us today to see how we can be your trusted advisor too.
