Merbridge

Merbridge Networks Corporation
Merbridge Networks Corporation (Merbridge) is a leading provider of voice and data network equipment throughout North America. Although Merbridge has focus on data networking, including routing, switching, wired and wireless as well as security, the primary focus of their day-to-day operations remains in the voice over IP space (VoIP). Merbridge has a particularly strong focus in Ontario, Canada, specifically in the Guelph/Kitchener/Waterloo region.
Merbridge’s products include:
• Voice over IP (VoIP) PBX systems
• IP and TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) business phones
• Voice messaging and IVR applications
• Contact/call centre applications
• Mobility integration to PBX systems (cellular integration to PBX)
• Enterprise management
• Data networks (wired and wireless)
• Security in the form of network monitoring and firewall protection
• Software applications that fit the messaging and collaboration model (e-mail servers, chat/IM, document management)
Authorized Product Manufactures include:
• American Power Conversation (APC)
• Avaya
• Cisco Systems
• Microsoft
• Mitel Networks
• Nortel Networks
• ProCurve by HP (a Hewlett Packard Company)
• Research in Motion (RIM/Blackberry)
• WatchGuard Technologies
Corporate History
Merbridge originally was founded in 2003 by Neil Hyndman, who was only 22 years of age at the time. Hyndman started the company as "1st Call Communications" which operated in its preliminary years as a sole-proprietorship. After a number of years of being in business, Hyndman registered the company as a “Limited company” with the government of Canada.
1st Call was originally focused solely on customers in the small and medium business (SMB) space with products solely from Nortel Networks (Nortel). Hyndman partner with Nortel at inception and was authorized for the Norstar and Business Communication Manager (BCM) lines under the Contract Nortel Networks Reseller (CNNR) program. 1st Call completed all certifications and requirements with Nortel in less than one week - a program that normally offers a grace period of 120 days.
After 3 years of operating solely as a Nortel CNNR, Hyndman decided the company need to branch out into larger system sales. Hyndman was quickly realizing the largest revenue source for the company was coming from its larger customers and that customer base was expanding. With a limited product offering, again only from Nortel, Hyndman decided to approach Mitel in hopes of distributing and supporting larger (+200 station) systems. At the time, Hyndman did not realize that this would be the turning point for 1st Call, and would set the company on a path to great success.
Following great success with the SX-200 ICP from Mitel, Mitel encouraged Hyndman to start marketing and maintaining the larger Mitel 3300 ICP. At first Hyndman was reluctant to include such a large product in 1st Call’s product portfolio, most notably because of the higher technical and sales requirements of Mitel. With the support and promise of success from Mitel, Hyndman initiated the process to become authorized and certified on the 3300 ICP. To this date, the 3300 ICP has been the most successful product offering of Hyndman’s company. Over a span of many yers with Mitel, Hyndman worked very closely with Mitel and vice-versa. Through the years Mitel continued to support 1st Call.
In 2006 Hyndman incorporated the company and it officially became known as “1st Call Communications Corporation.”
In 2008 Hyndman changed the company name from 1st Call Communications Corporation to Merbridge Networks Corporation. Also in 2008 Hyndman realized there was a huge market for customers to have custom application developed to interact with their voice platforms. Customers often came to Merbridge for assistance in developing custom applications to better assist their business operations in interacting and deriving additional functionality out of their IP-PBX. With this concept, Hyndman started Merbridge Technologies, a company solely dedicated on IP-PBX and converged software design.
In 2009 the Merbridge corporate logo became a registered trademark in the U.S. and Canada.
In 2009 Merbridge Technologies released MWIbridge, a application that works with Mnicrosoft Exchange 2007 to turn message waiting lamps (MWI) on and off, on the IP-PBX. Microsoft at the time had no way of activating and deactivating PBX phone’s message waiting lamps.
First Large Scale PBX Deployment
After being a Mitel partner for only seven (7) days, 1st Call had its largest sale to date. The sale focused on the health care vertical and included Mitel’s SX-200 ICP and associated hardware and software adjuncts. The sale was particularly important to Hyndman, as it was the first sale that 1st Call went up against Cisco Systems directly. Cisco’s price to the customer was two and half (2.5x) times that of 1st Call’s offering price.
After engineering the SX-200 ICP to meet the customer’s needs, Hyndman went on to reduce their trunking requirements from over 120 trunks, down to only 48.
1st Call’s first large scale PBX deployment remains in operation and supports some of the largest hospitals throughout North American, including Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Nashville Office
After only two years in business 1st Call ventured into the United States, starting out in the Metropolitan Nashville area. 1st Call expanded with its first office by Nashville’s International airport. The new location was a partnership with Hyndman and a previous employer, 1st Computer Telephony Innovators (1CTI). The Nashville office offered support for Avaya, Inter-Tel, Nortel and Panasonic systems.
Although the Nashville office remained profitable, Hyndman was being pulled between the two locations and was traveling as often as every two weeks to the Nashville area. The travel became too much for Hyndman as the Canadian operation was becoming more and more successful as too was the U.S. operations. Hyndman became too stretched and thus reached an agreement with 1CTI’s ownership to sell his portion of the U.S. operations.
Although the U.S. operations was eventually sold to 1CTI, Merbridge remained an active participant in the daily operational and managerial functions of the company. Hyndman never really stopped supporting this organization and continues to travel to Nashville as required.
Name Change to Merbridge Networks
After six (6) years of being in business and with a growing customer base, Hyndman decided that the name “1st Call” was not a true dictation of what the company was about. Hyndman, who was extremely dedicated to his customer base, sent an e-mail to several of his customers and asked them what they thought of the name “1st Call.” The comments that came back were consistent. The name was respected, yet deemed to be only about telecommunications equipment. Several customers comment the name was “cute.” With this poll, Hyndman set out to rename and rebrand the company.
Hyndman had learned from one of his first customers the importance of Internet domain name registration, and how important purchasing domain names on the Internet was. In Hyndman’s arsenal of owned domain names was “Merbridge.” Merbridge was originally formed from the words “Merlin” and “Bridge.”

The term Merlin was used as this is the first phone system Hyndman had ever learned - the AT&T Merlin 1030. Hyndman had tremendous respect for AT&T’s (then Lucent and now Avaya) products, specifically anything that involved the original AT&T “ATL sets.”
The word Bridge came from the Wesley Clover group of companies. Hyndman had much respect for Wesley Clover, a startup and incubation company owned by Terry Matthews. Matthews also has controlling interest in the company hew originally founded in 1972, Mitel. Wesley Clover has a practice of naming startup companies after geographic entities especially those entities that have connection to Matthews childhood home in the Marches area on the border of Wales and England. Some Wesley Clover names include the Brookstreet Hotel (Kanata), NewPort Networks, BreconRidge, BridgeWater Systems and DragonWave.

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