46 Labs is a company orchestrating the world’s connectivity. Built by the industry-leading PeerEdge Connectivity Fabric and providing the only unified platform to manage global connectivity, 46 Labs empowers IT leaders to deliver value and efficiency through a suite of digital infrastructure and business connectivity solutions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed 46 Labs founder and CEO Trevor Francis to learn more.
Trevor Francis’ Background
Francis is a leading authority on connectivity infrastructures, with multiple decades of experience developing cutting-edge digital transformation solutions for large enterprises and service providers.
Francis started his telecom career helping push-to-talk services (PTTs) in developing countries modernize their infrastructure. His success in those engagements led to management agreements to operate those networks on behalf of the operators.
46 Labs now connects large enterprises through voice, data, and messaging through a connectivity orchestration platform that is entirely software-defined and offers a zero-trust level of security no one else has. Francis said:
“What many people do not know about me is that after receiving a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, I dropped out to start a company – a consulting firm. This was not a first for me; I semi-founded my first company –– a web development company – at age 16.” (Francis did eventually earn his college degree from Harvard).
“My passion for solving complex problems took me to Central America and West Africa where recognizing a profound need for connectivity in developing nations, I embarked on a career in telecommunications, working towards the implementation of PTT services in these countries to upgrade their infrastructure, helping them reach customers better and connect with the rest of the world.”
“Voice and messaging platforms play a pivotal role in facilitating effective engagement with customers. We managed to solve their connectivity problems, helping them to do more with less.”
Formation Of 46 Labs
How did the idea for 46 Labs come together? Francis shared:
“Addressing the reliability concerns of rural phone networks in the developing world swiftly acquainted me with the inner workings of international business, and I found myself captivated by the industry. I recognized that global service providers and enterprises have similar needs and that these software solutions could address those needs. Now in our 12th year, 46 Labs continues to thrive and maintain a strong presence in the industry in the U.S. and abroad.”
Key To Company Success
What has been the key to 46 Labs’ success? Francis pointed out:
“46 Labs’ proprietary technology is our primary key to success, followed closely by our people. One of the differentiators of our PeerEdge suite of products is that they are carrier- and vendor-neutral, providing us the flexibility to create solutions that do not require a full rebuild of a customer’s current infrastructure. Our elite team designed and built the technology to work together seamlessly and continually refines it, which enables us to address any need.”
Challenges Faced
What have been some of the challenges Francis faced in building the company? Francis acknowledged:
“Building a company from the ground up requires managing a million responsibilities all at once. In the face of challenges, I firmly believe that adaptability is the cornerstone of building a successful business. I perceive change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. The landscape of technology, markets, trends, and culture is in a constant state of flux. However, within these changes lie new avenues of opportunity, which serve as the driving force for businesses across industries. By embracing change and remaining adaptable, organizations can harness these opportunities to fuel their growth.”
Core Products
What are 46 Labs’ core products and features? Francis explained:
“46 Labs’ core mission is to orchestrate global connectivity for industry-leading organizations across various sectors, including healthcare, finance, retail, transportation, manufacturing, government, and education. By seamlessly interconnecting voice and data divide through our PeerEdge Fabric, we create a unified communication and management experience for our clients.”
“The PeerEdge Fabric and Fabric Portal are at the core of what we do. Together, they provide enterprises with the leading approach to the management of global connectivity.”
“The PeerEdge Fabric is a software-defined mesh of private voice and data connectivity leveraged by enterprises as their global backbone for all infrastructure, remote locations and private users. The Fabric is cloud-managed, vendor- and carrier-neutral, resilient and redundant, managed and monitored 24/7, Zero Trust, and automatically optimized to give enterprises on the Fabric the leading connectivity experience available.”
“The Fabric Portal is the single platform providing IT administrators visibility and control into all their global connectivity, when and where they need it. It is the only single log-in solution for global enterprises to monitor and manage all their vendors and carriers in over 185 countries.”
“These tools allow IT leaders to effortlessly bring together and interconnect the infrastructure that is the foundation of their success. With a focus on sustainability and security, we ensure that we meet our clients’ connectivity needs with the highest level of reliability and protection. This allows businesses to thrive and excel in an ever-evolving digital landscape, as a result of our innovative and efficient connectivity solutions.”
“The PeerEdge Fabric powers our connectivity solutions, spanning voice and data fabric extenders, digital infrastructure through our managed hosting and managed edge devices and business connectivity via Fabric local loops, protected internet services and global voice services.”
Capabilities Of 46 Labs’ Platform
What are the capabilities of 46 Labs’ platform? Francis noted:
“Our platform seamlessly handles over 50,000 voice calls per second. With our robust analytics and automation engines, we guarantee millions of concurrent, flawless connections for the world’s largest global enterprises, contact centers, and service providers.”
“Our cutting-edge technology is not only deployed but also supported by a vast network of hundreds of global service providers. By leveraging a robust backbone supported by the world’s largest datacenter provider, we possess the capability to deliver and sustain edge infrastructure in even the most demanding global environments.”
“Enabling secure connections among millions of machines, applications, and individuals across numerous countries necessitates a distinct platform and specialized expertise. Our team of experts excels at interconnecting diverse networks across a global backbone in a secure manner. This seamless integration empowers workloads and applications to automatically optimize their performance while dynamically adapting to failover situations. We possess the knowledge and infrastructure needed to facilitate these intricate operations, ensuring reliable and efficient connectivity on a global scale.”
Evolution Of 46 Labs’ Technology
How has 46 Labs’ technology evolved since launching? Francis pointed out:
“The challenge with answering this question is that our technology is always evolving based on customer needs. We constantly work to ensure we have the most advanced, most secure network that is never out of date. That is part of our ethos.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates 46 Labs from its competition? Francis affirmed:
“At our core, 46 Labs is a technology company whose primary purpose is to simplify tasks for our customers. We build all our technology with this in mind as the only vendor- and carrier-neutral platform for connectivity –– meaning clients do not have to rebuild their infrastructure or patch pieces together to make it work. Our tech stack is vertical and created in-house, meaning we can adjust it at any time to fit any setup.”
“Second, our unified platform enables users to access their interface, giving them complete control and access to phone records, Microsoft Teams records and data through the product network. Our innovative approach provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop automation experience for global connectivity and infrastructure.”
“We also offer a zero-trust level of security no one else has and we prioritize sustainable and secure connectivity orchestration, enabling organizations to thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.”
Industry Focus
What enterprise sectors currently use your technology? Francis replied:
“As the world’s foremost connectivity orchestration company, we specialize in harmonizing global connectivity for industry-leading organizations spanning various sectors, including healthcare, finance, retail, transportation, manufacturing, government and education.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of 46 Labs’ future company goals? Francis concluded:
“46 Labs will continue to grow and expand our services further into the enterprise space, reaching verticals we have not reached before and improving the day-to-day for IT administrators.”
“Although our core technology works the same for service providers as it does for enterprises, as we have evolved, we have come to understand that the way they use the technology differs. As a result, we think of our customers in two verticals: service providers and enterprises. Our internal processes have shifted to reflect this change and there are more changes to come. Keep your eyes on 46 Labs and watch how we grow.”
