Movius provides a secure communications solution for businesses across voice, SMS, and social channels. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Movius CTO and CISO Amit Modi to learn more about the company.
Amit Modi’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Modi said:
“Prior to Movius, I was the first engineer for another startup called IPUnity, a leader in VoIP based media and application servers. I also have experience in systems engineering and technical sales. As a cofounder, CTO and CISO, as well as Head of Industry Solutions (Federal, Healthcare, Accessibility using AI and IOT) at Movius, my roles have encompassed leading our product vision, running operations and cybersecurity, leading direct and channel sales, customer acquisition, driving business growth and launching new vertical diversification. My leadership has been instrumental in driving Movius’ business strategy and partnerships, fostering product roadmaps, winning several patents, and ensuring operational excellence. With a hands-on approach, I have sponsored and nurtured our expansion into Movius India, where I contributed to the global impact of our innovative fintech, IoT, security, blockchain and AI-powered platforms.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Modi shared:
“Back in the day, work and personal communications existed on one mobile device without oversight or separate dialers, which led to a near-constant mix of conversations, made communications chaotic, and opened companies to the risk of corporate data exfiltration. A variety of industries needed a robust solution to simplify and streamline internal-to-external facing communications over multiple channels (voice, text, social messaging). When we first started thinking about how to solve this issue, the concept of separating your work and personal communication on one device did not exist. Many people couldn’t fathom the idea of having a second dialer on your phone versus just having a separate work phone. To that, we asked, “you have a work and a personal email that exist on the same device, so why couldn’t it be the same for voice and mobile messaging communications?” Movius set out to solve this problem, while keeping business communications secure and compliant. The key was to do it as a 100% software-defined solution as opposed to taking the cost-heavy hardware or device dependent approach.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Modi reflected:
“There have been several, although my favorites are always situations where our team came together in times when our backs were up against the wall and we responded with unwavering commitment and unprecedented hard work. Our team’s ability to defy expectations, even in times where we were met with some very large balance sheet competitors and everyone had written us off, continues to impress me even after all these years with the company.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Modi explained:
“At Movius, we solve a critical gap businesses face in employee-to-client voice and messaging communications. Our innovative solution, MultiLine™, helps protect businesses, keeps employees engaged, and provides frictionless experiences for customers. MultiLine’s AI-powered, intuitive, mobile-first experience for voice, SMS, social messaging, Microsoft Teams, allows users to access Teams capabilities through their business identity with our mobile app, their own native dialer, and any Teams endpoint.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Modi acknowledged:
“Since we are solving a critical industry problem, there is a tremendous opportunity for us and others, which means any complacency can be detrimental to our success as a company. Our biggest challenge is ensuring we remain ambitious and stay ahead of the curve as much as possible. We do this by balancing our continued focus on reliability and stability with our relentless drive to develop new capabilities and build vertical diversification. Another challenge we are addressing is ensuring that our channel partners have the requisite mindshare for Movius. We are a channel-driven business and it is a top priority for us to show our partners how we will integrate with their existing solutions. Additionally, we must address the ongoing rise of cybersecurity threats facing so many companies and industries around the world. Just as we need to stay ahead of the curve in terms of innovation, we must also stay one step ahead on security measures by ensuring our technology is secure by design and is not an afterthought.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Modi noted:
“Movius has consistently stayed focused on internal-to-external communications since its founding. Over the last 10 years, Movius has sought to find the best solution for employees to effectively communicate with clients, vendors, and partners, and the product itself has evolved from a voice messaging software into a secure mobile communications platform that operates as carrier and device agnostic. Since launching, we have expanded our offerings to include more types of devices (mobile, laptop, tablet, wearable and IOT devices) and have broadened the applications of Movius’ technology to new industries, including financial services, healthcare, federal and defense, transportation, and education.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Modi cited:
“One of Movius’ earliest milestones was being selected by Sprint and then again by T-Mobile as a key business solution, integrating with their respective networks and go-to-market motions. Among Movius’ recent milestones, the company was listed in the FedRAMP marketplace through a DoD-sponsored initiative, adding to our organization’s work with the federal government. This initiative works to enhance mission-critical communication capabilities including the strategic need for resilient information sharing and secure decentralized and distributed communications. We also announced an integration with leading Canadian provider TELUS to transform business communications in Canada and open secure communications channels to TELUS users. These more recent milestones illustrate Movius’ ongoing momentum as a result of partnership and coverage area expansion.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Modi assessed:
“According to Gartner, the overall customer experience market is over $400 billion. Movius’ addressable market is a subset of the customer experience market which focuses on internal-to-external facing communications and makes up about a quarter of the total market ($100 billion).”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Modi affirmed:
“Movius’ carrier-agnostic platform is its biggest differentiator from competitors. Movius is not just another VoIP application on a mobile device, so it allows users to connect over WiFi, cellular data, or voice, anytime and anywhere. Movius also has a unique set of integrations, including our Microsoft Teams integration, which allows users to have both voice and SMS tied to the same business phone number within Teams.”
“Our tier-one carrier partner integrations, including with T-Mobile and TELUS, are another example of what sets us apart from the competition. While Movius’ interfaces and applications have changed over time and our integrations and partners have grown, our platform has remained the same, which brings a reliability and consistency that customers look for in a secure communications provider.”
Industry Focus
What industries does Movius target? Modi emphasized:
“Movius operates across multiple industries, including the financial, healthcare, education, transportation, and government sectors, and has built a strong foundation of partnerships and integrations across each of these verticals.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Modi concluded:
“In addition to developing new partnerships and expanding into more sectors and regions, Movius’ primary goal is to increase awareness and adoption of Phone 3.0 – a secure and compliant way to have business phone lines using your existing smartphone through a software-defined platform. Movius will lead the charge in shifting industry focus from traditional hardware to secure communications software powered by AI.”
