Dialogic
Where it's based: Montreal, Quebec
When it was founded: 1984 (Eicon)
Website: www.dialogic.com [1]
Why it's Fierce: Under the leadership of CEO Nick Jensen, Dialogic has been devouring equipment companies at a steady clip. The portfolio includes the original parent company Eicon, Intel's media and signaling business (where the original Dialogic brand resided), Cantata Technologies (a company built by mergers of Brooktrout, Excel, and SnowShore), OpenMediaLabs for its video expertise and the NMS Communications Platform business.
Dialogic sees itself as selling the building blocks for applications at the network edge, not in the applications business per say, with video is a key path for future growth. If you think Cisco has a good video story, you'll love Jensen's vision of video-enabled gaming, video SMS, video ringtones, video IVR, video call center applications and mobile video conferencing.
Don't be surprised to see Dialogic buy up a few more companies over the next twelve months. Jensen has a taste for bargains - if they fit into his master plan. Finally, you just have to love a privately-owned company that understands the value of yearly dedicated analyst/media events. It's a practice that many could learn from.
Links:
[1] http://www.dialogic.com
[2] http://www.fierceenterprisecommunications.com/special-reports/fiercevoips-fierce-15
[3] http://www.fierceenterprisecommunications.com/special-reports/digium-top-voip-company-2008-fiercevoip-fierce-15