Line Systems: West Chester communications solutions company acquires fourth company in 12 years, focused on cloud

Line Systems (LSI), a West Chester company that offers enterprise telecommunications tools, acquired the smaller southern New Jersey-based Magellan Hill Technologies in March — it’s the fourth such acquisition LSI has made in 12 years.

The company gained at least five full-time employees to their total of 115, mostly from the Magellan Hill sales team, LSI Director of Marketing Bill Jefferis says.

And it’s likely not the last for $50 million communications provider, says Jefferis, who told Technically Philly that LSI acquired North East Telephone in 2001, Capsule Communications in 2002 and Curry Communications in 2005.

His job is in marketing, but even still, it caught this reporter’s attention when Jeffries called the company “one of the best kept secrets in the communications space.”

“Our stated strategy is to grow organically and acquisitively,” Jefferis said.

Communications solutions for all manner of businesses have certainly changed since 1999 when LSI was founded. Then, the company’s bread and butter was reselling telephone service, or as Jefferis refers to it: POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).

But since about 2009, when the company launched its hosted cloud-based PBX (technology that switches company phone lines), Jefferis says it’s been all about the cloud.

“Cloud services have reached a level of maturity in the market that has made them become mainstream due their inherent ubiquity and strong economic value proposition,” Jefferis said.

With four  acquisitions, a customer base more than 7,500 strong, and 115 employees behind it, the company has its sights set on reaping the full potential of cloud-based services, even if that means continuing the acquisition hunt.

“The company is truly poised to become a legitimate threat across the region and nationally.”