Boland T. Jones shares his entrepreneurial insights on how PGi (Premiere Global Services, Inc.) has expanded into the world’s largest dedicated provider of collaboration software and services. Jones, who serves as PGi’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, supports a visionary leadership approach. He is invested in the power of innovation to help employees be both productive and entrepreneurial. Jones believes in dreaming big and working hard to develop and implement ideas that shape the future and help businesses grow faster and operate more efficiently.  

When was PGi founded?

In 1991, I founded Premiere Communications — today renamed PGi — and introduced a calling card that enabled business users to retrieve voice messages, make conference calls and send and receive faxes. By the end of 1995, we were going strong. That was a good thing because in 1994 our daughter was born, followed two years later by the first of two sons. In 1996, we successfully took the company public.

How did you create and develop the company?

PGi was bootstrapped, initially funded personally and through by friends and family. But within a few years, we had to figure out how to fit our business onto the Internet. We backed digital start-ups and, luckily, one of them was WebMD, the medical information site. Proceeds from our investment kept us afloat until we reinvented ourselves as a platform for business collaboration and communications. 

Our company has evolved quite a bit over the years. Today, through years of strategic development and acquisitions, we now operate a global unified communications and collaboration company with over 2,200 employees and offices in 25 countries. 

What inspired you to create the company?

I grew up in a family with a terrific work ethic. We all played sports and were competitive. It was a great foundation for learning that you can succeed if you believe something in your heart and use your competitive spirit to will your idea into being.

When I founded PGi, I was inspired through previous businesses I had owned and saw opportunity for growth within the communications technology space. I wanted to make an impact in the way people interacted with one another. My first company, American Network Exchange (AMNEX), provided initial alternatives to the AT&T operator service. After that, I realized I wanted to continue working within business communications applications, and so I founded PGi in 1991.

How long has the company’s headquarters been in Atlanta?

I moved the company to Atlanta a couple years after founding it, and we’ve been based here since. The city has been a great inspiration and has helped shape the company’s culture worldwide. We’ve benefited greatly from the world-class talent in the region and we’re proud to be a part of Atlanta’s technology community. 

When did PGi become publicly traded?

PGi first traded publicly on March 5, 1996. 

Have you seen the Atlanta technology scene change over the past two decades? Do you think PGi has contributed to this change?

The Atlanta tech community has definitely evolved quite a bit over the last two decades. As Atlanta has grown, new opportunities have arisen for companies here. Currently, the tech start-up scene in Atlanta is strong and continuing to grow. 

I’ve also been happy to see more and more technology companies start their operations or open their offices here in Atlanta. In the future, I hope to see continued growth, with more innovative and young leaders helping to shape the future of technology. 

As a company, we also plan to continue to invest in the tech talent around Atlanta. There is a young, smart generation of people that are developing the Atlanta tech scene into one worthy of national attention. 

We are always looking for ways to work with local companies or talent, and as the technology presence in this city continues to expand, we are happy to be a part of it and collaborate with others in the area. 

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs in the Atlanta tech space?

A piece of advice I always share with fellow entrepreneurs everywhere is the importance of staying curious. As an entrepreneur, you should be continuously challenging others around you and asking “Why.” Entrepreneurs should be ready to challenge the status quo and standard practices and think of innovative, better ways that things can be done.

Another big piece of advice for young employees in particular is to think about what it is they really want to do, what problems they want to solve and what they are most excited about. Having a clear and personal vision can help drive young entrepreneurs to achieve their goals and streamline their personal and professional improvement.  

PGi works in the unified communications and collaboration space – can you describe: 

A) What “Unified Communications and Collaboration” or UC&C refers to?  

Essentially, Unified Communications and Collaboration brings together all of the different technologies that operate under the communications umbrella and typically includes instant messaging and presence, telephony, mobility, conferencing and unified messaging. 

B) How the UC&C space has changed over the last several years?

Alongside the evolution of UC&C and its associated technologies, company infrastructures have improved to better support the technology. And, users overall have become much more tech savvy and receptive of modern collaboration methods. In short, today’s business climate is perfect for our solutions. 

How does unified communications provide value to customers and businesses?

In our modern age, it is vital that customers and businesses are able to communicate with each other across a wide variety of channels. UC&C products and services provide specific value by allowing customers and businesses to continuously communicate and collaborate in the ways that work best for them. 

Additionally, in an increasingly globalized economy and workforce, these applications provide a connection between different employees worldwide. As employees increasingly communicate across different time zones and locations, unified communications offers a unique experience for employees so that it’s almost like you’re right there with the people you are collaborating with.  

Can you tell us a little bit more about PGi’s iMeet product portfolio – and what these products offer to customers and businesses?

PGi’s flagship product, iMeet, gives users the power to meet via web, video or audio conferencing—however and wherever they want—from a single, easy-to-use desktop, web or mobile application, or any telephone device. iMeet was designed to have the industry’s most elegant and appealing user interface, to be the most intuitive and enjoyable way to meet online.

In addition to all-in-one web, video and audio conferencing, PGi’s expanding iMeet portfolio of UC&C products also includes webcasting and an award-winning smart calendar app. PGi recently announced the integration of iMeet into all popular video room systems and endpoints, extending the utility of an organization’s video investments to any desktop or smart mobile device. In the coming months, iMeet will release several new innovations in online team workspaces, project management and sales acceleration. 

Has PGi released other technologies over the last several years?

Yes. Last year, PGi released its smart calendar app, iMeet Agenday. iMeet Agenday combines all of your calendars into a single, consolidated view of all your personal and professional activities. The app displays one easy-to-read daily schedule and, with one touch, lets you join online meetings, dial into conferences, call a group of people, send “running late” messages, get turn-by-turn directions and more. You can also use iMeet Agenday to poll attendees to find the best time to meet. And for sales, iMeet Agenday allows you to automatically update Salesforce.com while on the go, letting sales professionals log sales calls and add contacts directly from the app. 

And we have no plans of slowing down any time soon. Through the PGi Innovation Lab, led by our CTO David Guthrie, we have a full pipeline of new technology innovations that we will be releasing in the coming quarters.