Local First Arizona is a non-profit coalition of local businesses in Arizona, dedicated to encouraging long-term economic development in the state through educating citizens about the importance of investing in locally-owned businesses. Started in 2003, Local First has grown into the the largest association of local businesses in the United States with almost 3,000 members.
Thomas Barr, Director of Operations, is responsible for working with members and staff to ensure that everyone’s technology needs are covered.
When he joined Local First, they were already using a VoIP phone system, but he realized that their current provider was not keeping up with what they needed, and started to research other phone service providers.
Since Local First AZ has a commitment to working with local businesses, one of the first things Barr began searching for was companies local to Arizona.
Previous providers had initially started in the state but then had been bought up by national companies, which did not directly align with the organization's mission.
Nextiva was able to offer us more features at a lower price than our previous provider, including voicemail-to-email, more extensions, and a better overall network.
