Meet our team of Infrastructure engineers, cybersecurity analysts, contact center specialists, and cloud architects powered by Avant

Niko O'Hara

Head of Programs, Engineering & Vendors

Niko was truly born in the cloud. He uses his technical background in Electrical Engineering to dissect complex technologies like SD-WAN/SASE, Backup/DR, and Security.

Andy Bird

VP of UCaaS, CCaaS, & CX AI

Andy has over 26 years of industry experience, and has had the privilege of leading teams and organizations in the development of several Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) Platforms, including one of the first Generative AI Interaction Platforms.

Chip Hoisington

VP of Connectivity & Colo

Chip brings more than 25 years of technology, engineering, and sales experience to the team. While he specializes in connectivity, global wide area networks, colo, TEM, and Mobility, Chip also holds certifications in Security, Data Science, and IT Support.

Stephen Semmelroth

VP of Cyber Resilience

Stephen is a vCISO, CISSP, and Army Ranger who led cyber teams and infantry platoons in Afghanistan. After retiring from the Army, he founded and sold a cyber recruiting company.

Dave Watson

Field Sales Engineer | UCaaS, CCaaS, CX AI

Dave has 25 years of experience in the industry, selling, installing, and maintaining UC Platforms and Contact Centers. His depth of experience gives him the ability to see deals from several perspectives.

John Paullin

FSE / Director | UCaaS, CCaaS, CX AI

John has 14 years of industry experience in UCaaS, CCaaS, SD-WAN and Collaboration. He’s held previous roles as a Solutions Engineer at Stratosphere Networks, as well as a Sales Engineer at InterCall.

Hunter Edmisten

Field Sales Engineer | UCaaS, CCaaS, CX AI

In 15 years of building relationships and technology solutions, Hunter has worked in multiple roles within the Sales Engineering realm with a background in UCaaS, CX, and full end-to-end solutions.

Sarah Arnstein

Sales Engineer | UCaaS, CCaaS, WAN

Sarah has been in the industry since 2018 and specializes in UCaas, CCaaS and SD-WAN. She has held the previous roles of Patent Engineer at Hanley, Flight and Zimmerman.

Rick Mischka

Field Sales Engineer | Cyber Resilience

Rick is an 8+ year Cybersecurity SME with a diverse set of life experiences, including being a former Special Forces Green Beret, a professional volleyball player, a National Championship-winning coach, and a Firefighter—Paramedic.

Tom Croft

FSE / Director | UCaaS, CCaaS, WAN

Tom’s journey has been full of diverse experiences, from decoding complex customer problems to sculpting seamless user experiences. While his focus areas are UCaaS and CCaaS, he is also well-versed in Connectivity, SD-WAN/SASE, and Security.

Dane Menke

Senior Sales Engineer | Cloud, Cyber Resilience

Dane brings 13 years of industry experience with an emphasis on Cloud, IaaS, Security, and Backup/DR. His previous roles include Solutions Architect at Singlehop and INAP, and Systems Engineer with Hipskind and in the military.

Amanda Bean

Sales Engineer | UCaaS, CCaaS, CX AI

With over 15 years in the industry, Amanda’s held leadership roles in Contact Center, Engineering, and IT. Experience in retail and healthcare help her understand the entire CCaaS process:

Eric Cooke

Senior Sales Engineer | WAN, Colo

Eric has 25 years of experience in the industry and 15 years supporting the channel. He has held various roles in technical sales, provisioning, and project management, specializing in Connectivity, Colo, SD-WAN, Voice, and UCaaS.

David Bjerke

Sales Engineer | Cloud

David has been in the industry since 2013 and specializes in Cloud, IaaS, DaaS, and Backup & DR.