We Changed the Industry

How did Cloud 9 Software get started? Why should a doctor or a practice manager choose Cloud 9 to help run their office? Why do employees love working at Cloud 9? Get the answers to these questions, and many more, in this episode of our cloudcast!

Cloudcast length = 0:12:41

Blu Nordgren (BN): Hello and Welcome, my name is Blu Nordgren and I’m the Sr. Manager of Marketing here at Cloud 9 Software. In conjunction with MEDQOR we had the pleasure of speaking with some of the MVPs of the Cloud 9 team. We’ll start with Kevin Simmons, our Director of Product Management. Kevin, can you tell our listeners a little bit about your role with Cloud 9 Software?

Kevin Simmons (KS): I oversee the R&D, the research and development at the company. I’m in charge with our strategic vision and coming up with all of the great ideas to keep making Cloud 9 better.

BN: We also have our Director of Sales, Robin Norfleet– Robin can you tell us about what you do for Cloud 9?

Robin Norfleet (RN): My primary responsibility is to bring new partners into the company. And so, I have been here for almost eight years. I have spent 25 years in the orthodontic industry, so this has been my entire career, is working in the orthodontic industry.

BN: Next we have Kelsey Phillips, our Manager of Training, can you tell us about what you do?

Kelsey Phillips (KP): Sure. So I oversee all of our in-person and virtual in our new online learning platform training sessions and manage all of our training documentation as well.

BN: And finally, Phyllis Fernandez, our Senior Director of Customer Success– Please tell us a bit about your role Phyllis.

Phyllis Fernandez (PF): It is my goal to ensure that our customers have a wonderful experience and that they feel we are engaged with them, we support them in all aspects of their journey as our customer, and that they feel like they have a voice. Whether it’s from a support aspect, whether it’s from a product enhancement aspect and whether it’s from just having them feel like they are supported by our team members. And that’s ultimately the goal with customer success.

BN: Kevin, can you tell us about how Cloud 9 Software got started?

KS: You know, the original founder was Ken Swinney, who had been in the industry as a developer for many years before this, and even wrote one of our competitor softwares. He and his wife, Ann, were looking for a new venture back around 2010 and they actually started writing the Cloud 9 software in the office of our very first customer here in Woodstock, Georgia. Ken and Ann got it to a point and were looking for some additional investors and founders, and they came across a couple of people also with a long history in the industry. One of whom was my father, Reid Simmons, who had started another one of our competitors many years ago in the early 80s. So I think their history together, plus the experience of the other founders, helped to give Cloud 9 a very educated start in terms of “what do softwares need to do and need to do well?” And then also what are some of the gaps or things that the software they had worked with previously needed to be able to be better. So we were able to start very early on with a very robust application that did a lot of various things for the customers and helped them get through their days and weeks and months.

BN: And Robin, as our representative out in those offices, why should a doctor or a practice manager choose Cloud 9 to help run their office?

RN: I love this question. It’s a question I get every day from all of my doctors. “Why your system? What are you going to do? How is it going to help my practice?” One of the ways is the fact that it gives them the flexibility to use any devices they would like. They can use a Mac, a PC, a tablet of any kind, or any combination of those devices. Whereas, most other systems that are available in the industry have a platform that’s either PC or Mac based, meaning that you have to use that particular device. Another way is cost savings. Everyone is looking for low cost of ownership and Cloud 9 delivers that in that you can use inexpensive hardware, any of the devices I already mentioned, as well as low IT cost, if any at all. Because you are running in a browser, there’s not a network to maintain. There’s not software that you need to load onto individual devices and it gives you live access to your data no matter where you are. You don’t have to remote login to servers anymore. You don’t have to replace expensive servers and other hardware, and it gives you the ability to practice wherever you are.

BN: Now we know the past couple years have been difficult in many ways for families and businesses alike, Kelsey, How did Cloud 9 react- how’s business been?

KP: Business has been crazy. It’s definitely been a huge adjustment. When the pandemic first hit, a lot of places, just the reaction was to shut down, and at Cloud 9, we realized we couldn’t. We can’t just leave our clients with no solutions, with no help, with no training. So we immediately went into fix-it mode. If somebody in your family has a problem, you rally around that person and you come together to fix it, and that’s what we all did. So we worked together. We developed an online training program. We changed all of our protocols and everything we were doing. We were cutting masks out of T-shirts at one point. So we all got together and we just made it work. We didn’t let our clients suffer one day.

BN: And Phyllis, how did you see things change from where you sit

PF: It’s had its challenges. When the pandemic hit, we were really a personal engagement model, and we had to really quickly modify a lot of the aspects of our business to be virtual. And not only for us from a Cloud 9 to customer engagement, but also from our clients, their patient-doctor relationship. For several months, their offices were shut down and all communication was virtual. So we had to have the capabilities that would support a virtual environment.

BN: Alright, just some closing thoughts, can you tell us what makes Cloud 9 special to you? We’ll start with you, Kelsey.

KP: I think what I love most about Cloud 9 is that we all are a big family. Cloud 9 is a familial unit. It’s not a company. I mean, we are, but it definitely doesn’t feel that way. Everybody we work with, we are always there for each other, and we have the same kind of relationship with our clients, which I think is super important. We don’t see our clients as people that pay us. We see clients as members of our family that we need to take care of. So I think that’s my favorite part about Cloud 9 is just the way we always have respect for everybody that we encounter.

BN: And Phyllis, what about you?

PF: I would say that it is an amazing software. I have several friends that are orthodontists, that they have chosen to become Cloud 9 customers. It can not only manage your everyday practice responsibilities, but it can also enhance the needs of your business and give you tools that you can grow your business from it just being a utility to it being a practice optimization software. One of the reasons I joined Cloud 9 was also because of the relationships of everyone that’s involved in the day-to-day operations at Cloud 9. It really has a family feel so that everybody really cares and they put their heart and soul in assisting our customers.

BN: Kevin, whatchu got?

KS: Again, just Cloud 9 I think is a special place. We’re continuing to try to be better with every month and every year. You know, it’s a community within itself. It’s been a very special place to be a part of and watch it grow over the years, and I look forward to great things still to come in the future.

BN: And finally, Robin, what makes Cloud 9 special to you?

RN: I just want people to know that we changed the industry. That is a really big deal because, in our industry, everybody out there is now saying “Cloud technology. We have cloud, we have cloud.” A huge differentiator for Cloud 9, and many of our competitors, is that not only were we the first, which gives us more experience at delivering a cloud solution, but also being browser based 100%. I make that statement because there are others who are in the process of developing such a platform, but many of our competitors simply did not go browser based. They’ve moved a server and said “We have cloud technology.” So, knowing that we changed the industry, that we are the leaders, and that we have the experience in this space in delivering a cloud solution, I think is very important to know.

BN: Thank you all so much for your time with us today, it’s been such a pleasure to hear your perspectives on Cloud 9!

PF: Absolutely.

RN: Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me today.

KP: Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

BN: Dear listeners, if you have any questions about what you heard here today, or would like to learn more about the software solutions that Cloud 9 offers, please visit us online at cloud9.software. That’s cloud, the number nine, dot software.