Mitel (MITL) has paid some $20 million in cash for Ottowa-based prairieFyre Software, the key OEM supplier behind the unified communications provider’s existing contact center business, according to the companies.

Chris Courneya, prairieFyre chief executive, will run Mitel’s new contact center business unit as vice president and general manager. The deal for the privately held specialist in contact center, business analytics and workforce optimization software and services will gain Mitel a stronger position in the growing outsourced contact center business, estimated at more than $3 billion in annual sales, based on data Mitel sourced from researcher Ovum in a 2011 forecast on global contact center spending through 2016.

Is there an upside for channel partners in this Mitel deal? Absolutely, said Richard McBee, Mitel president and chief executive.

"In response to customer demand, many of our IT resellers have started building out specialized contact center practices and are asking for a solution tightly integrated and aligned with Mitel's product development and roadmaps," said McBee. "We believe the highly integrated nature of our existing OEM relationship with prairieFyre prior to the acquisition makes this a low-risk, high-reward and compelling opportunity to immediately capitalize on market demand [and] expand revenue and margins, and positions Mitel for ongoing growth."

By acquiring prairieFyre Mitel not only shores up its contact center portfolio but also gains a foundational development platform from which to construct cloud-based contact center solutions, which, in turn, will help to increase sales of its core IP telephony and UC solutions, the company said. With customer-facing contact center applications fast becoming a revenue center for many organizations and an influencer of customer satisfaction and loyalty, Mitel wants to make sure it is well-positioned to capitalize on the emerging segment, officials said.

“Contact centers facilitate and create a natural connection point for customer engagement, sales and support, positioning our applications as critical enablers for customer purchasing decisions," said Courneya. "The integration of prairieFyre into Mitel at this point in the market gives both organizations the scale and skills to more effectively meet this demand, and grow our contact center business."