At Conversant, we hire talented, passionate people you’ll love to deal with.
Cameron is the founder, majority shareholder and Managing Director of Conversant. His vision and direction is what makes Conversant the phone company you’ll love. Cameron has a proven, successful approach to business, based on consulting with you to understand your business’ needs and then recommending a solution to suit you.
Cameron is passionate about taking the kinds of tools and processes large corporates use and making them appropriate and affordable for small and medium businesses – helping your organisation become more efficient, effective and profitable.
Trained in business and law, Cameron has a Bachelor of Commerce / Bachelor of Law (Honours) degree from the University of Auckland. From 1992, Cameron worked in business process re-engineering, change management and Enterprise Resource Planning throughout Europe, America and Australasia. This gave him substantial expertise in the tools and processes that make businesses more successful.
Returning to New Zealand in 2004, he discovered our local businesses didn’t have the same opportunity to benefit from open source software or internet phone systems that equivalent companies have overseas.
Understanding how local businesses could thrive with the flexibility and lower cost of internet phone systems, Cameron founded Conversant. The business is committed to offering an outstanding, proactive telephone service, providing ongoing advice and support as your business grows and changes.
Beyond his mission to free businesses from the tyranny of the big telcos, Cameron is a dedicated family man who also likes to escape to the ski field or to a live concert when he has the opportunity. Although with Conversant’s internet phone system, he’s only ever a call away.
Like Cameron, James has spent his career in large corporates and now loves applying his expertise to benefit medium and small businesses. A Director of Conversant, James manages the design and development of our infrastructure and is responsible for its ongoing maintenance. James loves to use smart, open source technology to add real value to a business.
James is an experienced IT professional with over 20 years in Financial and Operational Systems design and implementation.
He has worked in several industries in Europe and America, as well as Australasia. James has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland and began his career as an accountant, understanding business cost and finance constraints, before moving into IT.
James lives on a life style block, and uses Conversant technology to seamlessly connect his home office to the corporate office. With three daughters, James understands the need for cost effective phone calls. He spends his leisure time with his family and enjoys both cycling and scuba diving – underwater being the one place he can’t get phones calls - yet!
An Aucklander born and bred, Brett spent the 20 years between 1997 and 2007 working in Italy. His roles there all involved sales and customer relations of some kind. Including experience as diverse as export market development for multinational car companies to investor relations for a top fashion house. As well as completing an MBA, Brett developed a sales approach based on delivering solutions to customer requirements, rather than simple product placement.
On his return to NZ, Brett established a new market in automotive distribution. In 2008, Brett joined the Conversant team as a Director. His focus is to understand your needs as a business and how to help you get the most out of Conversant’s internet phone systems. His experience in working with a wide range of companies across a broad spectrum of industries helps him understand how clients’ needs differ.
On weekends Brett likes to explore the Hauraki Gulf or take to the hills on tramping expeditions – although most hikes are less ambitious than his successful assent of Kilimanjaro in 2008.
Josh is responsible for the design, integration, development and maintenance of Conversant's systems. This means he ensures our billing is accurate and timely, and our clients’ systems are always fully operational.
Josh has been programming since he was a kid and is fluent in a wide range of technologies including C#, Delphi, PHP, JavaScript, SQL (Oracle & MySQL), SOAP, XML and J2EE related technologies.
As a software developer Josh enjoys Conversant's commitment to open source software. This is because it allows him, and the development team, to influence and contribute to each new project’s growth and direction.
Outside of work Josh describes himself as a snowboarding, hunting, shooting, martial arts nut. It makes up for sitting at a keyboard during the week.
Yang has been interested in network and software development for a long time. As part of the Conversant development team, Yang contributes to the design and ongoing innovation of the voice over IP system. His focus on maintenance of the Conversant system ensures customers get a top quality experience.
Yang has extensive experience in design and development, having received his Bachelor of Information Technology degree in 2005 and become a Cisco Certified Network Associate in 2007. Yang’s expertise includes C++, Python, Java, PHP, MySQL, Linux, Voice over IP and SMS messaging systems.
When not in front of a computer screen, Yang enjoys martial arts training such as Muay Thai and kick boxing to keep him fit. He’s also a fan of baseball, kendo and cooking.
Leah Hawthorn is Conversant’s accountant - responsible for our billing, tax, financial and management reporting. She has worked in numerous financial roles including as a management accountant, systems accountant, and credit controller. As a working mum, Leah particularly enjoys Conversant’s family friendly culture.
Weekends are family time for Leah, watching her children play sports and introducing them to all the different areas of Auckland. But when the kids have gone to bed, her ideal Saturday night would comprise dinner with friends then an escape into a good book.
If you’re interested in learning more about how the Conversant team can help your business fly, just contact us now.
We promise no contracts, no hidden costs and no prohibitive set up fees. And we offer a money back guarantee so you can get started with confidence.