By BILL SHUMWAY
and ANDY GARDNER

POTSDAM -- Approximately 16 call center workers at Fused Solutions who provide technical support by phone and email for companies throughout the U.S. will soon lose their jobs.

Noting call centers are “a very competitive space,” CEO Michael Ryan said he has sold the contracts for the 46 brands handled by Fused Solutions to another company to focus on more promising growth prospects for the “thriving” SpiceCSM “platform technology business.”

He declined to identify the purchaser of the contracts, citing confidentiality agreements.

He stressed the rest of the firm’s 30-35 employees will remain at SpiceCSM and expressed hope he may be able to hire back some of the people who are losing their jobs as the SpiceCSM business grows.

He denied the sale was related to employee unionization attempts and disputes over the past four years or to the recent certification of a union at Fused Solutions.

Ryan said he notified call center employees they would soon be laid off in a video-conference in an effort to give them as much advance warning as possible. He said their last workday is “weeks away,” but could not be more specific because details of the sale and transition are still being finalized.

He stressed he is working hard to ensure a smooth transition for the companies Fused Solutions serves. Clients include Slic Network Solutions, a Nicholville Telephone subsidiary that provides broadband internet, phone and television service.

“I deeply care for all of the folks that work for us,” said Ryan, adding “we will do all we can to help them find positions” elsewhere.

Currently based in Northborough, Mass., Ryan purchased Fused Solutions from Nicholville Telephone in 2008. He is originally from Rome, NY, and his wife is from Massena.

Ryan said getting rid of the call center portion of the business will allow a greater focus on Spice CSM, a provider of Integration Platform as a Service (IPaaS). “If you chase two rabbits, you catch none,” he said in explaining the rationale behind selling the call center portion of the business.

Health care, finance and enterprise businesses are among the sectors using SpiceCSM platforms, he said. The platform allows for “ridiculously easy connections” of “silos” of information to create “great customer experience,” he said.

SpiceCSM helps call center agents deliver first-class customer experiences across every channel through one unified agent desktop, the firm notes on its website. “We combine a Dynamic Call Handling Engine, a Data Integration Platform, and Robust Collaborative Reporting to continuously improve your Contact Center and Customer Experience,” the website says.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Slic officials said they had not officially heard about the decision to close the call center.

"Fused Solutions has been a trusted and reliable supplier to us as an after-hours call center for the past eight years," said Darlene Cole, Slic's customer service manager. "They are super to work with and we enjoy a very good relationship with their team. As for the report about their closing, as a rule Slic Networks does not comment on rumors."

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, District Union Local One has been litigating with Fused on behalf of Fused employees going back as far as 2012, according to documents posted on the National Labor Relations Board website.

The union alleges “Refusal to Bargain/Bad Faith Bargaining (including surface bargaining/direct dealing)” in a dispute filed June 17, 2016, NLRB website says. That case remains open.

Other charges lodged against Fused by the union with the NLRB include:

• Filed Sept. 4, 2013, alleging "refusal to bargain/bad faith bargaining". It was closed Oct. 17, 2013 after being dismissed.

• Filed March 5, 2013, alleging "refusal to bargain/bad faith bargaining". It was closed April 30, 2013. Relevant documents are only available through a Freedom of Information Act request.

• Filed Feb. 15, 2013, "alleging refusal to bargain/bad faith bargaining" and "refusal to furnish information". It was closed May 27, 2016. The closing letter is only available through a Freedom of Information Act request.

• Filed Dec. 19, 2012, alleging "refusal to bargain/bad faith bargaining" and "discharge (including layoff and refusal to hire)". It was closed May 1, 2013. Relevant documents are only available through a Freedom of Information Act request.

• Filed Aug. 1, 2012, alleging "discharge (including layoff and refusal to hire)". It was dismissed Sept. 11, 2012.

• Filed June 1, 2012, alleging “coercive actions (surveillance, etc)”. It was dismissed Sept. 11, 2012.

The cases are available at https://www.nlrb.gov/search/cases/Fused%20Solutions.

Union officials declined comment, but said they may be able to speak in the coming weeks.