As 2010 approaches, there appears to be good news on the economic front. The recession that has plagued businesses and consumers, alike, in 2009 is showing signs of lifting.

 

But companies will more than likely still take a cautious approach to their budgets and look for services that help them save money, such as Fax over IP, or FoIP, according to a top executive with a Denver-based fax server application provider.

 

“Our strategy will remain the same even if the economy continues to have a slow recovery,” Max Schroeder (News - Alert), senior vice president of FaxCore, told TMCnet in an interview, printed in full below. “Businesses will continue to stay “lean” which means they will need products like FaxCore (News - Alert) that enhance productivity and workflow yet without additional impact on employees’ time. 

 

Heading into the New Year, FaxCore predicts that its partner programs and international marketing efforts will continue to show “tremendous improvements” and help propel the FoIP industry.

 

Our exchange follows.

 

 

Max Schroeder: We were expecting a good year. All of the “gloom and doom” coverage by the media did make us a little nervous, but our expectations were on target. The first half of the year resulted in a double digit percentage sales increase in our North American markets.  Internationally, results varied from region to region but all showed improvement. Some areas increased by triple digits. The third quarter was also much improved over last year, so the second half of 2009 is on track.

 

 

MS: The key areas have been the introduction of our FoIPBOX II product line, our new appliance servers and the introduction of FaxCore’s support for the new Dialogic (News - Alert) 4000 Series Media Gateway supporting V.34. However, I do not want to overlook the improvements we incorporated into FaxCore2007 to maintain pace with the industry and the latest Microsoft (News - Alert) releases. FaxCore is still the only true 21st century product and the leader for the first decade of 2000.

 

MS: I think a key area is that vendors and attendees were looking for more value this year.  Certainly, exhibitors were looking for real reseller and end-user opportunities and ITEXPO in Miami and Los Angeles continued to have “real buyers” on the floor. The Miami event was highly attended and I think that set the pace for the year for competing events to try and match but it was a very high bar for them to clear.

 

 

MS: I think the effect was one of examination and introspection for FaxCore, but not a real factor overall. Many competitors and partners were unnerved by all of the negative news coverage and cut back on their marketing efforts. FaxCore decided on the opposite approach and launched additional marketing initiatives, including a second TMC Channel. Notwithstanding the fact that, FaxCore was already well ahead of the competition, we continued to evolve the product line with software enhancements and new product bundles with our valued partner Dialogic/Brooktrout (News - Alert). 

 

The recessionary climate has forced companies to take a closer look at product purchases, which definitely favors FaxCore. Our strategy is always the same whether the economy is experiencing boom times or a recession and is based on classic marketing rules – “Give the customer a great product at a great price and they will buy.”  Seems to be working so far.

 

 

MS: Our strategy will remain the same even if the economy continues to have a slow recovery.  That said, the economy is improving and the financial markets are much higher now than the first quarter of 2009. Businesses will continue to stay “lean” which means they will need products like FaxCore that enhance productivity and workflow yet without additional impact on employees time. 

 

MS: Our partner programs and our international marketing efforts continue to show tremendous improvements. TMCnet’s international focus has certainly strengthened our ability to reach markets in the Mideast, Africa, Asia and Europe. The North American market is also strong but with today’s global economy, companies of all sizes must continue take advantage of emerging opportunities.