VoIP Gateways

Patton (News - Alert) Electronics Co., a family-owned and operated business founded by brothers Bobby and Burt Patton in 1984, has seen tremendous growth of their Gaithersburg, Maryland-based company. In fact, its sales have doubled in Canada and Mexico as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Patton, who offers VoIP equipment ranging from routers to gateways to Ethernet Extenders as well as other connectivity devices, began exporting in the 1990’s. Today, the company sells to more than 120 countries worldwide, accounting for about 70 percent of its business overall. Even more is that Canada and Mexico were among the firm’s first export markets when it began.

Bobby Patton, president, CEO and one half of the dream team, commented on how big of an impact NAFTA made on Patton’s success. “Before NAFTA, we had virtually no sales to Mexico and Canada. Between 1992 and 1994, our revenue on exports to Canada and Mexico doubled, from around $100,000 per year to more than $250,000 per year,” he explains.

NAFTA, an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the US on January 1, 1994, created a trilateral trade bloc in North America which aimed to eliminate barriers to trade investment between the three countries.

The majority of Patton’s revenue in these countries comes from phone companies and Internet service providers (ISPs) who sell services to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Even more impressively, the company’s sales to Mexico and Canada have averaged at more than $1 million per year between 2000 and 2011. Needless to say, NAFTA continues to be a powerful force in helping Patton strengthen and grow in the future.

To find out more about Patton, visit the company at ITEXPO Miami 2013. Taking place Jan. 29- Feb 1 in Miami, Florida, this event serves as the world’s largest communications conference and expo that teaches resellers, enterprises, SMBs and Government Agencies how to select IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications to purchase or resell. Visit Patton in booth #601. For more information on ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami 2013, click here.