When the clocks struck midnight on Jan. 1, many a high-level executive breathed a sigh of relief, as one of the worst economic years in history had finally passed. In telecommunications, 2010 promises an increase in optimism and investment.

 

For companies like Grandstream, the New Year opens the door to new services and increased uptake by service providers, said Khris Kendrick (News - Alert), the IP multimedia phone manufacturer’s senior director of business development.

 

In spite of looming challenges, Kendrick told TMCnet that Grandstream will continue to capitalize on its strengths -- manufacturing open, SIP-based products that will interoperate with new entrants in the communications market to sustain and grow its market share.

 

The full exchange follows.

 

 

KK: Despite the tumultuous economy in 2009, Grandstream experienced modest growth. We attribute this growth to leveraging our core competencies in product development to introduce new products that add to the price/feature versatility of our product portfolio, add value to Grandstream’s customer experience and address market forces shifting the industry landscape.

 

In 2009, for instance, we introduced our GXV3140 IP multimedia phone based on our competencies in IP video communication with our first video phone, the GXV3000. We were able to build upon our strengths in IP video communication to not only enable free peer-to-peer video calling but also multimedia functionality. We see the product eventually interoperating with Web 2.0 business applications, such as Skype (News - Alert), that our users are likely to use in concert with our products.

 

Another recent instance is the launch of our new ‘IP Video Surveillance’ (News - Alert) product line. Here we leveraged the same competency in video communication to create a new line of SIP Surveillance cameras that offer bi-directional audio and video streaming onto SIP endpoints, like our video phones.

 

 

KK: We have seen a slight uptick in business as our distributors rebound from a quiet year as a result of businesses prioritizing their IT budgets for 2010.

 

 

KK: Grandstream will continue to leverage our industry leading feature/price competitiveness; product flexibility and ease of deployment; and a tiered go to market strategy focused on VAD, VAR channel and service provider penetration. We will continue to innovate in the areas of Video Surveillance and Multimedia Phones.

 

 

KK: There are many exciting trends and innovations happening, most profoundly the encroaching presence of Google (News - Alert) and Skype in the telecom industry. Enterprises and consumers will soon realize the benefits of using Web 2.0 applications that complement their communication needs.

 

We also see the hybridization of technology as one of the most exciting trends in the industry as consumers and businesses alike seek more return on investment and also seek to minimize the amount devices that they manage (hence the “smart” phone, and the soon to be announced “Smartbooks” at CES (News - Alert) and SIP/VoIP devices that enable video monitoring and live video streaming onto compatible devices). 

 

KK: There are a couple of challenges and trends that we see in the communications industry in the next several months. First “free voice.” Second, the recovery from the recession. Third, the competitive landscape is going to shift as Web 2.0 companies enter into the telecom market, which we see as a threat to both service providers but to hardware manufacturers as well.

 

KK: We will continue to capitalize on our strengths -- manufacturing open, SIP-based products that will interoperate with new entrants in the communications market to sustain and grow our market share. We also believe that there is room for further penetration with our hybrid SIP/VoIP surveillance solution within the video surveillance market.