A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Memorial Service for Mr. Fax
The alleged deceased didn’t show up. Cousin family members, Freddy FaxMachine, Sally Server and Mabel MFP-Board were present but obviously in ill health. What was truly amazing was the number of business associates that were in attendance, all commiserating on how they hoped a younger, more robust family member would assume the business with more current technology since these businesses still had a need for a fax capability due to security and compliance regulations but expressed frustration that the cost and archaic technology were a nuisance. It was really amazing, this gathering of all of the businesses Mr. Fax had touched in his long career: Government, Finance, Medical, Dental, Insurance, Hospitality, and others varied and numerous.
Suddenly in the back of the room a mystery couple appeared and introduced themselves as immediate family ready to assume the burden of responsibility to satisfy the long-term business partners with a new and more efficient capability. Now Mr. Fax’s old drinking buddy, Albert Analog, said “so what, the old stuff still works and is not that important, so just put up with it as long as there is a need”. Well, said Harry HIPAA, the person who always shows up at the wrong place and wrong time, “you will be sorry when big brother shows up”. And then chimes in Billy B. “That’s a fact and when someone asks about PCI and BAA compliance, you’ll be scrambling”. Naturally everyone cringed when hearing dreaded Three Letter Acronyms (TLA’s) so an explanation was in order: “It’s similar to having a contractor’s license to build a house, PCI is the government mandated certification for handling privacy with personal information and BAA is the necessary Business Associates Agreement between a contractor and a healthcare provider in the medical industry.
So, the mystery couple announced: “Mr. Fax is really not deceased, he has retired to the warm climes and is relaxing and watching the clouds.”
Now the event turned from a dour gathering to a celebration of new life and opportunity. The mystery couple introduced themselves as the representatives of a company named Upland InterFAX, one of a number of companies that provide cloud based fax and this one with a significant presence in dozens of countries around the world but surprisingly not that well known. So the question from the cousins, (attempting to diminish the attention of the crowd) was “so it’s not a big deal, who uses this anyway?” After a pause the InterFAX couple simply stated “We are not the only people in this business but certainly one of the most advanced and reliable and our business alone is processing more than 350 Million pages of incoming/outgoing FAX each year for more than 135,000 registered accounts and, oh by the way, the business has been growing in double digits year after year and projected by industry experts to continue this path”. The total for the entire industry?
Now the party took its final turn with a toast to the newly discovered family friends. And the general question throughout the event was where can I license this today? The ones really clamoring were the local copier/printer solutions company, the IT services company and a telecom business consultant asking: “how do I get into this business”?.
Not a bad ending to an expected dismal gathering.
Just a note for everyone. This blog is from my good friend John Hewitt. John is now the Business Development Director at Upland Internet FAX.
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