Marshall,
I for one appreciate your intelligent questions, and you have presented many that I have asked, myself. Unfortunately I cover several stocks, and literally do not have the time to afford solely to Franklin.
With that said:
You state that you talked to Alan in sales and he sent you product literature, then why don't you direct any technical questions to the propeller heads, where you work. Or call Frank, he is usually available early 9:15 am PST, or late in the day 4:00 Pm PST.
Your questions in the previous post, were asking FNET's contribution to FTEL. I thought I answered that pretty clearly.
I too, have had experience in both the telecommunications industry (ITT) and owned my own computer consulting company about a decade ago.
Although I have an understanding of the internet, communications, wireless and such, I couldn't tell you the difference between all the competitive products and their various performance ratings. Usually
he who has the biggest ad budget, gets the most coverage in this industry, you should know that. Example, Mircorim's RBase is the most robust of databases, fully ansi level 4 compliant and has been totally SQL compatible since conception, yet all you hear about is Paradox, Oracle, MS SQL server, etc. Why? Because they spend the big bucks on advertising, therefore the mags are obliged to write them up and use them as the standards by which all others are judged.
With Franklin just getting the products into production, FNET serves as a vertical market for these products. The association with Gridnet, will also open some doors, especially when more and more corporations start to utilize intranet voice and teleconferncing features. To move these big blocks of info, speed and cost are going to be some of the key considerations. Now, don't let me mislead you, USRX "Total Control" has the edge, mainly because of the software handshaking to a broad platform of network protocols. Where FTEL's products shine is in
addressing true ISP concerns, because dollar for dollar performance, or bang for the buck, is definitely on FTEL's side. Total Control by USRX is over $50k fully configured, yet Franklins product, with all the bells and whistles is about $15k, yet can match performance characteristics.
I truly expect Franklin will license distribution of some of their key products to broadbased equipment manufacturers, that already have worldwide distrbution channels in place. They might not say Franklin on the box, as they may be private labeled, but I would bet that they say Franklin on the circuit board. This is where I not only feel Franklin will shine, but also feel that they are best suited to positioned within the industry, as a licensor of technology, and that is why I invested. It's the least visible, but it also has the benefit of getting bogged down into a manufacturing and marketing overhead. As an investor, this is a plus, not a negative. So, if they stay obscure from the catlogue pages of Tech Data, Merisel, and the like, thats just fine with me. As long as I know Franklin got buck for every piece shipped, under any name, I say ship it.
Also, one more thing. You make innuendos of people who work for FTEL being on this board, I just want to make it perfectly clear that I do not work for, nor am I compensated in any form by FTEL, or any other company as far as that goes.
RB |
