Australian developed MESSAGEmanager has been named as an IP FAX market leader in the FoIP Server Markets, 2007-2012, 2009 Update published by Davidson Consulting.

The report, published annually by independent industry consultant Pete Davidson, "provides an accurate assessment of current market size segmentation and vendor shares" of the computer based IP fax market. The report is based on interviews and confidential surveys conducted with vendors, resellers and channel players from the US and abroad.

MESSAGEmanager was positioned fourth internationally in the top 6 revenue-earning FoIP (Fax over IP) server suppliers of 2008. This is a significant achievement when you consider MESSAGEmanager is not marketed into the US and the other vendors' market share includes shipments into the US.

According to Davidson the Fax over IP Server market is "a vibrant and growing sector, even during the current economic malaise," with sales of fax over IP servers up 27.2% and forecast to further grow to $450 million by 2013, up from $76.2 million in 2008. Sales Revenue from MESSAGEmanager IP FAX increased by 350% in 2009 compared with 2008.

Since traditional fax cannot be reliably transmitted over VoIP networks, Davidson predicts, "VoIP service providers...will turn to FoIP to T.38-enable the long-haul portions of their networks (SIP trunks) so they can solve the problem of many of their VoIP customers whose fax machines are "broken" by installing VoIP lines".

MFPs, sales of which are growing 25% across all continents, began driving fax sales in 2006 and will grow to account for half of the total fax server revenue by 2013. Davidson believes this is primarily due to security and compliance regulations, such as Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX), which have increased the reliance on secure, workflow-automated, trackable, virus free and legally-binding fax.

Also driving sales is the allure of cost consolidation, a major incentive for businesses to invest in fax. Internet Private Branch Exchanges (or iPBXs) use Routers to connect to the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and are much cheaper to run than the station ports used in traditional PBXs and FAX Servers. Using an IP network also reduces the fax call cost from around 6-cents per minute for local and more for international, to "next to nothing".

Virtualisation and ease of DR planning are another two key reasons listed by Davidson in the adoption of FoIP technology. Since IP Fax can be installed in virtual environments, it offers better ROI and reduced TCO, while the ability for companies to install FoIP servers in one or two data centres "reduces the planning of disaster recovery systems that previously required rapid response between multiple sites".

Overall the report painted a very bright picture for the industry, predicting that Asia will be the fastest growing market with 15.4% CAGR for the forecast period, and concluding that FoIP servers will outsell traditional fax servers ten to one by 2013.