A Conversation With: Melissa Confalone, vice president of sales at Fraser Advanced Information Systems

For nearly 50 years, Fraser Advanced Information Systems has provided technology to businesses across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. It currently has offices in Bethlehem, West Reading and Bala Cynwyd. Melissa Confalone is vice president of Sales at Fraser. She has been in the business technology industry for nearly 30 years.

LVB: With so many people working from home, how has it impacted the sale of office machines?

Confalone: As a technology company, our portfolio is expansive.  But a large part of our service offerings includes Managed IT, VoIP and Software Collaboration Solutions. Remote working has escalated our client’s needs for both IT support and cloud-based Voice Services. It has definitely impacted what every day looks like in the print space, but we continue to support our clients returning to the office. We are offering expanded services to compliment the needs of remote worker force.

LVB: How has Fraser adapted?

Confalone: We are a Microsoft business and have been collaborating using Teams since late 2019. With the stay-at-home order issued in March, we were transitioned our employees to operate remotely with full functionality efficiently.  Some of our largest clients are in the healthcare field, and we couldn’t miss a beat. Having a continuous high level of support and service during the past few months has been critical to our success. We also partner with many education clients, and we have introduced innovative new video conferencing technology that has increased the quality of synchronous learning.  The package makes the online classroom experience come to life for a student now logging in from home.

LVB: What is the biggest demand on your business right now?

Confalone: The most significant demand for our business is educating our clients and helping them adapt to new technologies that support the change in how we work. There is a high demand for cloud services, back up and collaboration, and a lot of our work is to help all our clients position their businesses to keep them engaged with their customers and protected from the myriad of cybersecurity issues from working outside the office.

LVB: What do you think is the most important service you provide in a remote work environment?

Confalone: Our most essential services in a remote work environment keep businesses connected to and engaged with their customers. These include all services related to Voice and Collaboration. Remote workers need to communicate with their clients and colleagues, and they need to do it at a high level. Our customers are businesses focused on making money and increasing revenue. The best way to achieve those goals is for them to be better than their competition. The technology solutions we provide put our clients in a position to grow their business.

LVB:  What do you see for the future?

Confalone: The future at Fraser centers on the Smart Office. That means having the technology, software, and support necessary to enable staff to work faster, safer and smarter, whether in their physical location or remotely.