Leadership Team
James W. Hopper
Chief Executive Officer & Director
James W. Hopper became Chief Executive Officer and Director of eOn Communications in June of 2009. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Hopper has been President of Cortelco, Inc. since 1997. Prior to 1997, he was Executive Vice President of Cortelco International, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer of CMC Industries, and Executive Vice President and Plant Manager of Cortelco USA. Prior to David Lee's acquisition of Cortelco, Mr. Hopper was Executive Vice-President Operations of ITT/Alcatel in Corinth, MS. Prior ITT experience includes Director Milan Operations, Director Manufacturing Sales, Vice-President Industrial Relations, ITT Gwaltney, Director Administration ITT Sheraton, Director Manufacturing ITT Telecommunications, Manager Sales and Marketing ITT Telecommunications and a series of progressively responsible positions with units of the ITT Corporation. He has served on the Board of Directors of CMC Industries, Cortelco Systems Puerto Rico, International Telecommunications Corp. and currently serves on the Board of Ringer Inc., and KSS Mid-South Inc. Mr. Hopper's experience includes thirty-five years with ITT and the successor companies of Cortelco with the majority of this service in Telecommunications. He holds a B.B.A. in Management and Economics from the University of Memphis.
Lee M. Bowling
Chief Financial Officer
Lee M. Bowling became Chief Financial Officer of eOn Communications in June of 2009. Prior to joining the Company, Lee M. Bowling has been Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cortelco, Inc. since 2004. Prior to 2004, Mr. Bowling was Controller of Cortelco, Inc from 1997 until 2004. He has been with Cortelco since 1979, starting as the Supervisor of Operations Analysis. He was promoted to Senior Cost Accountant in 1989, to Supervisor of Billing and Cost Accounting in 1992 and to Manager-Credit Collections in 1993. Lee is a graduate of the Mississippi State University where he was awarded a B.S. degree in Accounting in 1976. Prior to joining Cortelco he was the Commercial Manager for Telephone Electronics Corporation.
Robert Schnabl
Chief Operations Officer
As the Chief Operations Officer, Robert Schnabl develops the overall company objectives and monitors the actions required from all functions within the organization for their accomplishment. In conjunction, he is responsible for the allocation of company resources and for the attainment of forecasted financial operating results. Mr. Schnabl has served as eOn’s COO since March 2008.During this time there has been a renewed focus on new product development, increased alliances with technology partners, and a significant improvement in financial results. From 1994 until 2008, he has fulfilled a variety of roles within Cortelco, Inc., Cortelco Systems, and eOn Communications. From April 2004 until September 2005, Mr. Schnabl was the President and Chief Executive Officer for Cortelco Systems Puerto Rico. Prior to joining Cortelco in 1994, he was the Vice-President of Engineering and Quality for CMC Industries, Inc. a previously-affiliated contract manufacturing company. From 1981 until 1994, Mr. Schnabl filled a variety of roles within ITT Telecommunications and its successor companies. These roles included responsibilities in Industrial Engineering, International Operations, Product Engineering, and Quality Assurance. Mr. Schnabl has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army for eight and a half years attaining the rank of Captain.
Keith Nansteel
Director of eQueue Sales
As Director of eQueue Sales, Keith Nansteel leads eOn’s national and international direct contact center solutions and special applications sales efforts including E911, CLEC and LEC environments as well as VoIP offerings. Mr. Nansteel also provides sales management and application engineering support for eOn’s eQueue customers. With over 26 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Nansteel has held several key management positions with other telecom companies including Vice President of Sales at Phoenix Teledata Services, Inc., where he was responsible for selling JITX and DITSCAP certified solutions to the Department of Defense. He also served as Vice President and owner of Telstar, Inc., an interconnect company, where he sold and installed ACD and PBX systems. Mr. Nansteel is a member of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA911) and a charter member of the Call Center Network Group. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Almeda University as well as numerous telecommunications system certifications.
Jim Taylor
Director of Millennium Engineering
As Director of Millennium Engineering, Jim Taylor leads eOn’s research and development team for the IP-PBX product line. He provides technology and product direction and guidance to eOn for long-term product planning and definition as well as on-going product enhancements. During his tenure with the company, Mr. Taylor has been responsible for the product development and market launch of a variety of products and applications, including PBX, VoIP, ACD, CTI and wireless communications. Since joining in 1981 when the company was a subsidiary of ITT, Mr. Taylor has held several key management and senior engineering positions and was part of the team that developed the ITT 3100, one of the first digital PBX systems in the industry. With over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, he has also held several engineering positions with other hi-tech companies. Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science and Statistics degree from the University of Waterloo.
Gary Schaefer
Director of eQueue Engineering
As Director of eQueue Engineering, Gary Schaefer leads eOn’s research and development team for the eQueue Multi-Media Contact Solution. He provides product direction and contributes to the long-term product planning and definition as well as on-going product enhancements to the company's ACD products and applications. Since joining the company in 1988, he has held several key management positions including Director of Operations and Director of Engineering, where he was responsible for the operations, quality, and development of the eQueue and Millennium product lines. With more than 24 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Mr. Schaefer has also held senior engineering positions for such companies as Siemens Information Systems and AT&T Information Systems Laboratories. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.
Board of Directors
David Lee
Chairman
David S. Lee became the Chairman of the Board of eOn in 1991 and served as Chief Executive Officer from November of 2003 to June of 2009. Mr. Lee is Regent Emeritus to the University of California and also serves as a Senior Advisor to Silver Lake Partners. He is also Chairman of the Symbio Group, a global provider of software lifecycle services and a member of the board of directors for Linear Technology Corporation, a semiconductor company. From 1985 to 1988, Mr. Lee served as President and Chairman of Data Technology Corporation, a computer peripheral company. Prior to 1985, he was Group Executive and Chairman of the Business Information Systems Group of ITT Corporation, a diversified company, and President of ITT Qume, formerly Qume Corporation, a computer systems peripherals company. In 1973, Mr. Lee co-founded Qume Corporation and was its Executive Vice President until the company was acquired by ITT Corporation in 1978. Mr. Lee received an M.S. from North Dakota State University and a B.S. and an honorary doctorate from Montana State University.
Frederick Gibbs
Director
Frederick Gibbs, currently a practicing attorney, became a director of eOn in 2002. In 1988, Mr. Gibbs founded Mulberry Hill Enterprises a consulting firm that specializes in telecommunications and electronics, business acquisition analysis and international business. Previously, Mr. Gibbs served in various management and consultant roles for International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (ITT) over a 23-year period, including Executive Vice President of ITT and Senior Group Executive of Telecommunications and Electronics, a division of ITT Corporation. Mr. Gibbs also served on the boards of CMC Industries and ACT Manufacturing.
Robert Dilworth
Director
Robert P. Dilworth became a director of eOn in 1998. He serves on the board of Metricom Inc., a wireless data communications company, and was its President from 1987 to 1997, its Chief Executive Officer from 1987 to 1998, and its Chairman from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Dilworth also serves as Chairman of GraphOn Corporation, a computer software company, and as a director for Mobility Electronics, a computer peripheral company. Mr. Dilworth received a B.S. from Los Angeles State University.
Frank King
Director
W. Frank King became a director of eOn in 1998. Mr. King is a director of Concero, a software integration consulting firm, and was its President and Chief Executive Officer from 1992 to 1998. He is also a director of iBasis, Inc., a telecommunications company; Aleri Inc., a software company; Perficient Inc., a professional services company; and NMS Communications, a telecommunications company. Dr. King earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an M.S. from Stanford University and a B.S. from the University of Florida.
Company
Related Information
Products