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Recent News Local Book Now Sold By Major Retailers (October 2007) ISI to Host Free Open House to Demonstrate the Latest in Cutting Edge Video Technology (June 2006) Rebounding from Employee Theft (June 2006) New Videoconferencing Technologies Have Companies Looking to Spend on Upgrades (April 2006) Memphis-based ISI Celebrates Tenth Incorporation Anniversary (March 2006) More About ISI: It wasn't long ago that pursuing faraway customers meant hopping on a plane. Not anymore. Today, companies can eliminate thousands of miles of travel by using video-conferencing technology to talk face-to-face. And it's not just businesses that are benefiting: hospitals and schools now use the technology to help treat remote patients or give rural kids the benefit of a big-city education. While the technology may seem new to most folks, Jay Myers of Interactive Solutions in Memphis, Tenn., has been installing systems for more than 11 years, and has won a slew of awards doing so.
Business people visit Interactive Solutions' open house
Tuesday, June 20, 2006, from 12-8 p.m., Interactive Solutions and its partners will host live demonstrations in these latest video technologies: high definition videoconferencing, digital signage and rich media recording. LifeSize, Omnivex and SonicFoundry are partner companies involved in the creation and distribution of these technologies. The event is free. Demonstrations will be held in reserved time slots throughout the day but space is limited. Call 1.901.866.1474 or e-mail jchrestman@isitn.com to reserve a time slot.
Rebounding from Employee Theft From the June 6, 2006 FastTrac Connections E-newsletter When we last interviewed Myers in mid 2001, his Memphis-based firm was grossing $4.3 million a year by providing videoconferencing technologies. Annual sales now exceed $10 million. The business has expanded into distance learning, telemedicine, managed network services and audiovisual solutions, and employee count has grown from seven to thirty. Myers confronted his toughest challenge after he decided to review payroll records on a Tuesday morning in April 2003. Scanning the books, he realized that his accounting manager was stealing money from the company. He enlisted the help of law enforcement officials, a certified fraud examiner and even the U.S. Secret Service to investigate the crime. Eventually, his accounting manager and a receptionist were found to have embezzled $257,000 from the firm over an eleven-month period. Given the choice of quietly settling the case or prosecuting his former employees through a protracted legal battle, Myers pressed ahead in court. He was inspired by the memory of his late father and brother—both of whom ran the local chapter of the Better Business Bureau. "I thought that I may not get all the money back, but I want others to learn from this," says Myers. "I've got to go after these people as a tribute to my dad and brother. I was determined to keep others out of harm's way." More than eighteen months later, the accounting manager—who also stole $1 million from her previous employer—was sentenced to eight years in federal prison. It was an exhausting, time-consuming, but ultimately triumphant experience for Myers. Even though he did not recover the stolen funds, Myers managed to maintain his company's growth during this rocky time. He credits his success in large part to the lasting influence of the business plan that he wrote in FastTrac in 1998. He keeps that business plan in his desk and reviews it regularly. He marvels that "it's still relevant" nearly eight years later as a strategic planning document that also governs the company's geographical expansion in the Southeast United States. "I really worked hard in FastTrac on that business plan," he says. "I was getting feedback every week from the facilitator—a financial expert—and guest speakers who each addressed the part of the plan that matched their expertise." With clients such as Nike and FedEx and a focus on profitable growth, Myers expects a 20 percent jump in 2006 sales. He even has the luxury to forgo some large contracts in favor of more stable, lower-risk sources of revenue. "We're debt-free and expanding at a prudent pace," he says. "I often tell people that FastTrac is a key ingredient of our success." Your FastTrac Connection: Jay Myers, president and chief executive officer, Interactive Solutions, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee.
New Videoconferencing Technologies Have Companies Looking to Spend on Upgrades Memphis Business Journal—April 7, 2006 Business trips are fading as a necessary part of work life thanks to improving videoconferencing technologies. A blurry face on a small screen attached to a telephone has given way to plasma screens and CD quality speakers in conference rooms across the country. "It's not just getting a bunch of high tech toys," says Jay B. Myers, president and CEO at Interactive Solutions, Inc. "It's helping run their businesses more efficiently. They're making money off these rooms, and using technology to present a favorable impression." That impression can be broadcast in several ways, from 12-inch LCD screens up to dual 50-inch plasmas. Companies also have the option of streaming video over the internet for those who couldn't attend the meeting. Companies can buy a basic videoconferencing system for $5,000-$10,000, which can include a medium grade projector, a projection screen and a simple system of speakers. More sophisticated systems include plasma screen projectors, CD quality sound systems and small podiums and cost about $40,000. Then you have top-of-the-line distance learning classrooms that can cost up to $70,000 for all the equipment. These rooms include multiple cameras, microphones, touch panels and often high tech central control options that allow them to run the entire set up with one device. Many schools, people in heavy teaching environments or sophisticated boardrooms opt for these most advanced options, Myers says. "It's cleaner, neater, high tech, sleek." It's also more convenient. The Shelby County School system recently received a grant for teacher training. They purchased several videoconferencing machines from Tandberg, a worldwide producer of videoconferencing equipment. They placed one in the central location on Hollywood and connect to six other locations as far as away as Millington, Arlington and Germantown. "It wasn't just the distance, it was the clarity and the immediate feedback that you get from the person on the other end," says Tim Johnston, technology manager with SCS. "You get to enjoy body language and real, live conversation as opposed to a speaker on a conference call." And if it eliminates traveling across the county, imagine what it does for companies who have to travel across the country. "In today's world information is key," says Mike Crockett, director of strategic technologies at Smith & Nephew PLC. And the faster the better: "It's easier to fire up the video conferencing. In the way of upgrades, the industry is moving toward the convergence of videoconferencing and audio/visual technology like Smartboards that allow people on one end to draw or write on a board connected to another end. Another advancement is the introduction of high definition video conferencing. "We think its neat, but one concern is cost effectiveness," Myers says. He concedes that HD equipment can cost 25-30% more than regular equipment. "We see it as an interesting market; we're not sure how big it is." Copyright 2006. cmharris@bizjournals.com | 259-1730
Memphis-based ISI Celebrates Tenth Incorporation Anniversary NASHVILLE, Tenn.—March 11, 2006—Memphis-based Interactive Solutions, Inc., (ISI) celebrates a rare milestone for a technology-based company March 18. Ten years after making his first sale of videoconferencing gear out of a strip mall in Collierville, owner Jay Myers is living large by expanding the company’s footprint to Nashville and into the states of Kentucky and Alabama. The company has grown revenue 123 percent from 2003-2004, nearly doubling sales in fiscal year 2005. ISI opened its first satellite office near the heart of Cool Springs last January, in the Premier Business Park at 256 Seaboard Lane. Primarily a business-to-business reseller, ISI sells and supports videoconferencing, distance learning, telemedicine and audio-visual products throughout the Southeast United States. They also design fully integrated meeting spaces. There will be an open house from 12 noon to 6:00pm June 20th for anyone who would like to see technology in action. Live demonstrations of high definition videoconferencing, video streaming and archiving, and ADA-adaptable media furniture will be on display. For more information about this event or news about ISI products and services, call 615.224.9823 or visit the ISI Web site at www.isitn.com.
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