Photos from the 1984 Annual Report
James C. Hahn
President and Chief Executive Officer
Feb. 22, 1985
Infotron Systems Corporation is a leader in data communications,
manufacturing equipment and designing networks that enable people
to move and manage information more efficiently.
The company was founded in 1968, the year the Federal Communications
Commission handed down its landmark Carterfone Decision permitting
direct interconnection to the telephone network of non-telephone
company devices. Since then, Infotron has been a pioneer in data
communications—in the technology of statistical and time-division
multiplexing, switching, network processing, and network management
and control.
Today, the company supplies sophisticated data communications
equipment for large, complex networks. Infotron hardware is installed
in many of the 500 largest U.S. corporations, including AT&T,
Citibank, RCA Global, Sun Information Systems and Digital Equipment
Corporation.
Infotron provides equipment for worldwide networks used by multinational
banks to transfer billions of dollars daily, nationwide networks
to help common carriers reduce their own phone bills, and regional
networks such as the one that enabled 93,000 athletes, coaches
and reporters to communicate over 4,500 square miles of Southern
California during the 1984 Summer Olympics.
In addition to banks and common carriers, Infotron customers include
manufacturers, financial service companies, utilities, insurance
companies, government agencies, transportation firms and educational
institutions.
We are pleased to announce the results of 1984. Sales reached a record level of $70,851,000, an increase of 38% over 1983's $51,239,000. Net income for 1984 was $8,122,000, a 30% increase over the $6,230,000 for 1983. The resulting earnings per share were $1.59, compared to 1983's level of $1.31.
Three noteworthy events took place during 1984, a year of continued
progress for the company. The first was our involvement with
the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Infotron provided the data transport network for the highly successful
Electronic Messaging System that served 93,000 Olympic participants.
The network included 168 of our 790-Series Network Concentrators,
which provided over 2,000 individual channels of data communications,
linking together 40 sites scattered over 4,500 square miles of
Southern California. Through the use of Infotron's Integrated
network management system, all network functions were continuously
monitored and all problems immediately identified and corrected
so the network could continue to operate smoothly. We are very
proud of our performance and contribution to this great event.
The second event was the introduction of our 990 Network Processor.
The capabilities of the 990NP advance statistical multiplexing
networks to a level of flexibility equaled only by more costly
and complex packet-switching networks. The 990NP will also provide
the capability of a sophisticated high-speed network gateway that
interconnects with other networks using the X.25 standard packet
protocol. This connection will be to other private or public
packet networks or directly into a computer, thus providing a
highly efficient and cost-effective data transfer path.
The third event occurred near the end of 1984 when Infotron announced
plans to enter the high speed T1 networking market. During 1985,
the company will introduce InfoStream 1500 and InfoStream 2000
voice and data multiplexers. These devices will operate at composite
data rates of 1.544 million bits per second and 2.048 million
bits per second, intermixing large numbers of voice conversations
and computer data channels over high-speed T1 communications facilities.
The InfoStream products are being designed to provide superior
performance through a wide range of features. These include full
redundancy for reliable operation and adaptive pulse code modulation
(ADPCM) voice channels to provide voice bandwidth compression,
resulting in greater economies when intermixing voice and data
within the network.
Using the guiding concepts of our Advanced Network Integration
approach to data communications, InfoStream products will interface
directly to our IS4000 Intelligent Switching System.
Over the past two years, the IS4000 has established itself as
a market leader in communications switching. By combining the
InfoStream and IS4000 products, we will be able to provide customers
with full T1 networking capability. In addition, complete network
management will be provided through the enhancement of our existing
ANM-800 Advanced Network Manager. This combination should place
Infotron in the forefront of T1 technology.
The data communications marketplace should continue its growth
as existing networks expand and new networks are formed. We are
helping to build the "infostructure" needed by the business
community—an infrastructure consisting of the facts, intelligence
and knowledge required by businesses. The distribution of this
information throughout the business environment is key to a successful
operation.
By reducing the information float, which is the time it takes
information to be disseminated to the people who need it, a company
can gain a distinct advantage in the competitive business world.
Infotron's customers are benefiting from their communications
networks by having this competitive edge.
The speed at which information is flowing has been increasing
over the past several decades. Data transmission was originally
organized around the speeds at which humans could absorb information,
usually in the form of typewritten pages and CRT displays. This
is changing rapidly. Information is now being exchanged from
computer to computer at machine speeds.
The proliferation of microprocessors in the form of personal
computers and sophisticated workstations has increased the speed
at which we currently use and transfer information. In the future,
we are looking at the expanded use of full-color graphics followed
rapidly by full-motion video displays. These displays require
enormous amounts of data and must be intermixed with slower and
more widely dispersed forms of information. Yet all must be carried
within the same networking environment.
As communications networking markets grow, we see the formation
of architectures which will bring together wide-area and local-area
networking technologies. These integrated net works will provide
network management in support of the various networking hierarchies
that will be needed as technology advances.
Infotron plays a key role as a network integrator by providing
the necessary components and the expertise to implement these
complex communications networks. By following the concepts of
Advanced Network Integration, we offer our users an effective
approach to their unified networking needs.
In 1984, we implemented an important organizational change within
Infotron. We consolidated the engineering and marketing departments
into a combined Marketing and Development Group. This group is
partitioned into sections, with the focus of each section being
a specific product area and market. The new organizational structure
enables us to pay closer attention to the needs of the marketplace.
It also represents an important step in our transition to a market-driven
company. The following pages describe the motivation for such
a change in today's increasingly competitive marketplace.
We continue to be firmly committed to excellence in our communications
products and in the service that we give to our customers. We
are proud of the Infotron organization, which consists of more
than 950 people throughout the world. They are responsible for
Infotron's position of leadership in communications networking.
James C. Hahn
President and Chief Executive Officer
Feb. 22, 1985
Infotron Systems Corporation, Board of Directors—1984
Among the many reasons for Infotron's success over the past 16
years is its ability to adapt. Just as the theory of evolution
suggests that an organism can flourish only if it adapts to environmental.
Changes, so a business can expect to succeed only it if responds
to changing conditions in the marketplace. That's especially
true in the dynamic world of high-technology.
It is through the function of marketing that companies do most
of their adjusting to the outside world. And the ones that do
it best are said to be market-driver. They find out what customers
want, then plan and develop products to satisfy those wants.
Companies that take the opposite approach are called product-driver.
They use their engineering skills to develop products, then go
out and try to find people to buy them. Too often those customers
are never found.
Most high-tech companies start out product-driven. Many stay
that way and end up losing market share. Others don't survive
at all.
The successful companies make the transition to a market-driven
business strategy.
During 1984, Infotron moved closer to its goal of being completely
market-driven. It consolidated engineering and marketing and
appointed a marketing executive as vice president of the combined
operation. This restructuring will help the product development
group become more responsive to the marketplace. Infotron will
continue to build on its rich history of technological innovation,
but within a framework tied more closely to customer needs.
Another key marketing move in 1984 was creation of an Independent
Sales Organization (ISO) to provide Infotron with a second channel
of distribution. The new ISO will complete the company's direct
sales force-which is responsible for complex products and systems-by
handling distribution of Infotron's most basic data communications
equipment.
In addition, the ISO will help increase the customer base by introducing
more users to the company's products.
Infotron's movement toward a market-driven strategy first became
visible in 1983 when the company introduced its Advanced Network
Integration approach to data communications. ANI is a concept
for networking and network growth that relies on Infotron's entire
product line-from simple modems, to statistical multiplexers,
to high-speed time-division multiplexers, to intelligent switching
systems, to network concentrators and processors, to the ANM-800
Advanced Network Manager.
ANI is the guiding concept behind Infotron's product development
activities. In ensures customers that they are buying much more
than individual pieces of equipment. Through ANI, they are getting
integrated, expandable products and systems that provide a total
networking solution to their communications problems.
ANI meets the needs of today's network designers in six important
ways:
ANI is backed by a dedicated and comprehensive service and support program. Advanced Network Support covers nearly every facet of developing, installing and maintaining a communications network. It is composed of specialists working to serve customers before and after the sale.
Infotron has sales offices throughout the United States and representatives
throughout the world. These technically knowledgeable sales professionals
have the training and experience necessary to understand a customer's
specific requirements.
The systems engineering staff is the customer's technical contact.
Field systems engineers develop solutions to data communications
problems and work with the sales force to configure new networks
or integrate Infotron equipment into existing ones. Turnkey systems
engineers help make Infotron a one-stop data communications source-from
network planning and design to project management and installation.
An InfoTECH staff information resource.
Field Service personnel handle everything from repair to system
reprogramming and dialup diagnostics. Their computerized Trouble
Reporting Action Center is available to answer questions and solve
problems. InfoTRAC also serves as a central clearing hub for
field engineering support, keeping complete records of all service
actions and tracking performance.
The Educational Services Group offers training courses, manuals
and materials necessary to plan, operate and manage simple or
complex systems. This enables the user to get the full value
from his data communications investment.
Infotron's increasing responsiveness to the marketplace is evident
in its 1984 product announcements, introductions and enhancements.
These developments reflect the areas of greatest interest among
network users.
For example, one of the most important markets right now is T1,
and that's where Infotron made its most dramatic announcement
of 1984. T1 facilities enable network managers to combine voice,
data, video and facsimile onto a single link operating at 1.544
million bits per second. The potential cost savings is enormous.
While other companies seem to be developing specific products
for the T1 market, Infotron has devised an approach consistent
with its ANI philosophy. Infotron views T1 as a speed, not a
product. Accordingly, its InfoStream T1 multiplexers are being
designed to integrate with the company's powerful IS4000 Intelligent
Switching System to provide networking at T1 speeds and higher.
Instead of developing just a product, Infotron is devising a
unique network architecture that will enable many products to
work at speeds of 1.544 or 2.048 million bits a second.
This represents a new and exciting approach to T1 networking,
but it's based on the company's long-established strengths in
multiplexing and switching.
Infotron is simply applying its proven networking capabilities
to T1 speeds.
A significant product introduction in 1984 was the 990 Network
Processor, one of the most important networking developments in
years. The 990NP is a sophisticated and powerful nodal processor
that uses advanced statistical multiplexing techniques to equal
the capabilities of packet-switched networks, at a significantly
lower cost.
Another new product in 1984 grew out of market demands for a smaller
version of the popular IS4000 Intelligent Switching System. The
Contender 500 is a data PBX that offers an economical solution
for the small system user, while providing large system features.
These and other new products and product enhancements reflect
a company that is attuned to the needs of its customers and prospects.
And with the new Marketing and Development Group, it will be
even more responsive.
That doesn't mean Infotron will sit back, waiting for the marketplace
to tell it what to do next. The company has never forgotten its
entrepreneurial roots, nor will it ever lose its innovative spirit.
A company must look ahead, see where the industry is going and
identify what products will be needed to meet customer needs of
the future. With a perfect blend of product innovation and market
awareness, that company can even create new markets within the
industry.
That's the direction Infotron is heading as it enters 1985. Relying
on its strong tradition of engineering innovation and its increasing
sensitivity to the marketplace, Infotron expects to help shape
the industry in years to come.