Vistacom was founded in 1954 as the Daveland Company by Jack Ferlino. Ferlino and his six employees operated out of a single office in Allentown, PA. Over the years, the company has grown, but the close-knit atmosphere at Vistacom has remained the same.
Ferlino's four children took over the company and have led it to its position as a leading audiovisual technology solution provider on the East Coast. Vistacom considers each of its employees an extension of that family.
Vistacom provides services in a broad range of areas such as technology classrooms and distance learning, life-cycle management consultation, corporate presentation systems and more. The company specializes in the innovative and life-saving application of audiovisual technology in the medical field and has developed a remote monitoring system used within the hospital ICU environment. The technology allows for a higher level of around-the-clock critical care, and allows for two-way audio and video monitoring of several locations by one intensive care specialist. The availability of rich data and an array of automated monitoring tools in remote locations allow a small number of care providers to extend their expertise to a large number of critical care patients.
One of the strongest shifts in the industry has been the rise in systems-oriented installations. "Where clients once called to purchase a projector and a screen for their conference room, they are now looking for environments with control systems, connections to networks, videoconferencing, interactive technologies and other products integrated into highly automated presentation rooms," explained Angela Herring, marketing director at Vistacom.
Another trend that's sweeping the industry is the strong relationship between internet and IP networks and audiovisual technology solutions. "Rooms with connected technologies are now being linked together to other locations, while the equipment itself is moving from analog to digital, all of which is running over IP networks," noted Herring.
Vistacom has worked to accommodate the shift in technology and offer guidance to clients by developing an AV/IT group. The group helps AV professionals to understand, deploy and integrate both traditional and new audiovisual systems into current IT infrastructures and networks.
Vistacom strives to combat the industry-wide problem of the commoditization of some audiovisual products, which has led to an erosion of margins for AV products. David Ferlino, president of Vistacom, advocates the company philosophy of providing clients with value-added services in addition to product to develop a business technology solutions partnership between Vistacom and its clients. The company helps its clients to develop long-term strategic technology plans, as well as helping them to have greater returns on their investments in technology purchases.
