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TWST: Please begin with a brief historical sketch of the company and a
picture of the things you're doing at the present time.
Mr. Acton: The company was established in 1997, initially focusing on
medical diagnostic stains. That all changed in the beginning of 2001
when our Founder, David Derrick, created a new focus with a desire to
help senior citizens, particularly during an emergency or in their time
of need. This was driven by a concern for his own parents, who were
getting older and began to develop specific problems that he needed to
address. David was aware of several products on the market, such as the
one we've all seen on the late-night commercials where a stricken person
cries out, 'I've fallen down and can't get up!' This is the Personal
Emergency Response System (PERS) market. What really caught David's
attention were the limitations of these products, which only work if
you're within 150 feet of your home. His parents, as well as my parents,
are still active and mobile and when they go out to walk their dogs, for
example, they can end up several blocks or even greater distances from
their home. If something happens to them, perhaps an accident or medical
emergency, there is little that can be done until someone comes along
and calls 911 for help. So in 2001, in conjunction with Battelle
Memorial Institute, we began doing research to figure out just how to
help seniors in times of trouble when they're away from the confines of
their own home. Keep in mind that there are 35 million Americans over
the age of 65, including an estimated 9.7 million seniors who live
alone. Most of these seniors are mobile, but many are concerned about
being alone during an emergency. To that end, we established our wholly
owned SecureAlert subsidiary and developed a one-push-of-a-button
cellular device that evolved into our MobilePAL_ product, which
currently is being utilized by approximately 2,500 customers. MobilePAL
acts as a Personal Assistant to seniors. A 24/7 state-of-the-art
monitoring center can assist them in an emergency by contacting
ambulance services, physicians or family members. The MobilePAL can also
act as a concierge by providing directions, arranging dinner
reservations and many other services. So wherever a person may be, if
they are in distress or just need to have something done, they can use
our MobilePAL to call our monitoring center, which can immediately
pinpoint their location and dispatch help as needed. If it's a serious
emergency, the monitoring center may call the local 911 number and see
that an ambulance is dispatched to the scene. If the problem isn't life
threatening, the operator can transfer the call to one of the user's
children or a relative who could come to help them. Our goal at the
moment is to take MobilePAL to the next level in the field of
telematics. We are doing additional research and development to make it
even better by enhancing its features. At the moment, it's an analog
product that won't work on some of the new digital cellular systems. We
are working on changing that, in addition to miniaturizing the
MobilePAL, making it smaller and more user-friendly. On that basis, our
ability to locate people in their time of need morphed into our main
focus today ' telematics. Our TrackerPAL_ product targets the law
enforcement and criminal justice market, which involves the oversight of
more than 4.1 million adult men and women who are on parole or
probation. Of added significance are the nearly 700,000 sex offenders
who require monitoring by case officers. That's where we are today.
Tickers included in this excerpt: RMDX
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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