Vendor Profile
Onvisource (formerly CadCom Telesystems): 
Providing Telemessaging Solutions for Business Success

The Beginning: Now headquartered in Enid, Okla., CadCom Telesystems was founded in 1984 by a group of Lockheed Aerospace development engineers in Marietta, Ga.  Building on the computer science background and business talents of its founders, company officials set out to develop products specifically for the telephone answering service market.  Their idea was to supply a suite of products providing improved automation and integration to services of all sizes.  CadCom went on to pioneer several technological advancements.  The LineMaster system was the first digital integrated switch to be aimed specifically at answering services.  FaxMaster was one of the first internal faxing devices to operate without the need for an external system. 

The Transition: In an effort to become a leading supplier, CadCom looked to sales agents to supplement its direct sales efforts.  One of those was Communication Services, owned by Jack Baldwin.  Communication Services was formally established in 1985 as a sales distributorship for Axon answering service equipment throughout the U.S. and also operated its own answering service.  The Axon 4V paper-based product line was ultimately purchased by Communication Services and moved from California to Oklahoma.  By 1987, customers, including Baldwin's own answering service, demanded advances in technology that resulted in Communication Services becoming a dealer for CadCom Telesystems.  CadCom's LineMaster series provided larger growth options, paperless messaging, automatic paging, and new faxing options.

In 1995, Communication Services had grown to 15 employees and become the main sales and service agent for CadCom.  As a result, Baldwin was able to purchase CadCom and move it from Georgia to Oklahoma.  Communication Services remained the answering service name while CadCom Telesystems became the name of the company's manufacturing and equipment sales division.  In becoming a one-stop-shop, CadCom had diversified its product offering to answering services including digital voice recorders, order processing software, voice mail systems, and phone systems.  CadCom also began reselling Southwestern Bell services as an authorized agent.  By 2000, CadCom had grown to become the third largest manufacturer of answering service equipment in North America.

By the spring of 2000, growth had caused a space problem and as a result CadCom moved from a 12,500 sq ft facility to a 70,000 sq ft building.  This facility is state-of-the-art and allows for larger research and development efforts.  A dedicated training room, two conference rooms, and a cafeteria ensures an enclosed campus environment that translates into an enjoyable work environment.  There is even an independently owned answering service that is located in the building.

In October 2000, CadCom's new product offering, AccuCall, was installed at its first beta site.  In February 2001, AccuCall was formally introduced at the CadCom Equipment Owners (CEO) Conference in Las Vegas.  AccuCall features a top-to-bottom call flow design that provides the ability to handle large volumes of calls with minimal staff.  New automation tools include an on-call scheduler which takes over the message dispatch process from the time the message is saved, ensuring the correct person is paged every time.  Other innovations include Web page screen-pops, internal voice logging, and alarm reports for managers.  If an agent goes out of rotation early or a sudden spike of incoming calls occurs, the supervisor can be alerted to ensure that no calls are missed.

CadCom Users Group: The CadCom Equipment Owners Association, Inc. (CEO) is a volunteer organization comprised of telemessaging services and call centers that use CadCom's telemessaging equipment.

CEO was formed in 1991, with about 40 users attending the first meeting.  Since that time CEO's membership has expanded to more than 100 users.  The national user group meeting occurs every February with regional meetings held in the fall.

CEO provides an excellent resource for gathering ideas on how to improve operations, get new accounts, and keep staff motivated.  Today many services provide more than a messaging taking function.  Many take orders, handle order fulfillment, provide delivery services, or resell mobile phone and pagers.  CadCom works to keep products at the forefront of the ever-changing face of business, relying heavily on feedback from members of CEO to guide product development and generate new ideas on how to help the end users to operate more profitably.

Other successes: The company's Business Solutions division was initially created to help end the finger pointing between vendors during equipment installations.  In November 2000, CadCom spun off its Southwestern Bell agency and started Business Solutions.  By the end of 2001, Business Solutions was the second-largest reseller out of 495 agencies for Southwestern Bell Telephone in its five-state region.  By January, Business Solutions grew to 74 employees and it now is the top "retention and acquisition agent" for Southwestern Bell, servicing more than 115,000 businesses in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Missouri.  In addition, with the recent consolidation of SBC, Business Solutions can place orders for service in nearly all SBC territories stretching from California to Connecticut.

The demand for voice logging in diverse industries gave the company an additional opportunity.  In February 2001, CadCom spun off its "voice recording" product and formed VoiceLogger.  Starting with four employees from CadCom and funding from an Enid Angel Investment Group, VoiceLogger has emerged as one of the top 15 call logging companies in the U.S.  In less than two years, VoiceLogger grew to a base of more than 300 customers, which include USAF, the U.S. Postal Service, Conoco/Phillips, Time Warner, Bell South, Dell, and Northrop Grumman.  VoiceLogger has been named "Innovator of the Year" in 2001 and 2003 by The Journal Record.  It was also named to the "Million Dollar Hall of Fame" by the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center in 2001.

Both moves allowed CadCom to keep its core concentration on the telemessaging industry.

Today: Today, CadCom is focused on providing solutions for teleservice companies through a series of diversified product offerings: AccuCall, AccuScript, and VM3.  AccuCall has evolved into an enhanced CTI telemessaging platform offering off-the-shelf hardware with a standard client server application in a traditional computer network environment.  Customers can have the bulk of their hardware and computer network needs handled through local resources and the scalability provides enough flexibility to handle large service needs or start up configurations with tools to help end users successfully attract and retain customers.

At A Glance:

• Founded 1987 Marietta Georgia

• Presently located in Enid, Okla. 

• Industry: Telephone answering service equipment provider

• Offers 24/7 service and support 365 days per year

• Main contact number 800 4 CadCom (800-422-3266)

• Website: www.onvisource.com

• Products offered:

o       AccuCall (answering service system)

o       AccuScript (order entry / scripting)

o       Portal (unified communications / voicemail)

• Executive staff:

o       Jack Baldwin: President & CEO

o       Sherry Pippin: Vice President of Human Resources

o       Jerry Hill: Vice President of Business Development

o       J.R. Criner: Vice President of Sales and Marketing

The Future:  CadCom understands that its customers' businesses revolve around their clients, who expect first-rate service.  CadCom is continuing to expand its research and development operations to provide new ways for its customers to create revenue from their existing customer base, along with targeting new customer bases.  In the next year, CadCom plans to continue to provide a suite of products and services that will help customers continue to expand their revenue stream and grow their business.  The first step in this direction will be to introduce Portal, a unified communication system that will incorporate traditional unified messaging functionality with customization options.  Portal's integration with AccuCall is expected to provide increased services offerings.

About Jack Baldwin: In 1985, Baldwin founded a telephone answering service called Communications Services to serve the needs of his Oklahoma-based insurance agency.  He then began the purchase and consolidation of equipment manufacturers within the industry.  His first product was the AXON 4V, which was purchased from AXON Corp. in 1990.  In 1995 Baldwin purchased CadCom, which he then moved to Oklahoma.  Baldwin was named by the Enid Chamber of Commerce in 2001 as the Enid Businessman of the Year and was appointed to the Oklahoma Governor's Technology Committee in 2002.

Company History Timeline:

1987     Company introduces the LineMaster series

1989     Expanded paperless system introduced

1991     CEO group started by users

1995     Company purchased by Jack Baldwin

1996     ComMaster, providing batch paging and email message delivery introduced.

1998     VM3 Voice Messaging System with IVR, Auto Attendant, and Alpha Transcription  introduced.

1998     DigiVoice1 digital voice recorder introduced

2000     AccuCall released for beta testing

2000     AccuCall Windows 2000 server system released

2001     AccuScript Order Entry and Scripting software introduced

2002     On Call Scheduler for AccuCall released

2002     Internal VoiceLogger for AccuCall released

2002     Installed AccuCall at first hospital client 

2002     Completed first overseas sale of AccuCall in Tanzania

2003     Released AccuCall Web server for remote access

For more information visit www.onvisource.com or call 800-422-3266.  For more information on the CEO user group, call 800-311-3550 or visit www.ceowners.com.

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