Tech Electronics creates wired spaces for businesses
When Boone Hospital Center needed state-of-the art communications and security for its new $89 million dollar patient tower, it called on an old friend: Tech Electronics of Columbia.
The hospital’s recent addition has such state-of-the-art communications as a nurse call system so innovative that a patient bed can send messages to special nursing badges if the bed isn’t at the proper angle. The call system can also locate specific caregivers and keep a record of how much time a caregiver spends in the patient’s room. When a nurse answers a patient call, the room will recognize the caregiver’s entrance and turn off the call.
Boone Hospital Center also has special security to keep track of newborns in the Family Birth Center and patients who might wander away from their rooms. Add in state-of–the-art fire protection, phone and intercom systems and patient touch screens, and the new hospital is a very “wired” place.
“We believe Boone Hospital Center’s new patient tower is the most technologically advanced hospital facility ever built in mid-Missouri,” said hospital spokesman Jacob Luecke. “Tech Electronics was an outstanding partner in this effort. They are leaders in their industry, and it is a wonderful asset to have their expertise here in mid-Missouri.”
John Pile serves as director of the Tech Electronics Columbia branch, located at 314 Nebraska Ave. It was founded as a family-owned business in St. Louis in 1962 and specialized in communications, security and fire alarms. In the 1970s, Tech opened its first branch in Columbia. In the past year, Tech has expanded with branches now in Springfield, Mo., suburban Chicago, Bloomington, Ill., and Indianapolis, Ind. Overall company employment is 250, Pile said. The company specializes only in commercial installations, with specialties in education and health care.
“A lot of people don’t know who we are,” Pile said. “We don’t spend a lot on advertising as we are not a retail security or fire alarm company but a full-service technology service integrator, which includes Voice&Data systems, fire security, ProSound and AV as well as Hosted IT Solutions and Monitoring.”
But Boone Hospital Center knows about Tech Electronics — they’ve been doing business together for 12 years. “It came about by us calling on them and them not being happy with their current provider at the time,” Pile said.
Tech not only installs the systems, but it also provides round-the-clock monitoring and repair. “Our average response time to Boone is under one hour,” Pile said. “We get a lot of customers because we come when they call. We do not wait till the next day; we come that night even if it’s not our system.”
Security is an important part of any Tech Electronic’s project. “We’ll talk about customers in general, but we won’t disclose what systems they have,” Pile said. Security and technology isn’t new to Pile. He’s a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he specialized in law enforcement.
Pile said Tech Electronics also puts a huge emphasis on the teamwork of the company, where, “without all of our team having a clear vision of our goals, none of our projects would ever come together.” He added that finding workers who are already trained for such specialized, high-tech work is tough, so Tech finds good employees and trains them. According to the company’s website, Tech employs IBEW factory-trained techs, NICET-certified personal and Cisco, Microsoft and Novell Certified Partner. Pile said Tech Electronics has UL-Listed certification for fire alarms, the first in Missouri.
The extensive training costs the company more than $250,000 a year, Pile said. And the training doesn’t stop at technology. Pile said employees are trained in personal finance and undergo Dale Carnegie training to improve their relationships with customers.
Tech also walks the high-technology talk.
“All our technicians carry Blackberries so they have the right info, and everyone has GPS so we can send them to the right location and see where they are located,” Pile said. Technology lets the company check gas mileage and driving habits.
Pile said the company also is taking steps to become more sustainable, with electronic files on virtual servers. Orders are processed electronically as well. “It’s easier to manage and more efficient,” he said.
So what’s next for Tech? Pile said the Columbia office has projects at local senior centers, as well as Lenoir Woods continuing care retirement community. The University of Missouri hired tech to work on its gymnastics facility.
Summer is an especially busy time for Tech. “School systems and districts are huge to us, especially in summer,” he said. The company upgrades fire, communications, security and even “bell” systems.
The hospital’s recent addition has such state-of-the-art communications as a nurse call system so innovative that a patient bed can send messages to special nursing badges if the bed isn’t at the proper angle. The call system can also locate specific caregivers and keep a record of how much time a caregiver spends in the patient’s room. When a nurse answers a patient call, the room will recognize the caregiver’s entrance and turn off the call.
Boone Hospital Center also has special security to keep track of newborns in the Family Birth Center and patients who might wander away from their rooms. Add in state-of–the-art fire protection, phone and intercom systems and patient touch screens, and the new hospital is a very “wired” place.
“We believe Boone Hospital Center’s new patient tower is the most technologically advanced hospital facility ever built in mid-Missouri,” said hospital spokesman Jacob Luecke. “Tech Electronics was an outstanding partner in this effort. They are leaders in their industry, and it is a wonderful asset to have their expertise here in mid-Missouri.”
John Pile serves as director of the Tech Electronics Columbia branch, located at 314 Nebraska Ave. It was founded as a family-owned business in St. Louis in 1962 and specialized in communications, security and fire alarms. In the 1970s, Tech opened its first branch in Columbia. In the past year, Tech has expanded with branches now in Springfield, Mo., suburban Chicago, Bloomington, Ill., and Indianapolis, Ind. Overall company employment is 250, Pile said. The company specializes only in commercial installations, with specialties in education and health care.
“A lot of people don’t know who we are,” Pile said. “We don’t spend a lot on advertising as we are not a retail security or fire alarm company but a full-service technology service integrator, which includes Voice&Data systems, fire security, ProSound and AV as well as Hosted IT Solutions and Monitoring.”
But Boone Hospital Center knows about Tech Electronics — they’ve been doing business together for 12 years. “It came about by us calling on them and them not being happy with their current provider at the time,” Pile said.
Tech not only installs the systems, but it also provides round-the-clock monitoring and repair. “Our average response time to Boone is under one hour,” Pile said. “We get a lot of customers because we come when they call. We do not wait till the next day; we come that night even if it’s not our system.”
Security is an important part of any Tech Electronic’s project. “We’ll talk about customers in general, but we won’t disclose what systems they have,” Pile said. Security and technology isn’t new to Pile. He’s a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, where he specialized in law enforcement.
Pile said Tech Electronics also puts a huge emphasis on the teamwork of the company, where, “without all of our team having a clear vision of our goals, none of our projects would ever come together.” He added that finding workers who are already trained for such specialized, high-tech work is tough, so Tech finds good employees and trains them. According to the company’s website, Tech employs IBEW factory-trained techs, NICET-certified personal and Cisco, Microsoft and Novell Certified Partner. Pile said Tech Electronics has UL-Listed certification for fire alarms, the first in Missouri.
The extensive training costs the company more than $250,000 a year, Pile said. And the training doesn’t stop at technology. Pile said employees are trained in personal finance and undergo Dale Carnegie training to improve their relationships with customers.
Tech also walks the high-technology talk.
“All our technicians carry Blackberries so they have the right info, and everyone has GPS so we can send them to the right location and see where they are located,” Pile said. Technology lets the company check gas mileage and driving habits.
Pile said the company also is taking steps to become more sustainable, with electronic files on virtual servers. Orders are processed electronically as well. “It’s easier to manage and more efficient,” he said.
So what’s next for Tech? Pile said the Columbia office has projects at local senior centers, as well as Lenoir Woods continuing care retirement community. The University of Missouri hired tech to work on its gymnastics facility.
Summer is an especially busy time for Tech. “School systems and districts are huge to us, especially in summer,” he said. The company upgrades fire, communications, security and even “bell” systems.