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A spirit that is not afraid

CoachComm enhances communication

Harold Marshall, surface-mount technology operator, continues his work on manufacturing circuit boards for CoachComm. (Danielle Lowe / PHOTO EDITOR)
Harold Marshall, surface-mount technology operator, continues his work on manufacturing circuit boards for CoachComm. (Danielle Lowe / PHOTO EDITOR)

CoachComm is a small, locally-owned business that was started in 1991 by Peter Amos, Auburn graduate in accounting, with the idea of better sports communication.

'It takes months to find a customer but only seconds to lose one,' is the saying on the poster hanging in the hall as you enter the CoachComm facility in Technology Park.

This phrase does not simply decorate the wall, but also defines the style of business that CoachComm has acquired through its excellent customer service and understanding of its customer base.

Its customer base begins with the University at the top of the list, followed by more than 95 percent of Division 1A colleges, thousands of high schools in the Southeast and other small colleges.

"Customers use CoachComm's products and services 12 to 13 weeks out of the year, so the company is interested in making sure the schools and coaching staffs get the full benefit of what they pay for," said Charles Beasley, inventory manager.

Being top priority, Auburn is the first to view and purchase new products and has more equipment than any other customer to date.

CoachComm installs ground cables and conducts hardline testing free of charge in return for allowing the company to test their products at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

During football season, the company works quickly to find solutions for issues with headset and communication systems for each customer within a short amount of time to react.

One of CoachComm's latest products is the Nomad Master Belt which allows infinite roaming, and is currently being demonstrated by police.

Also, a new headset system called Tempest is allowing further possibilities in sideline communication for Division 1A colleges and has been the model for a simplified and less expensive version.

"We are excited that high schools are now able to expand in the Tempest way," said Gardner Swindle, CoachComm's material planner.

"Since 2011, Tempest has been simulated into a simpler form called FX, which we are making available to bigger high schools and smaller colleges and is taking off more this year."

FX has become a middle ground between the simplistic systems sold to high schools and the very large, elaborate systems sold to universities.

Until 2008, almost all of CoachComm's focus was sports-related, but the company is currently working to reach other sports markets with the introduction of editing software to cut tapes for easy viewing.

Also, further conversion to markets other than sports began with spinning this football product design to meet another market's need, or other entities that need wireless communication.

These include broadcasting, musical entertainment and live performances.

The interest of expanding from exclusive involvement in the sports aspect of wireless communication led to the beginning of CoachComm's relationship with Clear Com in 2008, a company that has been in the wireless broadcasting business for several years and has a wider customer base than CoachComm.

After discussing with Clear Com the possibility of manufacturing this product that they would push out to their customer base, the relationship began to grow stronger each year the two companies remained in contact.

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CoachComm is on a constant search for new outlets for expansion to interact with new endusers, such as groups within political elections and the Olympics.

Further expansion began in 2011 when companies such as NBC, WWE, PGA Tour and Cirque de Solei began.

However, Clear Com has remained CoachComm's high priority customer with immediate turnover and cooperation due to its influence on other markets. This partnership has taken CoachComm's products worldwide.

"There are a lot of different markets out there, and a lot of that is sort of under their contract which is for broadcast which is ABC, NBC and Golf Channel," said Chief Operation Officer Rick Crowley.

For example, Crowley said Lady Gaga's tour was the first to use their equipment on a live traveling tour.

"We're kind of a little hidden secret, but hopefully we'll become a little more known before too long as we start to distribute that kind of stuff under our own name," Crowley said.


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