Article

Succeeding the military way

After surviving the struggles of a normal start-up company, kiosk developer DynaTouch Corp. has turned a profit in recent years thanks to its work for the United States military.

March 4, 2002

When DynaTouch Corp. was formed in 1984, its owners called it a proposal manufacturing company because it made no sense to call it a touchscreen kiosk company.

But DynaTouch has found tranquility in the choppy waters of the kiosk industry, and much of the credit for that stems from the company's relationship with branches of the United States military. The San Antonio, Texas-based company began marketing touchscreen kiosks to the military in 1988, and DynaTouch co-owner Terri McClelland said the company has placed information kiosks at 75 percent of all U.S. military bases.

But Terri McClelland recognizes that the kiosk industry is still maturing and that DynaTouch must work as hard as ever to maintain solid business relationships.

"The kiosk business has definitely evolved into an industry that is full of some very effective partnerships and some very ineffective partnerships," Terri McClelland said. "(With) some, we just get bombarded with phone calls that are draining us from taking care of our business. (With) others, there's a genuine synergy between the two companies and you have to be very selective which is which. Sometimes it's not easy to tell the difference."

Finding your feet

In the early days, DynaTouch relied primarily on revenue generated from advertising sales on systems it owned and operated in high-traffic, public locations. But in 1988, the company shifted its focus to providing turnkey kiosk solutions to the federal government. The kiosks include a range of applications from web portals to directories to feedback and survey systems.

DynaTouch has found a niche market with military base installations. Along with providing basic information, the kiosks can be helpful in dealing with arcane issues, such as base housing.

"It's been tried and tested for over a decade," McClelland said of her company's product. "It's a complete package. We've made, in essence, all the mistakes you can already make. So we have a pretty rock solid solution that really has satisfied the needs of our government market."

Mike Rhodes, deputy bachelor housing program manager for the U.S. Navy's Southwest region, said the numbers crunch facing the military makes the kiosk an essential tool.

"The big boom for us is we're having to operate with less and less people all the time," Rhodes said. "So this piece of equipment helps that. An individual is able to get their question answered without having actually to go stand in line and talk to the front desk or take additional time at the front desk. (That time) can be used doing check-ins and check outs and other business."

Rhodes said the base currently has six DynaTouch kiosks to provide both base and off-base information for its service personnel.

"We're obviously happy with them or we wouldn't be doing business with them," he said. "But because of certain procurement regulations when you get into the government, I can't get into a situation of product endorsements."

McClelland said a commitment to quality and maintenance has been the key to her company's long-term success with the military.

"You can't just design it, deliver it, plunk it and then not pay attention to it," she said.

DynaTouch has been able to adapt to different military situations because of its Touch Information Presentation Systems (TIPS) software system. TIPS allows clients to customize their kiosks to meet their needs. McClelland said that the system allows her company to offer custom kiosks while still drawing upon off-the-shelf components, software modules, and templates.

"We have 350 different customers and 350 different projects that we've developed," she said. "No two are alike."

DynaTouch first developed its own components because there were no integrators at the time, McClelland said. The company has since been able to branch out and enlist relationships with outside companies and offer new products in addition to its basic enclosures and data systems.

Thoughts of expansion

Now that DynaTouch has made a niche in the government sector, the company is ready to branch out in the commercial market.

Geographic and product expansion are part of DynaTouch's immediate future. In addition to its headquarters in San Antonio and an office in Los Angeles, DynaTouch has also started a new medical division in Denver. Plans are also in the works to open another office in Washington, D.C., sometime this summer or early fall.

The company had been producing about 100 kiosks a year and it is poised to double or even triple that output.

"I can't answer it with numbers but we've had a very, very good business," McClelland said. "Actually in the last three years, we have reinvested everything in development in all the Windows platforms, Internet-ready applications so that we can leverage everything that we've done into the commercial market."

Kiosk consultant Francie Mendelsohn said DynaTouch has to play its cards right.

"What they're going to have to do is convince would-be customers that, `Hey, based on what we've done for these various public sector clients, we can do it for you,' " said Mendelsohn, president of Summit Research Associates.

McClelland agreed, saying the companies has taken steps in that direction.

"We're doing lots of things to put us in position for that," she said. "We've got good infrastructure built here because we've been involved with this for a long time. The commercial world is wide open right now. There was so much fallout last year. We are positioned right now to be the ones Â… (to) pick up those balls and keep going."