-
3M Peltor Accessories Analog Apps BearCom BridgeWave Call Boxes Cambium Networks Cell Phones David Clark Digital Eventide Extranets Facebook Firetide Icom America IMPACT Radio Accessories IP Kent Huffman LDV LinkedIn Mesh Networks Mobile Broadband Mobile Command Centers Motorola MOTOTRBO NeoTerra Systems NOC OTTO Panasonic Point-to-Point Bridges Preventive Maintenance Pryme Push-to-Talk Pyramid Rent Repairs Social Media Sonetics Sony Sprint Nextel TABLETmedia Today's Wireless World TurboVUi Twisted Pair Twitter Two-Way Radio Rentals Two-Way Radios Ubiquiti Verizon Vertex Standard Video Surveillance Walkie-Talkies Wireless WLAN YouTube Analog Technologies Motorola Solutions Two-Way Radio AccessoriesJanuary 07, 2014Some companies publish catalogs filled with little more than pretty pictures and glowing product descriptions. Not BearCom. Our 2014 Wireless Products, Services & Solutions Guide, which is headed to customers early next week, is filled with detailed information about BearCom's capabilities and scope, as well as updates on the latest innovations in wireless technology. "In this issue, we explore how digital technology is transforming two-way radios," said BearCom's Chief Marketing Officer, Kent Huffman, who oversees the annual project. "That section includes information on the benefits of switching to digital and how backward-compatible equipment makes an analog-to-digital migration smoother." Huffman added, "The guide also serves as a reminder of how BearCom's strong partner relationships and our 26 branch offices nationwide keep us positioned to offer wireless communications solutions of
-
June 19, 2013They said it, we said it, now we'll say it again: The shutdown of the Nextel National Network is happening at the end of this month. Are you ready with another wireless communication solution to replace Nextel push-to-talk phones? We've known for years that the Nextel National Network, which is based on iDEN technology inadequate to meet the data needs of modern smartphones, was on its way out. Sprint, which now owns the network, announced the shutdown in late 2010. Later it set the date: June 30, 2013. Earlier this month, Sprint laid out the plan down to the minute. In a news release the company said, "Sprint remains on schedule to decommission the iDEN Nextel National Network beginning at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on June 30. iDEN devices will then no longer receive voice service—including 911 calls and push-to-talk—or data service. Sprint will shut down switch locations in rapid succession on June 30, followed by powering down equipment and eliminating backhaul at each
-
April 30, 2013Businesses are always looking for options, and a once-important wireless communications option is going away on June 30, 2013. That's the date the Nextel National Network is being officially decommissioned. With just two months left, plenty of businesses are considering their options to replace their push-to-talk communications systems; and BearCom has them.
Nextel Network Shut Down
To highlight the choices available, BearCom this week published a white paper, Considering All the Options for Replacing Nextel Push-to-Talk Communications Services. In it, BearCom reminds organizations impacted by the shutdown that they have choices from among push-to-talk phone systems but can consider two-way -
March 13, 2013Read part one... As we look back on BearCom and its history as a company, we see it had its first successes in two-way radio rentals. But it became a true power in wireless communications with the 1995 business merger of Bear Communications and PageCom that combined the industry's largest field office distribution dealer and its largest catalog dealer.
The Business Merger
PageCom had been founded in Dallas in 1981 and acquired a decade later by a group led by Texas businessman John Watson. PageCom's IT infrastructure, warehouse capabilities, and financial department depth meant the combined company would call Dallas home. It would call itself BearCom, Watson would be its Chairman, and it would become the largest Motorola dealership in the world. The company wasted little time, judging by what it accomplished in 1996, the year after the business merger. It supplied more than 3,000 radios -
March 05, 2013BearCom's wireless communications recent recognition as Motorola Solutions' top-volume dealer worldwide highlights again the amazing growth the company has enjoyed on its way to becoming the only nationwide dealer and integrator of wireless communications equipment. BearCom has been shaped by entrepreneurial leadership, a timely merger, and its association with some of the biggest events in the world. It's an amazing story, so let's take a look back. It's almost hard to believe, but a company that now ships more than 115,000 two-way radios a year and has more than 350 employees got its start in 1981 with the purchase of 40 Motorola HT90 two-way radios by Jerry Denham and Alyxzander Bear. The two young men had attended California State University at Long Beach and worked at Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC), the industry leader in crowd management. Its employees are easy to spot at events wearing their yellow windbreakers.
Founders Focus on Building a Company
At CSC, Bear had been responsible for renting the walkie-talkies used by employees at the concerts, games, and other events where staffers worked. After college, he had stayed on part-time, sub-renting radios and earning a small profit for his work. No doubt intrigued by the opportunities in two-way radio rentals, Denham and Bear founded Bear Communications in 1981 with that first purchase of 40 Motorola HT90s. By 1983, with CSC as one of their biggest customers, the two were able to quit their other jobs and focus solely on building Bear Communications. That year they provided radios and staffing for the Long Beach Grand Prix auto race, the first major event for a company that has become associated with scores of them. By the late 1980s, Bear Communications was itself picking up speed. Brent Bisnar—who had worked with Denham and Bear at CSC during their college days—joined the company in 1986 as its first sales representative, primarily promoting rental services, as well as selling EF Johnson, Maxon, and Yasau radios. By then, the company owned a small fleet of 150 Motorola HT90 and HT440 radios. That same year saw the opening of new BearCom offices in San Francisco, Seattle, and Fort Lauderdale, and in 1987, Bisnar opened an office in the San Diego area.National Scope and International Events
Motorola opened indirect distribution in 1988, and Bear Communications was named a dealer. Growth and expansion continued with the addition of branch offices around the country. Later in 1988, the company handled its first international event, the Toronto Grand Prix. In 1989, Bear left the company, but a short six years later, Bear Communications would provide more than 5,500 radios to all nine venues of soccer's biggest international event, the World Cup. It was an amazing rise for a company that traced its beginnings back to Cal State, but even greater growth and change were coming. We'll tell that story next time. Read part two...