Tandberg

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TANDBERG asa

Type	Public (OSE: TAA)
Founded	1933
Headquarters	Lysaker, Norway
Key people	CEO: Fredrik Halvorsen Chairman: Jan Christian Opsahl
Industry	Communications Equipment
Products	Videoconference and telecommunications equipment
Revenue	$345.2 million USD (2005) [1]
Employees	772 (Dec '05)
Slogan	Be there now.
Website	www.tandberg.com

For other Tandbergs see Tandberg (disambiguation)

Tandberg is a manufacturer of videoconferencing systems, located in Oslo, Norway (product development, sales and distribution) and New York City, USA (sales and distribution). The company's main competitors are Polycom, Radvision and Codian. Other minor competitors are VTEL and Aethra.

1 Company history 1989–
2 Company origin: the radio factory
3 Companies sharing the name
4 External links

[edit] Company history 1989–

Tandberg's first picture telephone for ISDN was developed in 1989, while the fully integrated Vision H.320 picture telephone was launched in 1993. Subsequently, focus moved to higher performance systems - the Grand Vision and the Master Vision series. New desktop endpoints were also added - the Compact Vision and the Vision600.

In 1997 the company acquired two sales and distribution companies in North America, establishing a firm foothold in the single largest videoconferencing market in the world.

In 1999 the company acquired the Norwegian technology company Internet Technology AS which had developers experienced with the ITU H.323 standard, especially from VoIP-projects like the world's first commercial H.323 VoIP service launched in 1997 with Telenor. In 2000 the company moved into IP based videoconferencing using the maturing H.323 standard, making the entire product line IP capable. Since 2000, the company has expanded its product line greatly, by adding enterprise-class MCU's, Gateways, service-provider class MCUs and H.323 Gatekeepers. In 2001 the company also acquired a consultancy company Delante AS which enabled it to focus more on external software integration and bindings, especially the Microsoft platform. In 2004 Ridgeway Systems and Software, a UK based software house specializing in Firewall and NAT traversal, was acquired. The result of this acquisition was the TANDBERG Expressway Firewall Traversal technology, which allows any H.323 video endpoint to place calls through any number of firewalls or NAT devices.

In February 2005, the company also released SIP software for all its video endpoints, as well as a major update to its SCCP based video systems.

In July 2005 the company acquired IVIGO from TNO Telecom. IVIGO, based in the Netherlands, developed and successfully commercialized circuit switched video solutions for UMTS network operators, vendors and content providers. The IVIGO 3G-to-H.323 video gateway is now used by TANDBERG's high-end visual communications systems to connect over video to 3G handheld phones.

In September 2005, Cisco Systems officially launched the Cisco 7985G, a Cisco-TANDBERG co-branded desktop videophone.

In October 2005, the company acquired Ectus Ltd, a New Zealand based software development company specializing in streaming and archiving software.

On December 16th 2005 Andrew Miller was fired from his position as CEO and replaced by the CFO Fredrik Halvorsen. Fredrik Halvorsen was a relatively new hire with a background from McKinsey.

[edit] Company origin: the radio factory

The Tandberg company was founded as Tandbergs Radiofabrikk ("Tandberg's Radio Factory") in 1933 by electronics engineer Vebjørn Tandberg, initially producing loudspeakers and receivers (radios with built in amplifiers and loudspeakers). From 1952, the first reel-to-reel tape recorder was launched. The company was known world wide for its high end audio systems. When the audiophiles speak of Tandberg audio components, they are referring to products of this company. Even though Tandberg no longer manufactures audio components, such components are in high demand.

In particular, Tandberg cassette decks (such as the 3014) were widely thought to be among the very best. With the decline of cassette tape technology, current audio system manufacturers no longer focus on cassette decks. Given the high quality of construction of the prior Tandberg units, these may be the last decks to survive in working condition as the future unfolds.

Tandberg was also known for its tuners, whose specifications and sound were among the best known, specifically the 3001A, which some audiophiles consider the finest and most musical tuner ever made.

Tandberg made a well known, but very small, integrated amplifier, called the "Troll" which received industry acclaim.

Some Tandberg products used a DIN connector rather than the more common RCA connector.