All systems go- Missoula-based Logistic Systems is quietly building a national reputation with local talent

When there’s an emergency, people across the country have been taught to pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1. But when emergency services need help, who do they call?

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(Here’s an article from the new "Western Montana InBusiness" publication from the Missoulian. For subscription information, contact the Missoulian. http://missoulian.com/ )

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The answer is increasingly becoming Logistic Systems, http://logistic-systems.com/ a Missoula company that is named by Dispatch magazine, an emergency services trade magazine, as one of the Top 12 providers of computer-aided dispatch systems in the country. LogiSYS develops software for public safety and transportation agencies across the country, as well as here in Montana, using cutting-edge technology.

In fact, the company is close to finalizing a significant deal with the federal government relating to homeland security. Company officials were hesitant to provide details on the deal until a contract is signed.

It’ll probably come as a surprise to most Missoulians, but the company is one of the city’s larger employers, with a work force of 250 people and an annual payroll of $8 million. Logistic Systems also is a source of jobs for recent college graduates looking to stay in Montana while working in the technology industry.

Charles Stortz, vice president of sales and marketing, says LogiSYS sells its wares to mostly large metropolitan areas outside Montana, usually on contracts in the $200,000 to $2 million range. That’s money being made elsewhere, then coming back home, he says.

Though the company has a strong national reputation and is perhaps the largest software developer in the state, that doesn’t mean the community knows just what they’re doing over there in the former Crystal Sugar plant behind the Target store.

In a recent interview at the company, Stortz and Steven Hoover, vice president of technical services, joked that LogiSYS might be the most misunderstood company in the state. LogiSYS has grown quietly and slowly for the past 15 years. This company doesn’t even have a sign outside its building at 3000 Palmer St., which has been its home for 11 years now.

But quiet growth isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Stortz says. “We aren’t a highly visible company; we don’t need to be,” he says.

Also not highly visible is the company’s founder, Hien Nguyen. While their Web site, http://www.logistic-systems.com, has photographs of the company’s key officials, there is no photo of Nguyen. While active in the company, Nguyen prefers to keep a low profile, Stortz says.

The birth of LogiSYS began with Nguyen and school buses. A graduate of MIT, Nguyen was a math professor at the University of Montana 20 years ago when schools in Great Falls approached the university, asking for help in making their bus routes and schedules run more efficiently.

At the time, Nguyen recognized that the schools’ problems could be solved by applying math to real-world situations. Using maps and population data, Nguyen showed the schools how they could run their transportation departments better while saving money. From this, Education Logistics http://edulog.com/ was born.

Today, EduLog develops specialized programs for pupil transportation management, attendance boundary planning and enrollment forecasting. About 1,600 school districts across the globe have contracted with EduLog, which has more state-approved contracts than all its competitors combined.

And from EduLog grew Logistic Systems. Incorporated in 1988, LogiSYS also relies on applied research. The company markets the FirstCall Computer Aided Dispatch system and the DataTrak Records Management Systems for public safety entities.

FirstCall integrates police and emergency operations information with geographic information system data to reduce response time and increase safety for officers. Such technology has been in big demand since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Stortz says.

This is how FirstCall works: The program provides the dispatcher a familiar user interface with pop-up menus and hot buttons in addition to keyboard commands. A caller’s location can be immediately pulled up on the screen using either an address, landmark, building name, intersection, mile marker or grid location. Building floor plans are included in the system to assist emergency personnel upon their arrival.

The dispatcher can then pan and zoom around the location to spot other potential hazards in the area, such as chemical storage tanks on the property adjacent to a burning building. The system also can keep record of incidents by location, allowing police to identify crime patterns.

These systems can take a few years to perfect because each is tailored to a community’s needs. For example, a contract in Paterson, N.J., took five years to design.

“You don’t want to have something that isn’t tried and true in this business,” Stortz says.

While 60 percent of LogiSYS business is coming from the Midwest and East, the company has also built systems for Missoula, Helena, Butte and Conrad. It is working with the Montana Highway Patrol to integrate a statewide computer-assisted dispatching system.

The Montana Highway Patrol had been looking at going to a CAD system for three years before choosing LogiSYS, Lt. Col. Randy Yaeger says. The company was chosen for its strong reputation and sizeable federal agencies it already is serving, Yaeger says. The fact that it’s an in-state company helps, he says.

A CAD system will help dispatchers and officers process information more quickly, and in turn serve the public better, Yaeger says. The Highway Patrol is excited to be working with LogiSYS, Yaeger says. He’s especially impressed by the company’s confidence and knowledge.

“They have a sense of responsibility to do this well,” he says.

The future of LogiSYS seems to be a rosy one here in Missoula. The company is expecting to expand in the near future, with plans to build on an adjacent lot. But what’s in the future beyond that is anyone’s guess. Technology is a funny thing that way.

“What today is going to drive the right product for tomorrow?” Hoover asks.

One thing is for sure: This Missoula company plans to stay on the cutting edge of its business in its own quiet way.

© 2003, Missoulian, Missoula, MT A Lee Enterprises subsidiary