AAT Communications Systems Corporation . . . then and now

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 AATCSC History 

In the early 1950s, two WW2 veterans, Anthony Marraccini and Royal Alvis joined together to start the AAT Service Company in the home basement of Tony's mom in the Midland Beach section of Staten Island, New York.  Tony, a then recent Columbia Business School graduate, was the sales and marketing leader of the team and Roy, an engineer who held a number of patents during his career, was the technical wizard of the firm.

It was Tony who developed the earliest company logo, an atom with electrons circling, and it was Tony who chose the name AAT because he wanted to be first in the telephone directory and he wanted people who heard the name to unconsciously associate AAT with the hugely successful AT&T.  We know it worked; to this day, people will occasionally refer to us as ATT.

The Company was later incorporated as AAT Electronics Corporation, which eventually spun off AAT Communications Corporation in the mid 1960s, which, in turn, spun off the present enterprise, AAT Communications Systems Corporation . . . in early 1995. 

Each of us who have been associated with the AAT companies over the years are proud of the association and of the reputation we have built for standing behind every product we have sold or serviced . . . and this is why, through the years . . . we may have dropped the atom, but we have kept the AAT family name.

So how did we get from 1953 to 2017?

 In a word . . . Reinvention!

We've stayed light on our feet over the years. 

In the early 1950s and into the 1960s, our business was both consumer and commercial electronics oriented.  On the commercial side, we became a Motorola Service Station or MSS - and, as a result, we serviced radio communications systems for NYPD, FDNY, and Consolidated Edison, among others, before a time when these agencies built their own radio shops.  In those early days, we were among the few who were able to service commercial radar systems as manufactured by General Electric and employed aboard the Staten Island Ferry - at a time when the ferries were still steam powered vessels!

On the consumer electronics side of the business, we repaired television sets, public address systems, garage door openers and eventually, microwave ovens - virtually anything that was challenging to service.

Time marches on and by the late 1960s, consumer electronics products became more price competitive and ever more disposable, and AAT found it necessary to replace earlier business activity with successive activities including sales and servicing of commercial and pleasure-oriented marine electronics systems, support service to then emergent medical electronics systems, including EEG, ECG and coronary care systems . . . as well as design and servicing of video surveillance and related security systems.

In time, the character of the marine electronics business also changed.  Most products are sold today by mass merchandisers and are discarded as they age.  Exceptions remain in high-tech where AAT continues to play a role in system integration and in rendering field support to enterprise-level integrated systems.

While twenty or more years ago, it was predicted that the communications recording systems business would be folded into the larger PBX and telephony systems business -  communications recording technology offerings remain a viable independent business activity - a niche market.  It's good to see the pundits aren't always right!

While low-cost video security surveillance systems may be purchased in a box store, the mid to high end of the commercial market remains an attractive area for technologists with a solid background in field service support and especially for those who speak the language of "IP.'

Speaking of IP . . .

Networking is a vital area were we continue to see a convergence of once disparate business activities such as voice communications and data recording, video surveillance and recording of video and in general, telephony - VoIP systems.  Even in the maritime electronics communication and navigation field, everything must plug into everything else. 

Opportunities to obtain systems integration projects abound for those who continue to grow their capabilities.

2017 and beyond . . .

We'll continue to specify, sell and service communications recording systems with emphasis on working with Public Safety organizations and with Utilities - two markets where we have met consistent success.

We'll continue to design, sell, integrate and maintain security surveillance systems, staying current with the state of the art.

We'll remain 'on the hunt' for System Integration projects that fit our collective skill-set and resources.

We'll continue to evaluate, select and bid on SCADA or data acquisition, monitoring and control projects.

Our completed RAMS Project for the New York City Department of Transportation - Remote Alarm Monitoring System - is a systems integration project requiring turn-key design and assembly, installation and post-deployment support service.  More about RAMS in the Press release area. 

Enterprise level networked and integrated systems provide AATCSC with an opportunity to differentiate ourselves from the ordinary while growing our business.

For further insight as to were we have recently been and where we are headed, the FDNY Battalion Recording System Project review is illustrative.

 

AAT Communications Systems Corporation

20 Marble Loop - Unit 1 - Staten Island, New York 10309

718-605-2700 - 800-622-2669