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| A Fresh Idea |
Notable Firsts |
Travelers' Information Stations (TIS)
began with various experimental stations and pilot projects
conducted in the 1950s-1970s in national parks and at certain
airports, highways and bridges. As a result, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) issued a notice-of-inquiry; and
a rulemaking process ensued that led to federal rules in 1977,
which, with certain modifications, continue to govern today.
In 1980, armed with a BA in communications from Indiana University and
three years’ experience at a small broadcast station in Moline,
Illinois, Bill Baker (pictured left) decided that to serve certain needs,
the radio service needed to get more focused. The idea came to him
while camping on the shores of Lake Michigan. He knew there was
potential in starting a tiny radio station to broadcast continuous
messages specifically for campers. Since every vehicle had a radio
receiver, it occurred to Baker that it would be "cool" if there were a
little radio station in the park where he camped. "I decided to do
something," he says. After returning home, he investigated, then pursued
his idea. The technology already existed. "All we did was apply a little
creativity to integrating, assembling and making it accessible," Baker
recounts. "It was a great use of FCC-approved technology and spectrum."
Two years later he formed his own company, TouRadio, in Davenport, Iowa,
to offer and install low-power AM radio stations that would allow park
officials to communicate directly with visitors. In the summer of 1982,
he convinced the manager at Mississippi Palisades State Park in Illinois
to try his idea, offering to set up a station at a campground for free.
It worked.
Humble Beginnings
In 1983, the fledgling company with a new name, Information Station
Specialists, officially rolled out its first “Information Station,” a
10-watt, AM-band Travelers Information Station (TIS) with a
3-5-mile-radius range and a companion product with 1/10 watt of power
for about ½-mile range.
National parks
and local visitor and convention
bureaus became Information Station Specialists' first customers. In 1984
Baker met Megan McCombs, who became the company’s first accountant and
his wife.
In 1986 Bill and Megan Baker moved their family’s company to the
Lake Michigan area, where it remains today. They operated the company
from their home for eight years. Bill did the marketing; Megan did the
book work. In 1989 they hired their first employee. Information Station
Specialists steadily grew. By 1994 it outgrew the family home, so the
Bakers moved the entire operation to an office and production facility
on 88th Avenue in Zeeland, Michigan.
They credit the company's success, particularly in the early days, to a
no-nonsense approach with customers. “I recall that after our first
installation, the buyer wrote me a letter and cited his satisfaction
that we merely ‘did what we had proposed to do,’ It seemed like a low
bar; and yet, the honoring of the sales contract was what had impressed
the buyer.” Baker realized that an honest approach to business was
something the market viewed as an important selling point, perhaps more
critical than the product itself. “A customer knows that a product can
always be repaired it if is defective, but that’s not true for the
character of the company they are purchasing from.” Baker’s Christian
faith informed the company’s focus on “truth in advertising,” and
customers apparently appreciated it. Seemingly, the more Information
Station Specialists presented products transparently, the more customers
came through its doors.
In the 1990s, departments of transportation began installing information
radio stations, dubbed Highway Advisory Radio, as part of “Intelligent
Transportation Systems” (ITS) to benefit commuters. The radio stations
were installed in conjunction with variable message signs and other
emerging ITS technologies in major cities with the goal of making travel
more efficient and to reduce air pollution.
After the September 11th tragedy, then a massive power
outage in the eastern US and, finally, Hurricane Katrina, emergency
managers began embracing information radio technology as a means of
public communication during and following crises. The "ALERT AM
Emergency Advisory Radio System" was born – the first such station
designed specifically for emergency managers and public safety. ALERT AM
expanded information radio technology to communities, industry and
military bases and allowed for a wide range of options designed to
protect the public.
In 2008, the company founded the first association of information
station operators (American Association
of Information Radio Operators), which successfully lobbied the FCC
for rule changes needed so the technology could more effectively serve
communities and agencies during times of crisis. At that time, the firm
also introduced portable information stations that could be carried by
hand and set up in minutes for public health (and other) emergencies.
Major national events began to deploy the portable stations on a
temporary basis for event information, further expanding the company’s
reach and visibility.
An Expanding Future
The universal character of radio - and companion products such as
special signage and streaming services - continue to place Information
Station Specialists in demand in a world that since the 1980s has
shifted its focus from tourism to terrorism. Consequently, despite the
company's humble beginnings, Information Station Specialists has arrived
as the USA's primary provider of these technologies.
 Amid the seriousness of emergency-management use are other unique
applications that Baker says are "just plain fun." Among them: A
dog-mushing club in Maine that uses a radio station to inform
participants when races are about to begin; And there’s the radio
service at the windmill farm that changes messages, depending on how
fast the wind blows.
"Ours, is a product line with so many applications that it's enjoyable
to go to work every day," Baker still affirms, after more than thirty
years – and going on forty.
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Our offering challenges conventional
theories, as evidenced by these examples. |
| 1983 |
First newsletter for information radio
station operators (Limited Area Broadcasting Report). |
| 1986 |
First portable information radio station (a truck-mounted
Information Radio Station for Caltrans. |
| 1989 |
First preassembled antenna
groundplane/mat, PowerPlane, Patent 5,495.261. |
| 1990 |
First digital message player for information radio station
that allowed hundreds of messages to be assembled into playlists
with inclusion of live sources (AP55). |
| 1991 |
First information radio station on
in-band AM frequencies – 690 kHz AM for Herbert
Hoover National Historic Site. |
| 1993 |
First universally portable information radio station. |
| 1995 |
First GPS frequency-stabilized
information radio station (3 stations for the City of
Naperville, Illinois). |
| 1996 |
New TravelTalk-style information radio station radio
programming format. |
| 1997 |
Computer control of a network of
information radio station linked by telephone lines, including
solar powered/wireless flashing advisory signs (ITS.6000 Highway
Advisory Radio Station System).
24-hour hotline to serve customers via phone for the life of the
product, 24/7. |
| 1999 |
First full-service AM advisory radio systems website and
newsletter (theRADIOsource.com's The Source).
First information radio station transmitter with synthesized
frequency operation (TR.6000 HQ 5.0).
And, the first fixed information radio station specifically for
use by Emergency Management, which included automatic warning
siren interfacing, automation National Weather Service
preemption on detection of NOAA SAME codes for a specific hazard
and geographic area, large battery backup and multi-station
GPS-based operation (ALERT AM). |
| 2000 |
First trailer-mounted, portable
information radio station specifically for use by Emergency
Management, which included automatic warning siren interfacing,
automatic National Weather Service preemption on detection of
NOAA SAME codes for specific hazard and geographic area, large
battery backup, wireless operation by solar power (RoadRunnR). |
| 2002 |
First large real-time, multi-station grouping of GPS
frequency-stabilized information radio station (for Dow Chemical
of Freeport, Texas). |
| 2003 |
First solar/wireless-controlled
flashing beacon sign system for surface streets to alert
motorists to information radio station signals in emergencies
(Flashing ALERT Signs).
First information radio station antenna system that eliminated
the need for groundplanes and ground rods for antenna grounding
(VP.9000 Vertical Profile Antenna Support and Grounding System, Patent 7,027,008). |
| 2004 |
First information radio station that uses MP3 files as a
basis for audio programming (the Information Station MP3
Edition). |
| 2006 |
First linking of audio to multiple
information radio stations by wireless means (Wireless Audio
System).
First system that allowed IP-based control of a information
radio station system on a network (SignalCAST IP). |
| 2007 |
An exclusive radio station rental service for fairs,
festivals, sporting events and conventions to broadcast parking,
directions and event schedules (EventCAST ).
Professional message recordings provided "already in the box"
for information radio stations on start-up (Professional
Recording Services). First digital message player for information radio stations that
allowed 3 live sources, prioritized operation and 2-way radio
redundant control in the event phone lines go down during
emergencies (NX8R). |
| 2008 |
First suitcase-style portable
information radio station specifically for emergency use
(RadioSTAT).).
The first national association of information radio station
operators (AAIRO). |
| 2009 |
First information radio station on 1710 kHz AM (Hudson
County, New Jersey). |
| 2011 |
PowerSTAT portable clean energy source
– a pure sine wave-AC inverter plus high capacity charger with a
hefty battery pack, all packaged in a weather resistant portable
case. Charges at any standard 120VAC power outlet.
First proposed to the FCC (and
now has pioneered) the licensing of information radio stations
on the 1710 AM frequency for clients with special applications. |
| 2012 |
StreamCASTs, the first simulcast streaming
service to allow programming of Information Stations to be heard
on computers and mobile devices as well as on the radio. |
| 2013 |
First customized format (InfoRadio
Format) to improve content and professional quality of
broadcasts. |
| 2014 |
ENcast Emergency Notification System to broadcast
text-based alert messages automatically. |
| 2016 |
Adds first 5000 Hz full-bandwidth AM
transmitter as well as broadcast-quality audio processor and
filter to line of options to increase stations' broadcast
intelligibility and range. |
| 2019 |
The first antenna specifically
for TIS / HAR applications that is capable of up to 270 watts:
High Performance Antenna HPR.0990 and RadioSAFE
Wide Area Emergency Radio Broadcast Systems introduction. |
| 2020 |
Safety messages and streams accessible
via smart speaker attendant Alexa. |
| 2021 |
Introduction of Information Radio
Stations with multiple access methodologies for flexibility and
redundancy, including both network and USB, incorporating live
mic and live feeds.
Pandemic Information Radio at drive-thru health clinics
nationwide for distribution of vaccines. |
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