IPC Systems, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey that provides and services voice communication systems for financial companies.[1] In 2014, IPC Systems employs approximately 1,000 employees throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions[2]
| Founded | 1973 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | |
Number of employees | approximately 1,000 |
| Website | ipc.com |
IPC's products, called trading turrets, are specialized, multi-line, multi-speaker communications devices used by traders. Turrets can have access to hundreds of lines and allow traders to monitor multiple connections simultaneously to maintain communication with counterparties, liquidity providers, intermediaries and exchanges[3][4] IPC's desktop system for traders provides multiple market data screens and gives traders the option to use instant messaging for colleague communications while checking on incoming calls.[2]
In 2010, IPC was described by Waters Technology as the "Best Trading Turret Provider"[5] Companies that provide similar services to IPC Systems include BT and Orange Business Services[5]
History
editIPC was founded as Interconnect Planning Corporation, a consulting company, in 1973. Its voice communication system was created after Republic National Bank approached IPC founder Stephan Nichols with a request to improve the bank's trading hardware[6]
In 2000, IPC Systems and its subsidiary IXnet were purchased by Global Crossing.[7]
Then, in 2001, IPC Systems was sold by Global Crossing and purchased by Goldman Sachs.[8]
IPC was the first to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) on the trading floor; this reduced communication costs.[9] The company introduced the first VoIP-based turret in 2001 and its second generation VoIP based turret, the IQ/MAX, in 2006.[10]
Goldman Sachs sold the company to Silver Lake Partners in 2006 for $800 million.[11] In 2014, Centerbridge Partners announced that it had agreed to acquire IPC Systems from Silver Lake Partners.[12]
IPC Systems also developed a division called Positron Public Safety, which developed similar systems for use by 911 operators and other dispatchers.[13] This was sold in 2008 to rival Intrado.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Company News; IPC Information Systems To Buy Reuters Voice System",New York Times, 20 October 1998. Retrieved on 28 April 2014.
- ^ a b "IPC Systems Rings The NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell", Nasdaq, 31 July 2013. Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
- ^ "Capturing Traders' Hearts and Minds with Practical, Beautiful, Foolproof Design" Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, Frog Design, Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
- ^ "IPC Named Best Trading Turret Provider" Archived 2015-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Institutional Investor, 30 June 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ a b Anderson, Victor. "Best Trading Turret: IPC", Waters Technology, 23 August 2010. Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
- ^ "Waters Hall of Fame" Waters Technology, 01 January 2000. Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
- ^ Douglas, Elizabeth (23 Feb 2000). "Global Crossing Agrees to Buy IPC, Subsidiary IXnet". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Global Crossing sells IPC division for $360M". Computerworld. 19 Nov 2001.
- ^ "IPC selected as the 'best and most innovative' VoIP provider". 8 Mar 2010.
- ^ Jawoski, Alexa. "Merrill Installs IPC VoIP Trading Turrets", Securities Technology Monitor, 19 November 2007. Retrieved on 10 June 2013.
- ^ "Exclusive: Silver Lake explores sale of IPC Systems". by Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis, Reuters NEW YORK Oct 2, 2014
- ^ Primack, Dan (December 1, 2014). "IPC Systems CEO discusses company's $1.2 billion sale to Centerbridge". Fortune. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ "Tiburon: Acquisition of Positron’s 911 data applications business fits long-term strategy". Dec 3, 2009 Glenn Bischoff | Urgent Communications
- ^ "Intrado-IPC Positron deal expected to close this quarter". Nov 18, 2008 Donny Jackson | Urgent Communications