DIS Asia Company Profile

Conferencing systems don’t have the glamour of live sound or the ubiquity of BGM, but they do play a vital role in many of the decisions that affect all of our lives. Governments and corporations around the world rely on these systems as the key acoustic tool of any meeting room. And as technology becomes increasingly more important in this environment, interest in these systems is growing. One company that has specialised in this field is DIS – Danish Interpretation Systems.

DIS was founded in 1952 in Copenhagen when it was known as the Danish International Students Committee, but a change in the ownership structure in 1988 gave rise to its current identity. The DIS product line belongs to Informationsteknik Scandinavia A/S – Scandinavia’s leading supplier of conference and

As a company, DIS designs and manufactures microphone management and discussion systems, simultaneous interpretation and translation systems, wired and infrared language distribution systems, congress voting and audience response systems, fully digital conference systems, and conference management software including streaming and archiving. Its aim is to provide complete system solutions of advanced electronic conference and congress products to the global meeting industry on a permanent or rental supply basis.

DIS has built up its product portfolio by combining the accumulated knowledge of the last five decades with the latest advances in digital and analogue technology. Of course, it is one thing to build the kit, but it is a different proposition entirely to install it and put it to use.

With a history stretching back over 50 years it is not surprising that the company measures project numbers in the hundreds of thousands and has an illustrious client list. On the installation side, DIS has supplied systems to parliaments in Saudi Arabia, Brussels, Copenhagen, Georgia, and Pakistan. Whereas its international rental service has seen its kit used at The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, The United Nations, The European Union, NATO, and ASEM to name but a few.

While its roots are definitely Scandinavian, the company has spread out across the world. DIS headquarters, which houses its research and development facilities as well as its European sales offices, are located in Denmark’s capital city, Copenhagen. However, the production and logistics nerve centre of DIS was relocated in 1999 some 10,000km south east of the Danish capital to Bangkok, Thailand. Regional sales offices can also be found in the UAE, Mexico, Thailand and now India, and the company currently distributes to over 80 countries worldwide. 

DIS has been active in Asia since it moved its production to Bangkok in the late 90s. The subsequent growth saw the company move its production facility to a larger site in 2003 and today it employs 27 people at this location. The Bangkok office is headed up by area sales manager Kim M. Jürgensen and supports Thailand, Indo-China and mainland China. In 2009 it opened a representative office in Singapore led by area sales manager John Nielsen to cover South East Asia, Japan, Korea and India. And in May 2010 it launched DIS India with a sales office managed by country head Sikander Ruhil Singh in New Delhi.

‘DIS Bangkok is our regional office, it’s the backbone for DIS operations in Asia,’ says Mr Nielsen. ‘This office also supports our global supply chain, which gives DIS the advantage of shipping from our production site directly to our distributors in Asia. Production in Thailand means shorter delivery times and quicker response to the market.’

In most of the Asian countries, DIS enjoys long relationships with its distributors and heavily invests in ensuring they know its products. It provides training for the distributors’ technicians, engineers, design teams and sales forces in Bangkok and Copenhagen or conducts the training on site. ‘DIS is not only selling discussion systems, but also advanced conference solutions, where conference management software plays an important role. Being able to handle large conferences in Parliaments, convention centres, with details like names, background information, agenda in any language for each individual delegate, voting capabilities and also integrated streaming and archiving - conference systems can be very complex,’ says Mr Nielsen. ‘Therefore, customer training is a key issue. Our system is quite comprehensive and we have an advanced software package, so it is important that the sales staff are up to date with the latest releases and functions in our software so they can advise the end user of the most suitable and cost efficient solution.’

This training enables the distributors to specify and install the conference solution. ‘However, DIS sales managers visit end users together with distributors and, when needed, DIS engineers will assist with an installation,’ explains Mr Nielsen.

By building a strong network of well trained distributors DIS has ensured success right across the region. This can be seen in some of the projects its distributors have been involved with. Indian distributor Elgin Eletronics has recently installed a conference system in the Supreme Court and has also done work in some State Assembles in the north of the country. In late March this year Thai rental company BICS2000 was assisted by DIS’ parent company with a large volume of equipment for the Inter Parliamentary Union in Bangkok, a job that involved more than 2400 digital receivers and 700 delegate units. Micro Data in the Philippines had a large rental job requiring more than 400 delegate units for the Asian Development Bank. China is by far the largest market for DIS in Asia, and Mr Nielsen attributes some of this success to the good work that local distributor Wincomn Technology is doing. Currently its highest profile project is the annual ‘summer Davos’ meeting of business leaders in the city of Tianjin’s Meijiang Exhibition Centre, which will be installed very soon.

With this range of work from small discussion systems and rental work to full installations in parliaments, Mr Nielsen is happy with the way the company is performing in the region. ‘Despite the global financial crisis, we haven’t seen any decline in the overall sales in Asia. Some markets might have faced some difficult times, but this has been balanced with increased sales in other countries like China,’ he explains. ‘The competition is stiff, but we still do very well in this region. This is also reflected in the increasing number of DIS offices in Asia.’

The prime example of this is the new sales office in India. ‘We have been doing business in India for more than 10 years through distributors and dealers,’ says Mr Nielsen. Over that time the company has grown a large customer base and completed some prestigious installations, such as Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi and some state assemblies. ‘It is now the right time for DIS to setup an office in India in order to provide the best service and support through a fully fledged service centre,’ says Mr Nielsen. ‘The complexity of the Indian market and the number of DIS installations at this level requires local support as well as after sales and repair services.’ The office is headed up by Sikander Ruhil Singh, a veteran of the Indian conference systems market, and he expects to hire up to five additional employees within the coming 12 months.

The aim of this office is become a fully fledged service and support centre within a short time frame. The initial target is to concentrate on developing the sales network and market penetration further, while gradually increasing stock capabilities and looking to meet the specific requirements of the Indian market. ‘With increasing stock facilities we will be able to supply conferences directly from stock and most importantly provide a better after sales service to both dealers and end-users within India,’ says Mr Nielsen.

Mr Nielsen can see a number of advantages in setting up the office. Chief among these is having dedicated local staff in India who speak the language and understand local customs. ‘This complex market is often difficult for foreigners to understand and I will admit that DIS has also learnt our lessons. Therefore, a local office makes it easier for DIS to further develop and expand into India,’ he explains. ‘Indian local staff will be able to visit both end users and dealers more frequently. However, the area sales manager will still visit India.’

The new office could also help DIS win more deals in the country. ‘In some projects it is a requirement that manufacturers are present in India, and this gives us another advantage which we have not benefitted from previously.’

With the increasing need for conference systems, Mr Nielsen can see a bright future for DIS in the region. ‘There are plenty of opportunities in the Asian market and we intend to grab many of these. We have some very good and dedicated distributors who have done an excellent job in promoting and selling DIS Conference solutions. The combination of having a wide network of distributors in Asia, the increasing needs for conferences, being an innovative market leader and our flexibility in this niche market gives DIS a good foundation for further growth in Asia.’

While conferencing systems are not necessarily glamorous, they are certainly important. As DIS has shown, they can also be big business.

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audio-visual systems and equipment.