Commercial Integrator December 2022 - 21

INTEGRATOR OF THE YEAR
worked with Vistacom for 20-plus years.
For Iasiello, the company provided a new
trajectory from his past life in government
service. He worked as part of the White
House communications team and accompanied
former Presidents Reagan and
George H.W. Bush. " After my term completed,
I was hired as a full-service technician
at Vistacom, " he recalls. " When the control
room team started taking off, I asked
Angela if I could step in. " This, Iasiello says,
allowed him to really connect with the team
and grow the entire department. " I've been
here for 32 years now, and each day has
been wonderful, " he enthuses.
Orrison recounts an anecdote, sharing
that he had, in fact, left Vistacom only
to return years later. " After I left, I would
see Angela every year at InfoComm, " he
narrates. " And, every time, she would joke
Jim Ferlino's Perspective: The Story of Vistacom
As president of Vistacom, I share ownership of the business with
Angela Nolan. My key role at Vistacom is to provide strategic
direction for the company to ensure growth, profitability and
relevance to our clients.
My journey has provided me with an opportunity to work in
many different areas within the business and gain appreciation
for the importance and needs of different roles. Although my formal
schooling is in engineering, I began my career in a sales role.
In my early years, we were a relatively small company, so I spent
time doing engineering, technical installs, service and support,
project estimating and project management. Not any one of
those roles was my full-time focus; however, I spent enough time
there to understand the value to both Vistacom and our clients.
A Large, Unserved Market
Within the first four years at Vistacom (Daveland Company
at that time), I spent time meeting and developing clients. It
became obvious that there was a large market that we weren't
serving. At that time, we only provided audio and acoustic
solutions for clients, and I knew we could be doing more with
audiovisual and videoconferencing solutions. I started attending
InfoComm every year to learn about products and develop manufacturer
business partners to get us started. I remember walking
down the aisles in amazement, seeing all the products that we
could use to engineer and sell client solutions. We picked up
close to 50 new product lines, and this became a milestone that
changed the future of our company as we dove headfirst into the
audiovisual and videoconferencing markets.
Our reputation in the '90s as a top-tier control-room integrator
positioned us to win a very high-profile control-room project: The
AT&T Global Network Operations Center. At the time, this was
one of the largest control centers in the world, and it included
complex hardware and software solutions. My overall experience
of being onsite for almost six months and interfacing with
the client and their design/construction team was invaluable.
Success in Healthcare
Like our success in other vertical markets, Vistacom's success
in healthcare grew from our intentional efforts to better
commercialintegrator.com
understand the needs
of this industry through
discussions with industry
professionals. I knew
that our technical staff
(engineering, software
programming and technicians)
could provide valuable
solutions, and our close
alignment with doctors, nurses and
healthcare IT professionals allowed us to gain the knowledge
and insight needed to develop impactful solutions. Our role,
therefore, is to provide traditional AV, conferencing and clinical
solutions that improve patient care while reducing hospital
costs. We supplement this with a managed-services package
that often includes 24/7 coverage and onsite staffing. Our
solutions not only facilitate good hospital communications
but also have saved lives, as our clients attest. Through the
years, Vistacom grew at a controlled rate to balance quality and
quantity of work.
Values Worth Passing Down
Indeed, our culture, including that of family members, is one
where " we do what we say we will do, " and where profit does
not always supersede humanity. If we make a commitment, we
are accountable. And when someone makes a mistake, we do
our best to turn that into a teaching moment. Even when we
release a staff member, we try to treat them in a way where they
can learn and grow. As a more experienced member of Vistacom,
I enjoy sharing whatever wisdom I can to help others avoid
the mistakes that I made throughout my career.
I would finally like to mention our founder, my father Jack
Ferlino, whose work ethic was like no one I have ever met. He
had the foresight, wherewithal and determination to start this
business, but, more importantly, it is his values that have been
passed down to shape and mold our culture into what it is today.
As a strong businessperson, he understood the need for processes,
quality and profits, but he never let those overshadow his
concern for humanity.
DECEMBER 2022 Commercial Integrator
21
about having me come back to work with
Vistacom. But, over five years ago, she said,
'No, I'm serious. I have a management job
available, and I think you're a perfect fit.' "
With that, Orrison found himself coming full
circle by rejoining the company.
Chiming in, Nolan reveals that one major
driver for bringing back Orrison was Boyer.
" Matt was the engineering manager at that
time, and we decided that we wanted to
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Commercial Integrator December 2022

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