A sound company

A sound company

A sound company

Keywords: Technology, Innovation, Information technology

A small but flourishing British company, based in Hampton Wick, in Surrey, has been rewarded for its innovation and success by having one of its products selected as a Millennium Product by the Design Council in London.

Soundalive Limited, the leader in audio tour guide technology and production, has had the Mait 2 Interpreter, a hand-held device resembling a mobile telephone in appearance, added to the list of chosen products which also includes the London Taxi and the Ford Focus.

The award is particularly relevant as the Mait 2 is being used at the Millennium Dome as an interpretation device for foreign visitors and as an additional information device for English speakers.

Soundalive and the Dome are also providing systems for the visually-impaired visitor and for those with learning difficulties.

All Soundalive's products are designed and built in Britain and the inventor, Malcolm Dexter-Tissington, is the managing director of the company. Soundalive has been in existence since the mid-1980s providing audio interpretation for the heritage and leisure industry and have an impressive range of clients, including Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, The Royal Yacht Britannia, the Kuskovo Palace, in Moscow, the Doges Palace, in Venice, the Library of Congress, in Washington DC, Stonehenge and many more around the world.

Being selected as a Millennium Product means that Soundalive can take advantage of a variety of marketing opportunities as well as the shop window provided by the Design Council. This includes, rather ironically, the benefit of products being displayed in a special area at the Millennium Dome. Soundalive did not really feel the need to take them up on this offer as there are 3,000 in use by visitors on site.

It is indeed noteworthy that such a well received electronic innovation is entirely British. A healthy export and home market confirm Soundalive's place as a market leader in this important and rapidly diversifying field. Providing tourist venues with the means to get their message across to all visitors, no matter which language they speak, ensures that the fastest growing market sector in the world, that of leisure and tourism, continues to keep up with an increasingly demanding travelling public hungry for more and more information.