Avionics News May 2016 - 48

TRUENORTH AT 10

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system, which started shipping last year.
In between, the company enjoyed a decade of
innovation, development and growing market successes.
The birth of the Simphonē - and more
Starting in 2006, van Berkel formed his new
company, assembled a staff, sketched out his ideas,
and the engineers went to work. In 2007, TrueNorth
won its first supplemental type certificate for installing
its Simphonē cabin-communications systems.
Shortly afterward, the company began shipping its
first Simphonē systems, and aircraft owners began
to turn to the Canadian company for their aircraft
telecom needs with installations in two Bombardier
business-jet lines, the Challenger and Global Express.
TrueNorth was on its way.
The next year, 2008, TrueNorth continued to
innovate advances in flight deck communications with
the addition of a Future Air Navigation System, FANS1/A package.
And thus the airborne Data Link Unit was born.
But TrueNorth wasn't finished with its phone-system
advances.
Corporate operators and charter companies sought
a way to improve cost accountability for clients
who used the aircraft flight phone, and TrueNorth
answered the call.
In 2010, TrueNorth unveiled a flight phone with
a credit-card reader integrated into the handset - a
handset still wired, as things were.
As the company continued to expand its Simphonē
market and land takers for the Data Link Unit,
TrueNorth's research and development continued to
pay off with new innovations.
That same year, TrueNorth literally cut the cord for
flight phones, introducing the first wireless, Wi-Ficonnected handsets with a charging system built into
the phone base.
The next year, TrueNorth advanced its phonemarket penetration with more customization choices
for the handset - an option possible thanks to the
company's groundbreaking use of three-dimensional
printing in the production of its products.
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2016

TrueNorth's new Stylus Handsets, noted the company,
offer customers the greatest degree of customization of
any cabin-phone system on the market.
That was 2011. The next year, the flight phone would
achieve even greater heights.
2012: Cords cut, smartphones welcomed
TrueNorth answered a recurring question with its
own system designed to let passengers make - and
receive - calls on their own smartphones through its
Simphonē Mobile GSM, a 2012 innovation that again
put TrueNorth ahead of the competition.
Simphonē Mobile GSM basically makes any
passenger's mobile phone an extension of the Simphonē
package. Passengers can directly dial any number on
the ground - or on other aircraft with Simphonē Mobile
GSM - and people on the ground can directly call a
smartphone's number and connect regardless of where
it's flying.
With TrueNorth's Simphonē Mobile GSM, users need
no special or additional application to use. For what
TrueNorth calls its "True GSM," your contacts need only
your phone number - and users can employ the multiple
modes of their phones using data and connecting to the
world while on a voice call at the same time. Any phone
charges, such as international roaming, are billed to the
account of the mobile-phone user.
And TrueNorth stands out for its ability to leverage its
flexible manufacturing processes by allowing customers
to order phones with custom finishes.
According to TrueNorth, aviation's most customizable
handset comes standard with a finish in a platinum
color and black with Corning's highly regarded Gorilla
Glass to produce a unit that fits beautifully in many
aircraft interiors. But let TrueNorth take that handset to
the next level and customize it to customer preferences
with a wide array of options.
TrueNorth hosts a customization demo on its website
to illustrate the options available at truenorthavionics.
com/demo/customapp.html.
Growing beyond flight phones
TrueNorth continued to innovate in other related
areas, as well, logging large fleet orders for both
narrow- and wide-body airliners across the brand lines.
Then in 2013, the Stylus Wi-Fi was born, eliminating

http://truenorthavionics.com/demo/customapp.html http://truenorthavionics.com/demo/customapp.html

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