IT TAKES MORE than an idea to make a success out of new technology. Knowing this, finalists for Best Practices in Technology & Innovation have put in place processes that support the long-term viability of a product, as well as leaders who aren’t afraid to do their homework, reverse course or wait out a market until the timing is right.

Listen to customers
When Amcom Software started out 24 years ago, it provided a service that seems almost antiquated now.

The Eden Prairie-based company enabled hospital operators to type a message into a terminal, which would then deliver it to doctors and physicians via a pager.

Today, it’s easy to send tens of thousands of messages to any place, delivered by cell phone text messages and e-mail, in a matter of seconds, says Kathy Veldboom, vice president of quality and support.

The company has evolved with the times. Its mass-notification software helps sprawling companies and organizations coordinate and work through emergencies. When a 911 call comes into a dispatcher, the exact location, down to the cubicle, is given, instead of a general billing or mailing address.

“If someone has had a heart attack, or if there’s a security situation, seconds help save lives,” she says.

The company also automates mass notification so organizations can inform all affected parties quickly in the event of an emergency.

Amcom’s clients include large Las Vegas hotels and multi-building corporate campuses, such as Best Buy and Microsoft. Universities and colleges also use their software to inform students of an on-campus crisis, triggering an immediate lockdown and coordination of public safety teams.

Veldboom says the key to building versatile software is to listen to customers.

The company seeks early feedback on their prototypes. Along the way, developers often discover that their software is being used differently than its intended design.

Listening to the marketplace, rather than following competitors, has tripled revenue for the company in the last three years.

Keeping minds open
The idea for Creative Water Solutions, a pool- and spa-product manufacturer, was dreamed up by David Knighton while on a return flight from Europe.

En route, he had the option of reading one of three publications. Not interested in golf or People magazine, Knighton snatched up a copy of Atlantic Monthly. Soon he was engrossed in a one-page article about the use of sphagnum moss on injuries sustained by soldiers in World War I.