Knowledge, Experience, Dedication
With deep knowledge and experience in the telecommunications, public safety, homeland security, defense, aerospace and command and control industries, Solacom's management team understands the technology, trends, and market forces that influence their customer needs.
Jocelyn Racine, CMA - President and CEO
Jocelyn Racine joined Solacom in 1999 as Director of Finance and within two years was appointed Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration. Mr. Racine has been instrumental in building a sound financial structure for the emerging company, as well as managing mergers and acquisitions, all company financing arrangements, tax, human resources, legal and international contracts and administrative matters.
Prior to Solacom, Mr. Racine was the Vice President of Finance and Administration for Le Groupe Brigil Construction, a group of 20 companies in the property development and housing sector. Earlier, he was a Member of the Management Accounting Group with KPMG Chartered Accountants, where he managed a wide variety of financial projects related to federal government departments as well as private companies.
Mr. Racine is a Certified Management Accountant and member of the Society of Management Accountants of Ontario since 1992.
Franz Plangger - Founder and Senior Management Advisor
Franz Plangger is the founder of Solacom Technologies. Before starting Solacom, he co-founded CML Technologies in 1982. At CML, he was responsible for the design and development of all products. In 1989, Mr. Plangger took over running the entire of CML Technologies Inc. During his career as President at CML, Mr. Plangger was instrumental in winning and successfully delivering several multi-million dollar contracts to Transport Canada, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, City of Chicago and many others. During this period, revenue figures for CML grew from $3.8 million to nearly $25 million in 1999. Under his leadership, the company was garnered some very prestigious awards such as The 50 Best Managed Private Companies by Arthur Andersen Group, the Canada Awards for Business Excellence and the Quebec Chambers of Commerce Mercuriades Award.
Mr. Plangger obtained his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree, with High Distinction, in 1975 from Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario. He was awarded a National Research Council of Canada Scholarship to continue his engineering studies toward a Master's of Electrical Engineering degree, obtained in 1978.
Daniel Biagé - Vice President, Research & Development
As Vice President Research & Development, Daniel Biagé is responsible for the design, development and quality assurance activities for all Solacom product lines. Mr. Biagé has over 25 years of R&D experience, with extensive knowledge in Ethernet, IP, SIP, ATM, DSL, radio dispatch and call processing.
Prior to joining Solacom, he held positions as vice president of R&D at Versatel Networks for 8 years and CML Technologies for 14 years where he was responsible for design and development of their technology. He is the author/co-author of several patents in mission critical communications, telecommunications and Public Safety E9-1-1, and holds a B.S.C. in Engineering from the University of Sherbrooke.
Ray Vilis - Vice President, Advanced Emergency Systems
Ray Vilis brings 30 years of telecommunications industry experience in product management, development, and system engineering. Since joining Solacom in 2007 as Vice President Advanced Emergency Systems, Mr. Vilis has focused on the definition and introduction of new VoIP services, as well as new public safety Next Generation 9-1-1 products. Prior to Solacom, Mr. Vilis worked for 5 years at Versatel, as VP Product Management & Business Development.
Mr. Vilis developed his expertise at Bell Northern Research and Nortel, where he established a track record for managing large, profitable, multi-year product development projects including traditional PSTN voice and turnkey IP solutions (Magellan Passport), automated speech recognition technology and data network solutions. His experience managing teams from 20 to 250 individuals over three continents includes several joint venture activities between Nortel Networks and leading technology organizations. Mr. Vilis holds a Masters in Science (Engineering) from the University of Ottawa.
Tony Parrott - Vice President Sales, Advanced Emergency Systems
Tony Parrott joined Solacom in February 2009 as VP Sales, Advanced Emergency Systems. Mr. Parrott has over 20 years of experience in Telecommunications and Public Safety E9-1-1. Prior to joining Solacom, Mr. Parrott worked at PlantCML as Area Sales Manager for public safety products in the South Central and South Eastern United States – where, in the last 2 years alone, he oversaw sales of more than $54 million. Prior to PlantCML, Mr. Parrott was the VP of Sales and Marketing for microDATA for 4 years, and VP of Sales at CML Emergency Services for 7 years. Earlier in his career, he held sales and sales management positions at Verizon.
Mr. Parrott has served on various E9-1-1 Boards and Committees, and is a member of both the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) – and has been accredited as an Emergency Number Professional (ENP) by NENA.
Gilles Ferland, PhD. – VP Product Marketing
Gilles Ferland joined Solacom in 2007 as a Product Manager and Senior System & Solution Architect. With an extensive background in product design as well as professional services, he provides a technology leadership role as VP Product Marketing.
Prior to Solacom, Mr. Ferland worked in product development and services for technology companies, including Versatel Networks, 9278 Communications/Wholesale LD, PhoenixSoft and Telemedia Networks International.
From 1984 until 2000, Mr. Ferland served on the teaching staff of the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario – as Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Mr. Ferland received his Ph.D. Electrical Engineering from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario following a M.Sc. Electrical Engineering and B. Sc. Electrical Engineering from the University of Laval, Sainte-Foy, Quebec.
Luc Boisvert – Director, Customer Services and Supply Chain
Since joining Solacom in 2010 as Manager of Customer Services, Luc Boisvert has been instrumental in building a world class team of technicians and field engineers, as well as the policies, procedures and tools necessary to ensure excellent customer care. In 2011 Mr. Boisvert became a Director of Customer Services and Supply Chain, continuing to develop responsive customer service backed by timely supply and order management.
Before Solacom, Mr. Boisvert worked for Plant CML (now Cassidian) and over the course of 15 years, served in a variety of roles including Director Technical Services and Regional Account Manager – Canada and International markets.
Mr. Boisvert received his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Sherbrooke in 1993 and has been a Member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec as a professional Engineer since March 1995.
Ed Chaplin, C.A. – Vice President, Finance & Administration
Ed Chaplin joined Solacom in 2011 as Vice President Finance & Administration, responsible for all financial aspects of the company. With 16 years of experience in public and private companies, he has a broad range of fiscal management and leadership experience including daily financial operations, debt and equity transactions, as well as leading global teams through corporate acquisitions and streamlining information systems for improved finance efficiencies, controls and reporting.
Before joining Solacom, Mr. Chaplin worked in several technology companies including ARISE Technologies as Interim Corporate Controller, BTI Systems Inc. as VP Finance, Corel Corporation as Corporate Controller and Accounting Manager, and as a Senior U.S. Tax Specialist with Ernst & Young.
Mr. Chaplin completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, and is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.