BY JAYASYALINY JAYARAJ
Tell us about CALMS Technologies and its beginning.
Established in 2002, CALMS Technologies—a home-grown company provides a cost effective, smart ID solutions which enables multi applications to function on a single platform. We started as a small company with only 3 staffs and now we hire almost 40 dedicated staffs, a great mixture of local and foreign talents.
What is CALMS Technologies’ core business?
CALMS Technologies first started off as a smart card issuance provider. We provide a wide range of customer specific solutions that help create smart and secure working and living environment. As we progress and develop as a company, there are scenarios whereby some clients ask for software customization and changes to value add the system required to meet their ends. From there, we make a practice to understand that if this could be the same requirement and appetite from other clients. We progressively add these small new modules and features from time to time. As of now, our software are pretty matured and comparable to those software house from the West.
How did it all begin?
[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]Our founder, Koh Lee Ching started CALMS Technologies’ with its first product – CALMSe back in 2002 which has now become the core technology for smart ID implementation. Lee Ching is among the forerunners in the smart ID solution industry in Malaysia. Having made a mark in the domestic market, Lee Ching has steered CALMS to the next level as a global player with appointment of distributor and resellers across the region.
Let’s talk about CALMS One Card Solution. What does it do?
Card Application Life Cycle Management System, or better known as CALMS, is the core system required for any smart ID implementation. We used to brand ourselves as smart card system provider, but as we evolved and keeping up with the market trend, we like to call ourselves as smart ID provider. So basically CALMSe manages the ID life cycle and different applications residing within. Nowadays, a smart ID could potentially means your regular-sized cards or now it could also be in biometric format e.g, human retina, finger print, finger vein as well as smart wristbands and mobile apps.
What are the products offered by CALMS Technologies?
Some of our core products include ID Issuance (CALMSe), Visitor Management System (ViMS), Time Attendance Management System (TAMS), e-Wallet (ePUrS), Staff Subsidy Payment System (eMeRS), Point-of-Sale (POS), Room and Facility Booking System (FaBS), Energy Saving System and Bus Attendance and tracking System (BATS) and Parent Pick Up Management System (SAFEPickUp) targeted for the education sector. We work with multiple partners to provide a seamless smart living experience.
How do your products create a smart living concept?
We always believe that our solutions can help into creating a better and smarter environment for various industries by providing a top notch system. For corporates, our solutions empower them to have a secured, smoother and systematic way to manage daily operations while minimizing numbers of resources, human intervention, time and workload. For education sectors, our EDUPurS solution provides a total solution to enhance campus management to be more efficient, to offer a conducive learning environment and to assist parents and teachers to tackle a number of concerning issues related to student management with our current self develop technologies. In this way, we believe that our solutions have been developed to actually overcome daily challenges by offering smart living values and adapting smart technologies through our solutions.
What are the industries you have ventured into?
CALMS Technologies has expanded its business into various market segments which cover government, education, security, manufacturing, transportation, properties, banking, SMEs, aviation and healthcare. Some of our clients include Malaysia Airport, Air Asia, Cancer Institute Malaysia, Parliament of Malaysia, CELCOM, TNB, F&N, Panasonic, Volvo, all the 6 schools under Taylor Education Group, Assumption College in Thailand and many others.
Which are the countries you have penetrated?
We have partners and clients across ASEAN. We are now actively venturing into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
What is your current business focus?
CALMS Technologies is currently focusing on education as a whole. We have EduPURS which empowers school infrastructure with innovative technologies and cost-effective cloud solutions. It creates a clear path towards a safe and secure institutional environment. EDUPurS includes smart ID issuance with multiple functions such as building access control and energy savings features for staffs and students. Other features include time attendance, security, cashless transaction management for canteen, bookstore and bus tracking and parent pick up service. As EDUPUrS is hosted on cloud, the cost for implementation is reduced, thus EDUPuRS is deemed as affordable entry for schools to start adopting smart school environment.
How did MTDC play a role in the success of your company?
MTDC helps to provide development programmes and links us up with potential partnerships in and out of the country. Being our company investor, it also monitors our performances and advises us on current trends to align with the market demand.
