IPC Unveils IP-Based IQ/Max Turret

NEW YORK—After extensive discussions with traders about the state of trading floor technologies, IPC Information Systems last week unveiled a new turret, IQ/Max, that channels the more popular features from services such as BlackBerry wireless devices and Bloomberg market data terminals.

Traders are dealing with a "very different trading environment" due to compliance, recording and desktop space issues, says Lance Boxer, CEO of IPC. The company wanted to "build something purposeful," so IPC executives spent 18 months visiting more than 50 trading floors to get more insight on traders' needs.

The resulting IQ/Max is a 100 percent IP-based turret system. "Every screen, every interface is new," says Boxer. However, some attributes remain. "We spent tens of millions of dollars and we haven't changed the handset design," he says.

The revamped product includes a playback feature that allows traders to revisit the last 20 seconds of anything played through the turret's speaker systems. The new turret also has dual network, USB ports and a 3.5mm analog input jack that allows traders to plug in devices like Apple iPod music players.

IPC spoke to customers like Société Générale, UBS, Bear Stearns, Calyon and Citigroup, among others, says Michael Speranza, vice president of product management. IPC found design inspiration from five familiar objects seen on many trading floors including BlackBerrys, Bloomberg devices, Herman Miller Aeron chairs, Hewlett-Packard 12C financial calculators and flat-panel arms.

With the assistance of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based design firm, Frog Design, IPC took elements of those five products and incorporated them into the new system, says Speranza. Other elements include the easily discernable color patterns currently in use via Bloomberg services.

IPC will begin shipping the IQ/Max on June 5, Boxer says. Specific pricing will be revealed in the next two weeks, but $10,000 per unit is probably a reasonable range, Boxer says. Beta testing will begin in the next four weeks, when approximately 100 units will be shipped to various customers, Speranza says.

Executives are confident that their products will trump those offered by competitors like BT. Its offerings are "inferior," Boxer says. "We're going to kick their butts."

Not so fast, say BT officials. "I appreciate the fact that IPC recognizes us as a threat," says Peter Skoglund, director of product management and systems engineering at BT Trading Systems. IPC's new system is "copying some of the functionality that we pioneered more than two years ago,"Skoglund says.

IPC will "push the accelerator down" and plans two major product launches in the next year, Speranza says. He could not provide specific details on those products, but says business continuity will be a "major focus" over the next 12 months.