GroupCast Messaging Systems was founded in November 2002 in St. Louis, MO by Joseph Palacios and Paul Langhorst, who first met in 1999 while working on a joint project for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. After discovering a shared vision for a customer focused IVR service bureau, shared values, ethics and St. Louis roots, Mr. Palacios and Mr. Langhorst formed GroupCast Messaging Systems, LLC. Shortly after forming the LLC, additional key members were added to round out the company. These included Joe Moore, a highly skilled IVR and SQL database programmer and Kyle Palacios, a veteran customer support manager. Together these four individuals form the ownership structure of the LLC and the backbone of its operations.

GroupCast was formed to serve several niche markets in the interactive voice response (IVR) services industry. These niches include self-service telephone broadcast messaging and toll free locator solutions. These two services stem from the background strengths of the founding members and co-exist nicely on the same technology platform because of synergies in volume requirements and IVR functionality.

Telephone broadcast enables a recorded voice message to be broadcast to large lists of recipients very quickly. Voice broadcast combines the speed of email, with the warmth of human voice and the in-home delivery aspect of direct mail. This service is marketed under the brands: SchoolReach.com, TeamBlast.com and GroupCast.com. GroupCast has arguably one of the most advanced and user-friendly telephone broadcast services available in the US today. For additional information on these services please visit their relevant URL address.

GroupCast's custom IVR service is targeted at unique customer applications where there is a high level of complexity or specialized routing or IVR requirements. GroupCast specializes in designing customer friendly call flows, custom call handling requirements, enhanced reporting services and applications which require high-touch management. GroupCast IVR services are provided under an ASP model, where the client enjoys the benefits of the service without the need to purchase or install customer premise hardware or software. This model enables services to be deployed quickly at significant cost savings while taking full advantages of system wide features, scalability and performance.

GroupCast has developed and written its own proprietary IVR code which runs in a carrier grade environment across a primary and secondary system.

Key Personnel:

Joseph Palacios, President & Co-Founder

Joe Palacios, 56, is the senior architect GroupCast's IVR system and provides guidance and support to all areas of operations. Mr. Palacios is also responsible for managing our carrier relationships and creates the specifications for our carrier level interfaces. Mr. Palacios worked 26 years within the SBC and AT&T "Bell System" serving in various line and management positions, culminating as Vice President of SBC's Advance Technology Resource Center. Mr. Palacios retired from SBC in 1992 and went on to co-found the NNC Group, a company still thriving today which specializes in pharmaceutical recalls assisted with telephone and fax broadcast services.

While at the NNC Group Mr. Palacios designed a 3000+ port IVR system to launch phone and fax recall notifications to pharmacies and supervised the development of custom IVR applications for Ford Motor Company, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Unilever, Eli-Lily, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Merrill Lynch, Morgan-Stanley and Lehman Brothers.

Paul Langhorst, Vice President, Operations & Co-Founder

Paul Langhorst, 42, is responsible for marketing and oversees the general operations of GroupCast ranging from personnel to finances. Prior to co-founding GroupCast in 2002, Mr. Langhorst was the Director of Telecommunications for Enterprise Rent-A-Car from 1995 to 2000. While at Enterprise, Mr. Langhorst developed and managed Enterprise's 1-800 Rent-A-Car branch locator system, which now serves over 5000 location in the United States and Canada and to this day still operates on the system guidelines Mr. Langhorst set forth. Mr. Langhorst also served as the President and Vice President of the Mississippi Valley Telecom Association from 1997 to 2000 and holds an MBA from St. Louis University.

Joe Moore, Chief Information Officer

Joe Moore, 35, is responsible for developing the code base upon which GroupCast's IVR software is built. Mr. Moore and the development team are responsible for programming and managing individual client applications. In addition, Mr. Moore designed the primary and secondary server and network environments on which all client applications run. Mr. Moore has 17 years software design and implementation experience across multiple industries and has developed and implemented IVR applications for companies such as: Trane Corporation, SBC, Merrill Lynch, PCS Healthcare System, Wells Fargo, and Williams Communications. Prior to joining GroupCast, Mr. Moore was the Director of Software Development for Intertech, Inc. In addition, Mr. Moore proudly served our Country with an 8-year career with the US Air Force as a computer programming specialist and carries a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics.

Kyle Palacios, Vice President, Customer Service

Kyle Palacios, 45, is responsible for post-sale customer service and support of all GroupCast clients. Mr. Palacios has over eighteen years of customer service management experience ranging from retail to service industries. Prior to joining GroupCast, Mr. Palacios managed the customer support center for the NNC Group, a 24 x 7 call center which supported the voice broadcast and IVR needs of clients such as: Morgan-Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Ameren UE, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lily, Warner-Lambert, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Of interest, Mr. Palacios also trained Whitehouse personnel for making political voice broadcasts during the 2000 general election. Kyle Palacios also serves as GroupCast's in-house male voice talent and assists with copy writing and call flow design.

Paul Meiners, Chief Financial Officer, CPA

Paul Meiners joined GroupCast in 2007 as CFO and LLC Member, after serving as GroupCast's CPA since the company founding in 2002. Mr. Meiners is responsible for accounting, human resources and long term planning for the company. Mr. Meiners is a licensed CPA in the State of Missouri and a member of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. Prior to joining GroupCast, Mr. Meiners was managing partner of the Brouder & Meiners CPA and prior to that founded Meiners Security, a firm specializing in residential and business property protection system and services.