Micrognosis Launches Low-End Video Switch; New MTS 9000 Can Be Leased Or Purchased

Now that construction of large trading rooms has nearly come to a halt in the U.S., systems integrators are adapting their products for small and medium-sized banks and brokerages.

Until recently, suppliers of trading room systems had been too busy selling video switches and developing hybrid and digital switches to worry about serving the low end of the market.

But earlier this year, Rich Inc. launched the Programmable Integrated Switching Module, a video switch that can be leased as well as purchased. According to parent company Reuters Holdings PLC, demand for PRISM has been strong. Since its introduction in April, 146 firms have selected PRISM and more than 2,000 keystations have been ordered.

Rich archrival Micrognosis Inc. unveiled its answer to PRISM Oct. 29 at the National Security Traders Association's annual convention in Boca Raton, Fla. Micrognosis, a subsidiary of Control Data Corp., is offering the MTS 9000 for trading rooms of 30 positions or less.

In the U.S., the system can be purchased for less than $10,000 per position or rented for as low as $2400 a year per position. Customers who purchase the MTS 9000 will receive credit toward an upgrade to the Micrognosis TRADE system.

Rich does not disclose the price for PRISM, but the system leases for an average of $400 a month per position in the U.S., says Reuters spokesman Robert Crooke.

Deborah Ober, the product manager for MTS 9000, says that market research showed there are 10,000 small and medium-sized trading rooms worldwide that currently do not have video switches.

The first customer for the MTS 9000 is A. Webster Dougherty & Co. Inc., a Philadelphia investment banking firm and broker/dealer. The Webster Dougherty order calls for 16 positions with three to six monitors each and eight market data feeds.

Constantin G. Alio, president of Webster Dougherty, says the firm liked the Micrognosis TRADE system, but that it was too expensive. "The MTS 9000 has enabled us to reap the benefits of this technology at a reasonable cost, providing us with the same competitive advantage as our larger trading customers," he says.

The MTS 9000 is based on the new Micrognosis Advanced Video Switch, but will be available in a digital format next year, the company says. The MTS 9000 allows traders to view information on a combination of color and monochrome monitors using a single keyboard.

Each Micrognosis Advanced Video Switch serves up to 15 trader positions so the MTS 9000 configuration designed for 30 positions would use two switches. Micrognosis says the MTS 9000 can receive information from 16 market data services.