DENVER – Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS) has announced the acquisition of Gryphex, Inc., a leading developer of GPS offender monitoring technology. The acquisition, which was completed in November, is part of the company’s larger strategic expansion of their product offerings in order to better meet the needs of a rapidly growing community corrections market segment.
The Gryphex system is a new, pioneering technology in an industry that has seen few major technological advancements in the last 10 years. Known as Flexible GPS Monitoring, a single Gryphex bracelet can easily switch from GPS to cellular House Arrest monitoring and back, based on the location and the level of monitoring intensity required for each offender.
The Gryphex system is the fourth product introduction for AMS in the last 15 months. In 2013, as part of their expansion, AMS introduced SCRAM Remote Breath™, a portable, handheld device offenders carry with them for random or scheduled breath tests; SCRAM House Arrest™, which utilizes basic RF location monitoring to keep individuals at home during required periods; and SCRAM One-Piece GPS™, a leading GPS offender monitoring system manufactured by Omnilink. These products join the flagship SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring™ system, which was launched in 2003 in order to automatically monitor repeat, high-risk alcohol offenders 24/7. The products are all marketed as part of the SCRAM Systems™ suite of products, which all integrate into a single software platform known as SCRAMNET™.
According to AMS Chairman and CEO Mike Iiams, the Gryphex product acquisition means agencies can acquire all of their offender monitoring technologies from a single company, simplifying purchasing processes. It also means agencies can access monitoring data, training and support services via one provider, one software system and one log-on. “We believe the Gryphex technology, which already exceeds industry standards for reliability, is a unique and highly scalable approach toward a new product category,” says Iiams. “Our mission has always been to provide leading-edge technologies that cost-effectively help courts and agencies manage offenders in the community, and this new technology is consistent with that mission,” he adds.
AMS will leverage their employee and operational infrastructure in order to scale the Gryphex system. “Because of our expansion in the last 12 to 18 months, we are in a unique position to be able to manufacture, distribute, support and quickly scale this system in the marketplace,” says Iiams. There are currently an estimated 500 active Gryphex units across the U.S. AMS plans to make the Gryphex technology available via their network early in 2014.
AMS launched their first product, the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor®, in 2003. The ankle bracelet tests the sweat of the individual wearing the monitor every 30 minutes in order to measure for alcohol consumption. The company has become known globally for this technology, which was the first to automate alcohol testing and conduct it frequently enough to ensure sobriety for the highest-risk alcohol offenders. With the introduction of new products in 2012, that system was renamed SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring, and to date the system has monitored more than 325,000 offenders in 49 states, Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.
Gryphex was initially launched as Ascend Systems in 2008, when a team of leading executives and engineers from the offender monitoring industry came together in order to develop and deliver the first Flexible GPS Monitoring System. The company was renamed Gryphex in 2011. The AMS acquisition includes the Gryphex staff and offices in Alpharetta, Georgia.
About Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS)
Established in 1997, Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. (AMS) is the world’s leading provider of alcohol testing technologies for the criminal justice industry. The company’s flagship Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) technology, launched in 2003, revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013 the company launched the SCRAM Systems™ suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath™, SCRAM One-Piece GPS™ and SCRAM House Arrest™. AMS employs 140 people worldwide and is a privately held company headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.