What Cornell Communications does

Cornell Communications is a privately held US manufacturer of emergency call and nurse call communication systems, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and founded in 1970 (originally as Monash & Company). The company designs, manufactures, sells, and installs wired, wireless, and mobile nurse call platforms (Inform I A Mobile, IndePendant, Visual Nurse Call 4000 Series) plus VoIP-based area of refuge systems (Sentinel AOR, Sentinel 4200 Series), supported by add-on modules including door and window monitoring, light status systems, Versa Page medical pagers, and ADA-compliant signage. With more than 23,000 system installations across the United States and a multi-decade operating history, Cornell primarily serves assisted living communities, memory care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, hospices, rural hospitals and clinics, and multi-story commercial buildings subject to IBC, NFPA, ADA, and ANSI/UL 1069 code requirements.

The business operates a hybrid revenue model: one-time hardware sales and professional installation of nurse call and area of refuge systems, combined with recurring 24/7/365 monitoring and management services and an e-commerce parts storefront that offers a 15% online purchase discount. Go-to-market is sales-led via direct enterprise engagement (phone-based quoting, online configuration tools, custom system design), supplemented by participation in industry conferences such as LeadingAge and LINK, SEO-driven state-specific regulatory content, and a self-service parts channel. Customers buy through multi-year contracts with quote-based pricing tied to facility size, system configuration, and integration requirements, with a 3-year warranty extendable to 10 years.

Cornell's core technology differentiators are its award-winning Inform I A Mobile platform (combining communication, RTLS tracking, and operational reporting) and the Sentinel AOR VoIP-based area of refuge system with remote monitoring and BMS/cloud interoperability, both backed by deep code-compliance expertise across all 50 states. The company competes as a focused niche specialist rather than a diversified safety vendor, emphasizing regulatory certification, 40+ years of domain experience, and an installed base that creates switching costs through operational data integration and hardware interchangeability across its product family.

Name

Cornell Communications

Legal name

Cornell Communications

Website

https://cornell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cornell Communications designs, manufactures, and installs nurse call and area of refuge communication systems for assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, hospice, and multi-story commercial facilities across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Communication Systems

NAICS

Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (62331), Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing (33421), Ambulatory Health Care Services (621)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841), Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845)

akta.pro primary industry

Independent Living Community Technology & Safety Solutions (Nurse Call/Monitoring/Access Control) (HLADAAAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Omnichannel Patient Communications & Contact Center (Voice/SMS/Email/Chat) (HLACAEAC), Emergency Dispatch, Call Center Monitoring & Response Services (HSAHAHAG)

Keywords

• Nurse call systems
• Emergency call systems
• Area of refuge
• Senior living communications
• Healthcare safety systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Nurse Call System Sales and Installation: Cornell designs, manufactures, and installs complete nurse call communication systems for healthcare and senior care facilities, including mobile, wireless, and wired configurations. Revenue generated from system sales, custom design, and professional installation services.
2. Parts and Components Sales: Online storefront selling replacement parts, call stations, corridor lights, pagers, wiring products, and signage for existing Cornell systems and compatible legacy systems.
3. Service and Monitoring: 24/7/365 monitoring and management services for installed systems, including remote maintenance and updates to reduce operating costs for customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cornell Communications designs, manufactures, and installs emergency call and nurse call communication systems for healthcare and senior care facilities. Core products include mobile (Inform I A Mobile), wireless (IndePendant), and wired/visual (4000 Series) nurse call platforms, plus Sentinel AOR area of refuge systems for multi-story buildings. The company also sells replacement parts and components through an e-commerce storefront and provides 24/7 monitoring and maintenance services.

Product overview

Cornell Communications is a manufacturer of emergency call and nurse call systems for senior and assisted living facilities, outpatient medical clinics, and healthcare settings. The product portfolio operates as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture, with three primary nurse call systems: Inform I A Mobile (mobile/wireless), IndePendant (wireless pendant/pager), and Visual Nurse Call 4000 Series (wired/visual). These core systems are supported by Sentinel AOR and Sentinel 4200 Area of Refuge systems for multi-story building safety, plus add-on modules including door monitoring, light status systems, Versa Page pagers, and replacement parts. The company also offers legacy product lines (7000 Audio, AURA 2.0) and replacement systems for discontinued Dukane and GreatCall brands. All products are backed by a 3-year warranty extendable to 10 years and are designed to meet NFPA 99, ANSI/UL 1069, and ADA compliance requirements for healthcare facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Inform I A Mobile Nurse Call System Award-winning mobile nurse call system that combines resident and staff communication into one platform, providing real-time location tracking (RTLS), voice/text/chat and video communication, response time tracking, and data collection for workflow management and care decisions. Designed for healthcare and senior care facilities.
• IndePendant Wireless Nurse Call System

Quantifiable outcome

• Response times improve by up to 75% with InformTM I A Mobile
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCornell is a partner with NEMA, demonstrating commitment to designing and delivering safe, secure, and effective emergency communication systems for nursing homes and assisted living centers that meet local regulations.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TekTone Sound & Signal: TekTone designs and manufactures nurse call, wandering patient, and emergency call systems used in long-term care and healthcare facilities, competing head-on with Cornell's 4000 visual and audio nurse call systems.
• Ascom: Ascom provides mobile clinical communications and nurse call solutions for hospitals and long-term care, directly overlapping with Cornell's mobile nurse call and area-of-refuge product positioning.
• Jeron Electronic Systems: Jeron manufactures nurse call, emergency call, and area-of-refuge communication systems for healthcare facilities, directly overlapping Cornell's core wired/wireless nurse call and AOR product lines.
• Rauland-Borg (a division of AMETEK): Rauland-Borg is the long-standing market leader in nurse call systems for hospitals and senior living, directly competing with Cornell's Inform I A Mobile, IndePendant, and 4000 Series lines across SNFs and assisted living facilities.
• Stanley Healthcare (Securitas Healthcare): Stanley/Securitas Healthcare offers RTLS, wander management, and integrated nurse call solutions for senior living and acute care, directly competing with Cornell's Inform I A Mobile RTLS-enabled mobile nurse call offering.
• West-Com / West-Com Nurse Call Systems: West-Com manufactures nurse call systems tailored to long-term care and assisted-living facilities, directly competing with Cornell's wired, wireless, and mobile nurse call product suite for the same buyer profile.

Broad incumbents

• Tunstall Healthcare: Tunstall is an established global provider of telecare, telehealth, and emergency response solutions across senior care, offering broader but lower-specialty competing options versus Cornell's US-centric facility-based systems.
• Hillrom (now part of Baxter): Hillrom (acquired by Baxter) sells the well-known Hill-Rom nurse call/wandering and integrated clinical communication platforms used across acute and post-acute care, competing with Cornell in the same senior-care buyer evaluations.

Emerging players

• Sonitor Technologies: Sonitor specializes in indoor positioning/RTLS used for staff and asset tracking in healthcare, overlapping with Cornell's RTLS features built into Inform I A Mobile.
• Critical Alert Systems (a Critical Alert and SphereONE company): Critical Alert Systems provides nurse call and patient engagement platforms focused on mobile and cloud deployment for acute and post-acute care, increasingly competing with Cornell's Inform I A Mobile in mid-market facilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cornell Communications