When Todd Ross watches the Michigan State University (MSU) Spartans play football on television, he has a vested interest in the game.
The Big Ten Network (BTN), carrying the Midwest college games, is using software his East Lansing-based company, Digital Active, designed for it.
So, if a Spartan fan has a problem, he or she can go to the BTN website, click on the request box, and find a category closest to his or her need. The requests for service will be batched by category, thus allowing employees to process many at once.
If an issue comes up in the Capital region, and 50 people log in regarding it, the BTN can reply to all of them at once, Ross explains.
But football is not BTN’s only programming. It carries 350 live sports events in a year, nearly all of them in high definition, ranging from men’s gymnastics to women’s basketball. Digital Active's software will help them all.
The BTN’s sophisticated website is partially owned by Fox, representing a prestigious relationship for Digital Active.
But the eight-year-old company has an awesome client list already, including the Department of Defense, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Cornell University and locals MSU and Adams Outdoor Advertising. Its offices are in the East Lansing Technology and Innovation Center (TIC), overlooking the Spartan football stadium.
Football is no small thing for Ross, an East Lansing native and MSU graduate. His father went 52 years without missing a game, regardless of the weather, to some acclaim.
Source: Todd Ross, Digital Active
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
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