The History of Pinnacle...
The formation of Pinnacle started in the 1980’s, when Dave Dorough and Rich Simmons worked together at ITT as technical managers in the hospitality communications division. As ITT shed many of it’s businesses in the 80’s, the hospitality communications division was ultimately sold to Worldcom. As Worldcom imploded in the late 80’s, many of its divisions were sold off and it eliminated the business segments that were hospitality specific. In December 1990, Dave and Rich started Pinnacle Communications to meet the specific demands of the hospitality industry. Payphones and call accounting systems were the first hardware lines to be installed in hotels. Shortly thereafter, PBX maintenance was offered on Mitel, Hitachi, Siemens, NEC and AT&T phone systems.
In the early 1990’s, hotel owners and managers had to negotiate with up to 10 different providers to provide telephone services to their guest rooms. Pinnacle quickly adapted to these needs and began to provide Operator Services, telephone faceplates, and a host of offerings that lessened the burden of the number of telecom companies hotels had to deal with. One of Pinnacle’s first customers, Bill Mitchell, believed so strongly in Pinnacle’s vision that he left his position as the General Manager of one of Washington, D.C.’s finest hotels and became our first V.P. of Sales and Marketing. As Pinnacle grew outside of the mid-Atlantic market, our company continued to evolve and provide all forms of technology solutions for hotels. In addition, we became one of the premiere dealers of many hotel specific brands. In addition, we became the #2 Hitachi dealer to hospitality in the U.S. as well as the #1 Mitel dealer for most of the past 15 years.
In 2016, Pinnacle Communications merged with Justin Hannesson and Pinnacle West LLC to become the company that we are today. This dynamic strength exhibited within both companies merging into one has positioned Pinnacle as one of the most valued brands in the hospitality industry. Through all of 30-plus years, we continue to grow and our reputation for quality service and a robust product line keeps us in the forefront of the niche hospitality market. Pinnacle’s employees have always been the core and heartbeat of the company since the day we started. Along with an unmatched work-ethic, talent and ingenuity, Pinnacle’s all-star staff has survived the many economic and turbulent challenges of the past 30 years. Through it all our proven leadership team and staff have shown great determination and passion for our company, and we look forward to a bright future.