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Cermetek, Inc. the predecessor of Cermetek Microelectronics, Inc., was founded in 1968 and chartered to manufacture custom thick film hybrid integrated circuits. Over the ensuing years the charter evolved to include a combination of custom and standard products using the company's resident thick film technology. These standard products included a combination of interface chips and communication elements, including functional parts of the modem data pump. In 1980 the company made a commitment to consolidate its standard product effort around components for integrated modem design and has been pursuing this product direction ever since.

The company believes it was the first to develop all the components for producing a self-contained modem, thus pioneering the integral modem concept. The integral modem concept allows designers to integrate a modem at the component level into an OEM product. This allows data communication to become more pervasive, utilizing the public switched telephone network.

The integral modem has become a more common and widely used subsystem in all types of technology-based products. In addition to traditional computer and terminal based data communications, the built-in modem is being used for service and diagnostics. Using a modem for service and diagnostics allows the OEM to provide an unprecedented level of service performance and customer support. Significant cost and size reduction in modem technology has made this possible, allowing the modem to be integrated into everything from copiers to vending machines, including instrument and industrial controllers among others. The cost of a residential modem is less than a traditional service call.

As an OEM subsystem, the integral modem is analogous and relates well to the integral power supply found in all types of electronic equipment. As with a power supply, a resident modem is a self-contained subsystem utility. It requires specialized testing and studied design knowledge to produce a quality design. Also, like a power supply, low cost, small size and specialized agency approval are essential. In the case of a built-in modem, FCC Part 68 and UL are required. The company believes its packaging technology and unique designs offer the OEM many advantages, among which are quick-to-market and risk-free product design.

Transformers have traditionally been used to isolate the telephone world from the computer world. The company has developed a Solid State Isolation technology that allows it to make its products smaller, lower in profile, higher in performance and lighter in weight than conventional magnetic transformer technologies. This technology is employed in all its recent modem related products that are either Telephone Line Interfaces, also known as Data Access Arrangements (DAAs), or the company’s Standard Modem Modules or Custom Modem Assemblies. The Solid State Isolation technology provides better linearity, greater bandwidth and lower distortion than conventional magnetic isolation technologies, thus making it ideal for high performance data communication applications. Patents have been granted to protect this unique technology. The company continues development in this area.

Modems are finding their way into more and more machine based Internet applications. The company believes that machine to machine Internet applications in the future will be as ubiquitous as human access to the Internet is today. To that end the company has developed a line of Internet appliance modems that are easy to embed in a host OEM product. They allow those products to send and receive emails and access the World Wide Web and offer the host the ability to use the Internet for communications and networking. They are self-contained and operate transparently to the host and are controlled with traditional "AT" like commands by the host's controller. The company has developed these products in two forms, the traditional modem module component form and the free standing box modem. All are designed to industrial grade standards. Available with these products is development software in the form of Cermetek's iNetWizard. This greatly facilitate the development process and speeds up the design time for the inclusion of large numbers of modems with Internet access. An ISP is required for Internet access; Cermetek has developed a unique ISP that has amenities and features specifically for machines. They include text to voice messaging, text to fax, polling capabilities for large number of field base machines, broadcast modes of operation, multiple routing of messages among other features. The Cermetek Press4Service ISP also offers the OEM very low cost monthly access as compared to other third party ISPs.