Our Story
Mission Communications began with a vision: bring the power of SCADA to every water utility, regardless of size or budget. Today, Mission is the largest and most trusted cloud SCADA operator in the industry, serving more than 6,100 utilities with over 40,000 remote terminal units deployed across the United States and Canada.
- Late 1990s
The Problem That Started It All
In the late 1990s, water and wastewater utilities faced a frustrating reality. The only way to harness the benefits of SCADA was to build a system from scratch. That meant navigating a complex specification and bid process, hiring engineers to design the system, constructing private radio networks, installing and configuring servers, licensing software, and then managing it all with dedicated IT staff.
The result was a technology that only large, well-funded utilities could afford. Small and mid-size systems — the thousands of rural water districts, small towns, and community utilities that serve the majority of America’s water infrastructure — were left without the real-time visibility that modern operations demand.
What SCADA used to require- ✕A complex specification and bid process
- ✕Engineers hired to design the system
- ✕Private radio networks to construct
- ✕Servers to install and configure
- ✕Software to license
- ✕Dedicated IT staff to manage it all
Affordable only for large, well-funded utilities.
- 1999
A Cellular-First Solution
Mission Communications was founded in 1999 with a fundamentally different approach. Instead of private radio networks that required tower leases, FCC licenses, and expensive maintenance, Mission built its monitoring platform on the commercial cellular network. This was a bold bet at the time — cellular data technology was still emerging — but it meant that any utility, anywhere with cellular coverage, could deploy a monitoring system without building any network infrastructure.
Mission was the first company in North America to use the digital control channel of the cellular network for monitoring, control, data storage, and automated alarm notification. By leveraging the existing cellular infrastructure that carriers were already investing billions to build and maintain, Mission eliminated the single largest cost and complexity barrier to SCADA adoption.
- The model
The Managed Service Model
Mission’s innovation went beyond just the communication layer. The company pioneered the concept of SCADA as a managed service — what would later become widely known as Software as a Service (SaaS). Instead of selling hardware and software as separate products that the customer had to integrate, host, and maintain, Mission delivered everything as a single turnkey package.
One annual service fee covers cellular airtime, cloud-hosted SCADA software, alarm notifications, reports, and technical support. No hidden fees. No software licenses. No servers to maintain. No IT staff required. This model made real-time monitoring accessible to utilities of every size, from a five-pump rural water system to a metropolitan utility with hundreds of monitoring points.
The Business Performance Guarantee
Since day one, Mission has operated under a Business Performance Guarantee that is unique in the industry.
Price Stability Guarantee
The annual service fee will never increase more than the rate of inflation — tied to the Consumer Price Index — for as long as the customer uses the system. No other SCADA provider makes this commitment.
Technology Guarantee
If a customer’s radio technology becomes unavailable, Mission will provide a replacement module at no additional charge.
Obsolescence Guarantee
Customers can trade in older equipment and upgrade to the latest hardware at a fair, published trade-in value.
Together, these guarantees have helped Mission maintain a customer attrition rate of less than 1% per year.
Joining the TASI Family
In April 2021, Mission Communications was acquired by the TASI Group of Companies, a global portfolio of businesses focused on test, measurement, and automation solutions. Mission was organized into TASI’s Flow segment, joining other industry-leading companies focused on flow measurement and water infrastructure technology.
The TASI partnership has expanded Mission’s resources for product development, manufacturing, and customer support while preserving the company’s culture, customer commitments, and the Business Performance Guarantee that has defined the brand since 1999. Mission continues to operate from its headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, with its U.S.-based engineering, manufacturing, and technical support teams.
- Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia
- U.S.-based engineering, manufacturing, and technical support
- The Business Performance Guarantee, unchanged since 1999
Where We Are Today
Today, Mission Communications serves more than 6,100 utilities with over 40,000 RTUs deployed across the United States and Canada. The company is the #1 provider of cellular services in the country. The carrier-grade data center near Atlanta delivers real-time monitoring, alarming, and control to utility operators through the secure 123SCADA web portal and mobile app.
The mission remains the same as it was in 1999: make it simple and affordable for every water utility to protect their infrastructure, their communities, and their compliance — without becoming a technology company.
See Why Utilities Choose Mission
Over 25 years of innovation, one unwavering commitment — to make managed SCADA simple, affordable, and reliable for every water utility. See what sets Mission apart.