Company Timeline

• 1975: Foundation of F.J. Tieman B.V. by Mr. Frans Tieman (and introduction of the first CCTV ever)

  Mr. Tieman used to be an optician who, one day, had a customer with such bad vision that wearing glasses was no longer sufficient. In his spare time, Mr. Tieman started working on a Television and magnifiers, in order to find an appropriate solution for his customers. This resulted in the first CCTV ever

• 1985: Introduction of the first refreshable Braille cell technology
• 1988: Introduction of the first Braille display (Portabraille) at the World Blind Union in Madrid, Spain
• 1989: Foundation of Tieman GmbH (Germany)
• 1997: Acquisition of Optelec US and Canada
• 2000: Foundation of Tieman N.V. (Belgium)
• 2000: Introduction of Braille Voyager
• 2002: Foundation of Tieman UK (United Kingdom)
• 2005: Acquisition of ALVA B.V.
• 2005: Acquisition of Telesensory in the United Kingdom
• 2005: Acquisition of Lighthouse Professional Products Division, USA
• 2005: Tieman globally changed its company name to Optelec
• 2005: Introduction of ClearView+ CCTV line From one button simplicity to endless possibilities
• 2005: Introduction of ClearNote
• 2005: Introduction of Traveller+
• 2006: Introduction of EasyLink12 Portable Wireless Braille Assistant
• 2007: Opening of new company headquarters in Barendrecht, the Netherlands
• 2007: Introduction of ALVA BC640 Setting the standard in Braille Communication
• 2007: Introduction of Compact+ Pocketsize Video Magnifier
• 2007: Compact+ - Independent Living Design Award (UK)
• 2008: Introduction of the FarView
• 2008: Introduction of the ClearNote Portable
• 2008: ALVA BC640 wins Special Design Award (The Netherlands)
• 2008: FarView wins Idol of the Year Award (Poland)
• 2009: Introduction of the Generation 2 ClearView+ Series