OUR HISTORY
A STORY BUILT ON HEART, HARD WORK AND A SHARED DREAM
TRIPhase Technologies didn’t begin in a boardroom. It began with a young college student, a stack of textbooks and a simple realization inside a small retail audio‑visual store in the mid‑1990s.
While studying in Ball State University’s nationally recognized Entrepreneurship Program, Robert Haecker spent his nights and weekends helping customers bring home the right technology. He loved the technology, but what he noticed most was the people. They were excited to bring new systems home, yet anxious about setting them up. Cables, connections, configurations—it felt overwhelming. So, Robert did what entrepreneurs do. He stepped in to help.
He began offering personal delivery and installation services, showing up at customers’ homes to make sure everything worked exactly the way it should. Those early moments—kneeling behind entertainment centers, solving problems, seeing the relief on customers’ faces—sparked something bigger. They revealed a need, an opportunity and ultimately, a calling.
That spark became the foundation of his senior business plan: a company built on service, trust and the belief that technology should feel effortless.
A PARTNERSHIP FORGED IN PURPOSE
Entrepreneurship wasn’t new to Robert or to Shanna Smith, the woman who would soon become his partner in every sense of the word. Both came from long lines of business owners—great-grandparents, grandparents and parents who built their own companies. That legacy shaped them early. By age 14, both Robert and Shanna had started small businesses, discovering a love for building something from nothing.
When Robert shared his idea, Shanna didn’t just support it, she stepped into it with him. In 1997, they co-founded TRIPhase Technologies. Robert ran the business full-time while Shanna, still finishing her degree at Ball State, helped build the foundation. It wasn’t glamorous or easy. But it was theirs.
Two years later, they married, solidifying a partnership already proven through long nights, long drives, early mornings and a shared belief in what TRIPhase could become.
GROWING SOMETHING
THAT LASTS
Together, Robert and Shanna built TRIPhase the same way they approached everything—by hiring the right people, creating a culture rooted in integrity and always putting clients first. They believed if you do what’s right, treat people well and surround yourself with talented, passionate individuals, success will follow.
Nearly 30 years later, that philosophy still guides every decision. What began as a simple idea to help customers connect their equipment has grown into one of the largest, most respected home integration companies in the world. But at its core, TRIPhase remains what it has always been: a company built on heart, hard work and the belief that technology should make life better, not more complicated.