Optus was founded in October 1991 by Mark D. Duckworth. Originally incorporated in Piggott, Ark., as Matrix Telecommunications, the business moved to Jonesboro, Ark., in 1996 to take advantage of better distribution capabilities and to draw from a larger, more technical employee pool. Renamed Optus in January 1999, the company eventually expanded to two divisions: Optus Telemation, a full-service Interconnect company offering products and services ranging from single systems to large, multi-site networks; and Optus Telequip (formerly Matrix), an authorized dealer for NEC, Nortel, Avaya and more. Telequip quickly became one of the largest independent NEC dealers in the country, serving northeast Arkansas, southeast Missouri, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.Still headquartered in Jonesboro, Optus employs a total of 135 sales, service and administrative professionals in four states.