All too often, innovative law enforcement technology products remind us of space tourism: It’s here. It’s out-of-this-world, and it’s cool as hell. But it doesn’t matter how magnificent a technology is if we can’t buy it.
Face it: We’re broke. So what are law enforcement tech vendors doing to help cash-strapped agencies buy the technologies that can change the way we work, make us more effective—and, above all, keep us safer?
The smart ones are creating new ways to sell their products. Increasingly, this means moving from the traditional perpetual license model (in which the customer buys the box or software, runs it and pays for maintenance and support) toward a services, or subscription model. In a services model, the vendor owns the product and provides it to the customer to use. Thus, the vendor deals with updates, new features and wear-and-tear.
There’s a lot to like: It lets the vendor run the product, which it’s good at, and the customer gets the product with no hassles and, more important, no capital expenditure.
“This lets the customer focus on the value the product gives,” says Ralph A. Clark, CEO of ShotSpotter Inc., “and not get bogged down in shenanigans about ‘how do I get it, own it, maintain it,’ etc.”
ShotSpotter is in the process of changing all its domestic sales from a traditional to a service model. In addition to lowering substantially the price of its Gunshot Location System, having the vendor own, configure and maintain all the hardware makes using the system much easier.
The model is well known in the consumer and business markets (you probably use it yourself each year when you buy anti-virus software or “cloud”-based backup for your computer), but in the law enforcement world, education is still needed.
“You need to take some time in the beginning to explain it,” says Laura Teodosio, CEO of Salient Stills Inc., which makes sophisticated and easy-to-use video forensics and analysis software. Teodosio has taken the service model one step further; she allows multiple agencies to contribute to one single concurrent license. Recently, five agencies—three in Massachusetts and two in Rhode Island—chipped in for a single VFPRO license, which they share for $500 per month. Only a handful of Salient Stills’ 308 customers have bought subscriptions, but Teodosio expects that, within three years, services will account for 30% of the firm’s total revenues.
It’s not just about price. Teodosio and Clark agree that the model lets them upgrade their product constantly, invisibly to the user.
“This lets us engage with partners in new ways,” says Clark. “It raises more natural partnership affinities with other vendors selling into the marketplace. It’s a key part of our strategy of engaging multiple vendors, in support of initiatives like Next Generation 9-1-1.”
ShotSpotter also finds that by removing technical issues, customers have the bandwidth to better exploit some of the product’s strategic benefits, like predictive intelligence and community engagement programs.
Some vendors use a hybrid model, with mixed success. Taser’s Axon video product is purchased traditionally, but to use, view or copy the video it produces anywhere other than on its “Tactical Computer,” agencies must upload and pay for a web-based video hosting service. This rankles us because it generates unfair vendor lock-in.
Faced with customers sitting on slashed agency budgets, more vendors of software and hardware for law enforcement will be looking to move to the services model in the coming years.
Don’t get us wrong. We’re not saying a service-model is magic: Emergency mass-alert vendor Nixle has a highly polished, simple interface, and has been subscription since its 2007 launch. The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department loves it. But Nixle enraged some local agencies by changing its price from “Free-to-cops forever!” to about $2,000–$5,000 annually for small agencies. Cops weren’t amused. To combat the disgruntlement issues, Nixle is being up-front about its misstep and is aggressively competing on price (a limited-function free version is available).
Creativity in sales models in one way vendors can help customers, but by no means is it the only way. Bottom line: Customers and vendors must speak more, and more honestly, about their needs. To that end, each month this column will seek ways to encourage open, honest dialogue between technology innovators and their law enforcement agency customers.
Disclosure: Selby and Henderson have consulted ShotSpotter on matters unrelated to the sales model. Neither the authors nor Law Officer receive compensation or consideration for coverage in this column.
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FAST FACTS: ShotSpotter |
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The Pitch: |
The ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System (GLS) alerts end-users to gunfire and explosive events in real-time. Within seconds, incidents are detected, located and displayed on the ShotSpotter Alert Console, an easy-to-use graphical user interface for dispatchers, commanders, and responders. |
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Nick & Dave Say |
ShotSpotter is a powerful product that has saved lives and led to arrests. Until recently it was sold on a perpetual license and was very expensive to buy and to own, which led to multiple issues. We feel the new model changes the game; by running ShotSpotter as a service, the company increases the efficacy (by taking over sensor and software configuration, alert analysis and post-alert reclassification where required) and lowers substantially the price, putting the product within the reach of many smaller agencies. We believe that the company's dedication to an always-on, set it and forget it service – what it calls "Gunshot dialtone" – is a game changer.* |
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Year Founded |
1995 |
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Employees |
50 |
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Cop employees |
3 |
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Customers |
52 US, 71 total deployments |
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Funding |
Venture |
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Products |
ShotSpotter GLS |
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License Model |
Services (US) Perpetual (Intl) |
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FAST FACTS: Salient Stills |
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The Pitch: |
Law enforcement requires a tighter, smarter, more intuitive method for getting information from video. VideoFOCUS answers that need. Driven by innovative technologies, powerful image processing methods and superb design, Salient Stills brings VideoFOCUS to the front of the field with ease. |
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Nick & Dave Say: |
Salient Stills is video analysis and processing software that works like the stuff cops get to use on TV shows. The product is simple to use and very powerful. The company is serious about finding ways to work with agencies – and to integrate with the products of other vendors. We like their approach. |
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Year Founded |
1999 |
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Employees |
8 |
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Cop employees |
0 |
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Customers |
308 |
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Funding |
Angel Funding (1999-2005) |
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Products |
vfPro |
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License Model |
Perpetual, or concurrent subscription at $500 monthly per seat. Multiple agencies may share a single concurrent license, so long as only one user at a time is using the product. Average perpetual license deal size is $35,000. |
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FAST FACTS: NIXLE |
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The Pitch: |
Nixle service products allow your agency to quickly reach civilians by landline, mobile phone, email and social media using Nixle's messaging network. |
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Nick & Dave Say |
Nixle's product is easy-to-use, intuitive and sharp-looking, and offers outstanding flexibility. The company is innovative, and leverages web-technologies in a way that brings costs down. It used to have cops on staff, but no more. Its "free police licensing" mis-step is a lesson to vendors: sure, do the Glock/Harley model of giving it or making it cheap for cops (to say in your marketing that cops use it), but be darn sure you can sustain the offering. Nixle is recovering, but former free-version customers' anger remains. That said, paying customers we've spoken with are highly supportive of the product and the company. |
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Year Founded |
2007 |
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Employees |
24 |
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Cop employees |
0 |
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Customers |
4,000 including free-version customers |
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Funding |
Friends and family (Angel) funding |
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Products |
Nixle Wire Premium Edition |
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License Model |
Service model; $1495 for the first year, then pricing based on agency size and message volume; average deal size is $10,000/annually |
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FAST FACTS: TASER AXON & EVIDENCE.COM |
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The Pitch: |
The AXON tactical computer brings the power of incident video to every law enforcement officer. |
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Nick & Dave Say |
Body-worn video will feature prominently in policing in the immediate future, and we have yet to test the AXON system – we hope to do so shortly, and will report on our findings. Producing, storing and managing the evidentiarily sound properties of video is not a trivial task, and is under-addressed in the marketplace; it is not enough to provide great cameras and viewing software, videos must be securely handled and managed. TASER's approach addresses these issues, but the manner in which they do seems very much like a vendor-lock-in. This raises important agency questions over lifetime lock-in, choice, pricing and video ownership. TASER currently enjoys total control of the market for its electronic control device consumables (batteries and replacement cartridges), and we're concerned that the AXON approach will repeat this model in body-worn video. TASER are proven fantastic marketers (the TruTV Show PolicePOV continues this tradition, providing a compelling product demo). We hope that customer education about all the issues in the officer video production lifecycle mitigates the "Cool" factor when purchasers consider AXON. |
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Year Founded |
1993 |
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Employees |
320 |
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Cop employees |
Yes |
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Customers |
Unavailable (TASER did not respond by press time) |
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Funding |
Publicly traded (NASDAQ:TASR) |
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Products |
TASER Axon officer-worn Video |
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License Model |
Perpetual; services; hybrid |
