https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

content


Vendor locking

Vendor locking

I worked 11 years for a dealer who stressed that if his manufacturer's unique trunking protocol were sold, it would essentially lock out other vendors
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st August 2002

I worked 11 years for a dealer who stressed that if his manufacturer’s unique trunking protocol were sold, it would essentially lock out other vendors from future purchases. What a great marketing idea, right?

Sell a unique protocol upfront (but don’t tell the customer) and throw future equipment purchase discounts out the window. At first I agreed because like most young hungry salespeople, I could equate that into more money in my bank account.

But wait a minute, whose best interest was I thinking of, myself or the customer? Was that my conscience talking to me? Since when did my conscience interfere with my sales philosophy? Well, since about three years ago when my own city installed a state-of-the-art unique digital trunking system.

Here in the Midwest, public safety departments are slowly upgrading old VHF repeaters to modern trunked radio systems to maximize frequency spectrum and system flexibility. Unique protocol systems have been popping up in city and countywide applications over the past few years.

Some of these customers are just now figuring out that they are locked into their current and only vendor as they seek out competitive bids. Some public officials are starting to ask, “Why did we purchase a unique radio system anyway?”

I guess if you are the dealer who sold one of these unique protocol systems, then you would say vendor locking is good, but if you are a tax-paying citizen or a smart business owner you might strongly disagree.

Turnabout

In my case, the manufacturer sold the digital trunking system direct and contracted the (other) local manufacturer dealer in our city to maintain the system. The ironic thing is that the philosophy being taught within my own company was being used by our own equipment manufacturer — against us. This unique system equipment could only be sold directly by the manufacturer, in essence cutting their own dealers’ throats.

Not only was this one of the most expensive infrastructure bids, it also cost my city $2,300 per every hand-held and more than $3,000 per every mobile unit sold.

I’m sorry, but no $2,300 or $3,000 unit is going to save my life any better than any top-of-the-line radio from any other manufacturer on a common protocol selling for one-third to half the price. Any properly designed system with quality radios and encryption can perform to the same level and equally provide security to this unique protocol system. What a waste of tax dollars.

What’s even worse is that entire counties are going with unique ESMR 800 MHz where equipment costs are between $2,000 and $3,500, and then they are being charged a monthly fee of upwards of $30 per radio for monthly service. It appears the big selling point of this particular system is that they can communicate with other radios outside of their county on a statewide system.

From talking with people within these communities, my guess would be that less than 5 to 10 percent would actually use this feature on a consistent basis. Most of these people already had cell phones that could be used instead.

Now, does it make sense as a public department to invest in a system that charges for monthly services that 90 to 95 percent will not use?

Both examples still have entities within the city and counties that need to maintain the old VHF equipment and system to communicate with surrounding counties in addition to the 800 MHz radios. In the county ESMR 800 MHz example, smaller volunteer fire departments have a difficult time purchasing actual firefighting apparatus, let alone multiple $3,000 radios.

Business decision

How does it make any sense to commit to one vendor as a government entity when you have no possible back-up and equipment costs are monopolized as long as that system is in place? Would that be a good decision for any business?

Vendor locking is bad. I see absolutely no realistic (worth spending the taxpayer’s money) advantages. I am happy to say I work for a company who believes in taking care of the customer’s best interest, not ours. I have been on both sides of the (dealer’s) fence and prefer the view from this side. What side of the fence are you on?


Kovarik is sales manager at Graybill Electronics, Hiawatha, Iowa.

Tags: content Funding State & Local Government

Most Recent


  • Crown Castle's fiber and small cell business under fire – again
    Elliott Investment Management, an activist investor firm, is taking aim at Crown Castle again, arguing the company needs to overhaul its management and potentially put its fiber business up for sale. Importantly, Elliott said it now owns roughly $2 billion in Crown Castle stock. That’s double what the company owned in 2020 when it embarked on […]
  • GSMA calls for EU 'fair share' and mergers support amid traffic growth
    The GSMA has backed ‘fair share’ demands for Big Tech to contribute to network costs and called for more European Union leniency on telco mergers in the latest version of its annual European Mobile Economy Report, which forecasts continued growth in data traffic with 5G adoption. The report from the non-profit group forecasts that mobile data […]
  • Scattered Spider hops nimbly from cloud to on-prem in complex attack
    The group behind the high-profile MGM cyberattack in September has resurfaced in yet another sophisticated ransomware attack, in which the actor pivoted from a third-party service environment to the target organization’s on-premise network in only an hour. The attack by Scattered Spider, an ALPHV/Black Cat ransomware affiliate, sealed the group’s position as a formidable adversary for large enterprises […]
  • AI-powered robot dogs tested to find explosive devices
    The U.K. government recently hosted a hackathon to test the use of AI-enabled robot dogs for bomb disposal tasks, reporting promising results. Organized by the Defence AI Center (DAIC), the hackathon saw 40 programmers leveraging AI and robotics to complete several hazardous tasks that would otherwise be undertaken by Army bomb disposal experts. Throughout the […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Microsoft patches 6 zero-day vulnerabilities under active attack
  • The battle over connected cars drags on
  • U.S. must redefine critical infrastructure for the digital era
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware-attack recovery

Commentary


Land mobile radio (LMR) systems are just as vulnerable to cyberattacks as any other networks used in the public-safety sector. Here’s what to do about it.

  • 1
7th November 2023

September 3GPP Plenary meetings feature Release 18 progress, Release 19 beginnings

13th October 2023

Better technology can help solve the public-safety staffing crisis

26th June 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.