EWA taps public safety expert for newly created position
Recently, EWA’s public safety expertise was reinforced with the hire of Kyle Kaiser, who brings years of public safety radio communications experience to his new role as sales director. Kaiser began his career by working for a public safety answering point (PSAP) in Tulsa, Okla., with responsibility for radio communications, before moving on to a rural sheriff’s department in the state.
When his career path led him to a management position with a two-way radio dealership, he brought valuable insights from his career as a public safety radio user, particularly in both large and small jurisdictions.
“My varied experience with public safety communications meant that, as a two-way radio dealer, I really understood the needs of our customers,” he said. “One thing I learned was that reliable radio communications are just as critical for a smaller community as they are for a big city.”
Kaiser pointed out that approximately 12 percent of EWA’s frequency coordination processing volume is in public safety agency applications, working through an agreement with Public Safety Communications Associates (PSCA). “When EWA coordinates a public safety frequency, we operate with the same velocity and discipline we are known for in coordinating frequencies for our business and industrial customers,” he said.
According to Kaiser, speed is of the essence when processing public safety applications, a perspective based on first-hand knowledge of government purchasing cycles—knowledge gained as a user soliciting bids for radio communications equipment and as a two-way radio dealer responding to such bids.
“Public safety users need frequencies sooner rather than later,” he said. “Radio purchases are not only tied to having the right frequencies, they also are tied to grant funding, bond votes and other funding initiatives. If a public safety user has to wait months for a frequency, the questions become: Will that funding source still be there later for that radio purchase? Will funds from the bond initiative expire?”
Kaiser added that EWA is committed to securing frequencies for its public safety customers as soon as possible, so that they can buy the equipment they need for their mission-critical communications.
“EWA works at the speed of business, where time and resources are at a premium,” he said. “We can file applications for public safety frequencies at the same competitive pace we set for our business users, who have little tolerance for waiting.”
Mark E. Crosby, EWA’s president and CEO said that the organization is enthusiastic about adding Kaiser to the team.
“Our exemplary record speaks for itself in our service to both our public safety and business-and-industrial customers. We also represent most of the two-way radio dealers in America,” Crosby said. “We see tremendous potential to be the one-stop organization for every type of business those dealers work with—providing the service they’ve come to know and trust—and Kyle is going to help us reach that potential.”