Mike Miller, RACOM: Next-gen 911 can be a golden opportunity
How many dealer peers offer solutions both on the radio side and the 911 side?
“Fewer than you might think, and I scratch my head as to why that is, because that’s a very strong part of our business right now. But I’ll bet you that, if 100 dealers are in land mobile radio, only 50 of those are in 911—although that’s my gut telling me that, rather than empirical evidence.
What kind of training is needed for a dealer to sell next-gen 911 solutions?
“It’s not a lot different than the training required to install Tier 3 DMR or trunked P25. If you look at those systems, they’re pretty similar, because it’s an IP router-and-server configuration. There’s a lot of dealing with phone companies and things like that, but if a dealership is going to make the investment in getting ready for the next generation of land-mobile-radio systems, it’s a similar investment to get ready for next-generation 911 phone.
“That’s been a big investment for us over the past several years. We’re about 100 employees here. My dad started the company—my dad’s name was Gregg Miller, and he passed away in 2006. When my dad was alive, our IT department was outsourced to a local private company here in Marshalltown, Iowa. Today, we’ve got like 10 people devoted to this, for both our internal networks and our customer networks.
“The amount of training—and the amount of pay—you have to give people with Cisco routing IP skills demands in the market compared to the traditional guy who puts connectors on the end of coax is a large investment.”
Is it easier to find employees with an IT/IP background compared to those that are prolific in RF?
“It is easier. Typically, with the RF guys, we’re finding them at two-year electronics tech program. With the IP guys, it’s generally a four-year program, but it’s probably a 50% premium comparing one to the other.
“So, you have to be prepared or have the revenue behind that to be able to make that work. I think that’s why you see that some dealers are excelling, because they can make those investments, versus those that aren’t [excelling] and can’t make those investments.”