Digital two-way radio has been embraced by the UK PMR market, but is it living up to its full potential? That’s the question asked by Matt Wright, the CEO of GlobalView Systems, a UK-based software development company specialising in solutions that enhance two-way radio systems. Part of the issue is that today’s channel partners are fantastically well-equipped to install digital systems and support the growing base of DMR users, but are understandably less at home when it comes to coding software and IP.
This is compounded by the fact that some of the alarm integration systems for two-way radio on the market can be difficult to use and, in some cases, customer services support can be an issue with some providers struggling to provide the necessary capacity.
Making it easy
To solve this problem, GlobalView Systems has developed a number of solutions, including the R-LinX, an alarm handler designed to make alarm/PMR integration as easy to carry out as possible. Wright explains the thinking behind it. “We wanted to take the pressure away – it’s a hard enough job being on site, our system shouldn’t complicate it further, it should be almost pleasurable to set up. We saw the challenge as being how we could get the channel partner from a standing start to be able to connect an alarm handler up in the fastest time possible with minimal training, and then give them the confidence to recommend and sell it.”
“And that’s what we’ve done,” says Mat Johnson, GlobalView Systems’ head of research and development. “We’ve created a simple graphical user interface and we’ve designed the R-LinX so that an installer can go from nothing to something in less than an hour. I’ve done it myself in five minutes.”
He adds that the device can be accessed and configured through a web browser and for those looking to do so on their smartphone, there’s a QR code on the box that will link straight through to the user interface. Once there, it’s a case of navigating using a simple menu structure to set radio parameters, with test features along the way, so that
an installer can go through their sign-off procedure while setting the system up.
To help the installer determine what will happen when an alarm is raised, the R-LinX offers a very simple three-stage escalation path that is configured in a simple switched-based menu, allowing complex processes to be set up with ease.
At each stage, it’s possible to specify the alarm message, who should receive and via which medium (two-way radio, SMS, email or TCP, etc., or any combination of them all). It is also possible to set a lone-working function, which will raise the alarm if workers fail to respond to checks pushed out to their radios at regular intervals.
“Throughout the process, you’re testing to see if that connection is working, so you connect to some contact closures or some switches, there’s a page that allows you to press the switch in the physical world and you’ll see it come up on the user interface, so you know for certain that it is working,” say Wright.
“The same is true with the serial input – we show you what’s coming in from a serial port, how to section the message very quickly and easily, and then it shows the message that is going to go out to the radio. You can look at it on a handset and you can say ‘that’s not quite right – okay I’ve now got the message I want, because I don’t want everything to go through.
“The end-user just wants it to work, but for the channel partner to get the system to that point with other products it can often be a complex long winded process. The R-LinX is a super simple way to get it done, with minimal fuss.”
Only a call away
“We have a team of innovative developers, a dedicated support team, and we’re UK-based, which means we’re working the same hours as the channel partners and their installer teams,” says Wright.
Combining knowledge and experience from radio communications, software and marine electronics you can be rest assured that GlobalView Systems has the knowledge to comprehensively understand your needs.
“I’ve had 20 years working in the two-way radio industry, including install, support, set-up and trouble-shooting on a large variety of systems and technologies, with a number of different software solutions. With this experience, we have pushed for all of our solutions to be easily deployable and supportable by the radio supplier themselves, safe in the knowledge that a UK based support team is here for them to fall back on if required,” adds Chris Davies, GlobalView Systems’ engineering support manager.
The company also works with leading customer service management service specialists to ensure it meets its channel partners’ expectations.
Increasing opportunities
GlobalView Systems also prides itself on its collaborative approach. It doesn’t compete with its channel partners, as its business model is entirely focused on indirect sales.
“The way we work engages with channel partners that want to do more. We can see the way we work having a positive impact on their business and in turn our business.We don’t just say ’there you go install that’ and never speak to them again, we’re more collaborative,” says Wright.
This approach extends beyond alarm integration. The company has good working relationships with a wide range of end-user companies in different verticals and regularly visits them to learn about their requirements, and then uses the insights it gleans to help channel partners make new sales or increase the value of existing ones.
“We recently visited one of the largest growers of tomatoes in the UK,” Wright adds. “They didn’t use two-way radios, but we were able to listen to them and find ways that we could use our software to generate potential radio sales with them, so we would then feed that back to our partners and grow their and our business from that point.
“We will have some clients that we will go and speak to and they will ask for two-way radios. We then have our signed partners and we work with them to provide the full solution. We don’t compete against our channel partners – we have specialists in software and applications, and they have deep knowledge of two-way radios.”
That said, GlobalView Systems does have a great deal of in-house expertise when it comes to two-way radios, “That’s often a very good thing when and if we have to support a channel partner getting into difficulty – we can understand what they’re talking about and get to the real problem as soon as possible.”
When Wright and his team go on site, they’ll focus on understanding the client’s full security step-up and requirements, including their door-entry systems and lone working arrangements.
Once they’re back in the office, the team put together a detailed report for the end-customer. They work to make it as accessible and relevant to the final decision-maker as possible to increase the chance of their channel partner making that sale.
A foot in the door
GlobalView Systems’ channel partners like Radphone are using software applications as a way into customers. “Radphone have found working with GlobalView a refreshing experience and a source of inspiration. Using their software solutions, products and services has secured us valuable contracts a number of times,” says Mike O’ Rourke, Radphone’s owner.
Another channel partner that has benefited from working with GlobalView Systems is Radiocoms. “We’ve been working with GlobalView Systems for the past 18 months. The support provided on new opportunities has been instrumental in enabling Radiocoms to provide unique options to complement its DMR proposals,” adds Mark Blythe, Radiocoms’ sales manager.
Keeping on the cutting edge
Wright says that his company focuses on applications for Motorola Solutions and Hytera radio equipment as these are the main brands being sold by its channel partners. However, “we’re also developers for JVC Kenwood and we’re happy to work with all flavours of radio manufacturers”.
GlobalView Systems’ capabilities extend well beyond alarm integration – complex process control is also within its sphere of influence and it is looking towards Industry 4.0 and IoT. Part of its premises is set up as a development lab “where we go and play with mobile applications, the Amazon web services, together with Alexa and Google Home to better understand speech interfaces. We’re continually playing with different systems to make sure we’re at the edge.”
GlobalView Systems originally focused on serving the luxury marine market
The road to PMR
The story of how GlobalView Systems came to be involved in the PMR market is an unusual one. It started out focused on the luxury marine vessel market, which is predominantly based in Europe. However, it is a seasonal business, so the company had to look elsewhere to grow its customer-base. “We found that we were hooking up to a lot of the same systems that are present on land-based systems.”
“There’s been a transitional period for us because although a super-yacht’s interface is the same, the business practices, the processes and the end-user stories are not the same, so we’ve had to do a lot of work to understand just what is required,” says Wright.
The company was purchased by a minority shareholder, Fairford Holdings, in early 2016, prompting the start of a full business planning process that lasted about a year, which resulted in its current focus on the PMR market. “We did a lot of work with channel partners to understand what they need in a software application provider. We saw that role hasn’t been well served before, so we saw a gap we could fill in the market.”
“Our ownership structure is such that channel partners should be confident in working with us. We’re not a here-today-gone-tomorrow kind of outfit.”
While it’s easy to get fixated on the potential of new technology, GlobalView Systems is fully focused on helping its customer – the channel partners – “win more customers for themselves and we’re seeing that the simpler the application, the better for those guys. We hope that our fresh and innovative approach to application delivery will make all the difference to their business.”
Contact details
If you would like more information on GlobalView Systems’ products and services, please contact a company representative on: Email: contact@globalviewsystems.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1482 772536
