your average wireless
dealer. Our primary function is not that of acting as a
sales agent, representative, or channel partner. We don't work
for a paycheck or to please senior management. We do what we do
because we like doing what we do, and we do what we do very well
without making outrageous claims like Lowest Prices in the South,
We will not be undersold and other such boasts that are
largely unsubstantiated. Rather, we have a somewhat different
view. This is not to say that we don't offer quality products at
great prices, backed by good support and service. That's a
given. What most people don't know is that we DO have a slogan,
claim, or motto as you choose. In short, our primary function is
FIGHTING4U. We think it may be important to explain just what
this means. Let's start with the "F".
F
We are not afraid to Fight
when we see injustice, waste, or abuse of power. Those who know
us, know that we took a stand against the purchase from a single
aerospace contractor for interoperable switches that were forced upon
county EMA directors. We took a stand and we lost. We
called in every resource available including the director of Alabama
State Purchasing, the Governors Chief Legal Council, even the
media. We still lost. Did we make some powerful people
angry? Of course we did! Would we do it again? Yes
we would, but now that it's over, we look at it at just another
finished battle. It's over. Some you win - some you lose,
but if you don't stand for something, you will fall for
anything. Our friends will forgive us. Our enemies will
continue to be our enemies, but at least there is mutual
respect. We respect our adversaries for defending their
position. We sleep well, our conscience is clear, and through it
all, we know that regardless of the outcome that our Creator is in
control.
I
We are Innovators.
When the Conecuh County District Court needed improved security for
judicial personnel, we responded to the need and built a solution from
scratch. We designed and delivered a working system that was
fully approved by the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts
(AOC). We think out of the box. We don't follow. We
lead as can best be summed up by quoting a poem by our favorite poet,
Rudyard Kipling. And they copied, and they copied, but they
couldn't copy my mind, so I left them sweating and stealing, a year
and a half behind! If you would like to know more about this
system, click here.
It is known as The Companion. In Alabama, it is available
with 100% reimbursement by AOC.
G
We Go the extra
mile to serve our customers beyond reasonable expectations. Case
in point. We sell a small 2-way radio base station that can
connect through a router to a data network. It is a $500
product. You can quickly determine that we don't make a lot of
money on the sale of a single item. We sold one of these devices
to Cisco systems integrator in Montgomery, Alabama who planned to use
it to demonstrate the next day after delivery. His demonstration
was in Atlanta. We were in Birmingham. When he told us the
unit didn't work, we drove a hundred miles to deliver him a loaner
unit to use while his was returned to the factory for troubleshooting
and repair. We later determined the problem was not a product
failure but an integration issue. Want to know what we charged
him for our service? Zero! Is that the way most people do
business? We don't think so, but it's the way WE do business!
H
We always take the high
road in dealing with those we serve. Honesty is
our policy even if we lose a customer. A young (20 years old is
young to us), called about purchasing one of our field programmable
radios. We knew that this represented a major purchase for
him. We also knew that this particular radio had an unresolved
problem with the paging circuit. We told him of the problem
knowing that we would likely lose the sale. As it turns out, he
didn't need the paging feature (he already had a pager). He told
us that we were the only one that he had called that did anything more
than try to beat their competitors price. It probably comes as
no surprise that he bought from us. We now have not just another
customer, but a new friend. That's what good business is all
about!
T
We are always on the leading
edge of Technology. Advancing technology for the
betterment of those we serve is sometimes met with resistance.
Case in point - In early November of 2005, the Alabama State Office of
Emergency Management notified all county EMA directors that they were
in the process of extending the State UHF network to the county
level. Each director was told that they were pre-approved to
spend up to $2,750 for a compatible base station. When we
learned of this opportunity, we determined that we could offer an
APCO-25 digital compliant radio that was capable of meeting the stated
objectives plus operating in the lower 400 MHz band for
interoperability with U.S. Government agencies (all of which are now
under mandate to purchase only digital capable radios). We sent
emails to every known county EMA director and followed up with phone
calls. You probably would not be surprised to know that the
majority never responded. With the exception of the few that
accepted our offer, none took the opportunity to do anything other
than what they had always done. In one county, the EMA
purchasing director called their local dealer, told them he had $2,750
to spend (after we had made him aware of the opportunity). The
dealer provided a base station of equal performance relative to power,
size, features etc. What he forgot to mention was that the
station quoted was NOT digital compatible and would NOT operate in the
400 MHz range. Equally disturbing was the fact that instead of
getting a $2,000 P25 digital radio, he had quoted a $600 analog
radio. Was that because neither he nor the user was aware of the
benefits associated with new digital technology? We'll let you
be the judge. Was there anyone else who tried to help the State
of Alabama get more for their communications investment? Not
that we know of. If you would like to know more about P25
technology and how you can make an easy transition from analog to
digital, click here.
I
There is always a price to pay
for Integrity. One of the most frustrating things
we face is dealing with people who often lack competence coupled with
an attitude. Case in point - We were working with a
communications committee in a rural Alabama County that desperately
needed improved communications. We had shown them how they could
use FEMA grant money to improve both their infrastructure and the
individual department needs within the constraints of the grant.
We wrote specifications for the proposed system. Normally such
bids are handled directly by the user (in this case, the county fire
association). Somehow, it wound up with the county who actually
had no authority in the disbursement of the funds. A larger
vendor complained that the specifications were "vague" and convinced
the county commission to accept his specifications and throw ours
out. Unfortunately, he didn't take the trouble to see what funds
were available. We advised the county that they were about
$100,000 short of being able to meet the proposed
specifications. They proceeded anyway. The single bid
received was thrown out as we had predicted. They then wrote
another specification based on our original. We were low bid and
our bid was thrown out on a technicality (we had angered some of the
officials by challenging their "wisdom"). So, we did
all the work, and the bid was awarded to a Georgia company who did
nothing for the user except take their money to Georgia. I
believe this process is called shooting the messenger.
Everyone benefited except the one who did all the work.
Fair? Not at all. Would we handle things differently if
given the opportunity again? Probably not, because we have an
obligation to the user, to the taxpayers of our state, and our own
conscience. It's called Integrity, or doing what's right -
regardless!
N
We Never give up!
We learn from our experiences and we grow with that knowledge.
Case in point - One of our long time customers asked us for a price on
a voice logging recorder. We had not changed our offerings for a
half decade. We had a good product and saw no reason to consider
other offerings. On our next visit, we found that our customer
had purchased from another vendor. The fact is the product
looked pretty good and it had some nice features. Our customer
had obtained better value at lower cost from another vendor. So
what did we do? We took this as a wakeup call. We decided
it was time to update our offerings. In that process, we found a
whole family of products that would meet a variety of needs and
budgetary constraints that we had never considered. We lost that
order, but we replaced it with three more within a week after
introducing our new products. You can learn more about these
products by clicking here.
G
We Get things done
by partnering with others. Case in point - We have
established contracts with key people who provide specialized services
in the area of design, installation, and service. Being in the
service business is something like being a fireman. You've got
to be there when needed, but there is a huge manpower cost to maintain
proper staffing. We don't always need an engineer, but when we
need him, we've got him. That's because we work together with
several other local area companies to share the resources of a
communications engineer on an as-needed basis. He earns much more
per hour than he would in being employed only by one of us. We
each get the benefit of top of the line talent at an affordable budget
level. We have a similar agreement with a telephone specialist
to help us with access control and security. We don't have to
keep a full staff of installers on hand since we have a contract with
a local automotive specialty shop that has the tools, the people, and
the experience to do the job professionally at reasonable cost.
We have two contract tower installers at our disposal. One of
them put up two 100' towers over the 2006 New Year's weekend!
Our primary service facility is in Las Vegas, NV. We can have
work done in this facility quicker and less expensively than we could
with our own technicians. In some cases we partner with local
electricians in distant communities to install wiring and panels
associated with access control and related equipment. The bottom
line is that we can things more efficiently, and less expensively, and we do
it without robbing Americans of their jobs by hiring illegal aliens or
outsourcing to India, what's left of Russia, or China!
4
There are 4 points
to the way that we do business that set us apart from all the
rest - We know what we are doing, with almost 50 years of
experience. We care about those we serve! We understand
the needs of those we serve! We are committed to addressing the
requirements of those we serve.
U
It's not about beating the
competition! It's not about making more profits! It's not
about winning awards! It's not about being politically
correct! It's not about being first! It's not about being
the biggest! It's all about serving U! It's
about doing what we have to do to serve you to the best of our
ability. That means taking the time to study and improve our
skills and to listen when you tell us your needs. It means that
we will respond to those needs efficiently, affordably, and
professionally, and to take care of you after the sale is made.
It's all about YOU and that's the way it should be!
The Falcon Team
At your service!
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