When every second counts

Editor’s note: Sandy McMillion is president of McMillion Research, Charleston, W.Va.

Law enforcement and public safety personnel have long sought a means to help them identify the exact location of an emergency. Although many dispatch centers utilize enhanced 911 systems which display the caller’s address, they can’t, for example, show the responding emergency crews which of the houses on a crowded block is their intended destination. Darkness, bad weather, and poorly-marked structures make matters even worse.

Help may be on the way. In June 1996, an inventor and a former sheriff’s deputy in Ohio approached the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC) for assistance in marketing an emergency identification light that became known as LifeLite. Patented in 1997 as an emergency dispatcher-activated identification light, LifeLite consists of an electronic switching device and stroboscopic beacon light (installed on the front of a home, apartment or commercial building) which is clearly visible during daylight or darkness and during all weather conditions. The system plugs into an existing telephone jack. The phone lines transmit a signal to the 911 operator when the call is placed. Through this line the 911 operator throws a switch that activates the LifeLite. A transmitter in the plug-in transmits a signal to a receiver in the LifeLite unit, which turns it on or off.

Despite the LifeLite’s potential, it hasn’t been easy getting the product into mass production. “Technology can save lives; getting to the market is the challenge,” says William Chard, OLETC’s manager, support services. “There is such a need to bring technology to this market in a cost-effective manner but performing market research in the public safety arena is extremely difficult because conventional consumer product market research approaches typically do not work well. The industry is very fragmented and dispersed and has not interacted and communicated well until recently. Most manufacturers in this market are small to medium-sized companies with a diverse product base.”

That’s where OLETC comes in. Established by the National Institute of Justice, OLETC’s role is to assist in bringing new products and services to the public safety community by facilitating the commercialization of existing and new U.S. technology and innovation. OLETC works closely with most of the national and federal laboratories, research universities, independent R&D laboratories, entrepreneurs, inventors and manufacturers to establish a national pipeline of innovative concepts and products. OLETC also consults with local law enforcement to identify their needs and to insure useful products are available to them.

National study

In March 1999, OLETC teamed with Charleston, W.Va.-based McMillion Research to test the LifeLite concept in a national study with consumers. The device had been well-received by law enforcement and emergency personnel but had never been evaluated by the general public. Mall interviews were conducted in San Francisco, suburban Detroit, and in Charleston and Huntington, W.Va. The primary objectives were to:

1. Survey public interest in the concept.

2. Determine and confirm the target markets.

3. Gauge consumer marketing opinions.

LifeLite had drawn enthusiastic responses during discussions with 911 dispatch center directors, ambulance drivers, emergency medical technicians, law enforcement officers and administrators, firefighters and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA). Thus it was anticipated that minimal effort would be needed to motivate the general public to purchase the product.

Respondents were asked for their initial impression of the LifeLite. A model replica of a home was displayed with a small strobe light placed above the front door to help the interviewee visualize the concept. The product received very high acceptance, with 91 percent of the total sample rating LifeLite as favorable. Acceptability was generally equal between genders, income levels, and ages. People living in rural areas and those with young children (newborn to five years) indicated the strongest intent to purchase, with 64 percent and 73 percent, respectively, indicating they would definitely or probably purchase.

In the research, 41 percent of senior citizens interviewed indicated they would probably purchase LifeLite, making retirement communities and facilities a good market for this product. Households with handicapped adults also showed a strong interest, with 36 percent responding with favorable purchase intent.

Similar products

While similar products are available in the market today, they don’t provide the reliability and functionality of the LifeLite. A variety of products are available that turn on a porch light or special light unit when a switch is activated inside the house. These systems are manually-activated devices that cost up to $250. Caller-activated products have several critical deficiencies that are of real concern to the emergency response community, including:

  • callers must remember to activate them;
  • the switch devices are prone to misuse for non-emergency situations, such as aiding pizza delivery;
  • they can be wrongly deactivated, particularly in domestic abuse or burglary situations.

Marketed by phone companies

As the research showed, to achieve optimum earning potential, LifeLite could be marketed by local telephone companies as an add-on service for a monthly fee, similar to Caller ID, or by public utilities or home security companies. One advantage of using the existing phone company service fee strategy is that it provides a continuous revenue stream versus the revenue that would be derived from a one-time purchase of the mechanism. In addition to the suggested monthly service fees, telephone companies could also derive revenue from sales as a product, from installation fees. The product and installation could be provided at no cost and revenue generated merely from a monthly service fee.

Discussions with one telephone company supported this marketing strategy. The company reported signing up 25 percent of its customer base within a four-year period to the Caller ID service, at an average fee of $3.50 per month. Telephone company officials have conservatively estimated the projected market share and penetration time for LifeLite will equal or better those produced by Caller ID.

The rapid earning potential of this product is impressive. If it were to be marketed by local telephone companies as an add-on service for the rate of only 5 to 10 cents per day (i.e., $1.50 to $3 per month), based upon a potential 100 million users (i.e., households), the potential gross revenue for this product is $3.6 billion per year. Citing the success telephone companies have achieved in marketing Caller ID, given a comparable growth rate (four years) and market share (25 percent), LifeLite could generate gross revenue of $450 to $900 million per year from service fees alone after four years.

While the majority of consumers surveyed did not favor the distribution through the local phone company initially (only 46 percent indicated they were very or somewhat likely to purchase), the majority (58 percent) did end up favoring the phone company over hardware and electronic stores. Distribution, therefore, should be through the local telecommunications companies, as they have the ability to reach a far broader population base than does a traditional retail approach. In addition, these companies can provide installation and service to their customer base more effectively than any other organization.

Consumer response to cost and the monthly service fee showed that 41 percent would be willing to spend $1.50 to $3.00, while 24 percent were willing to pay as much as $5 or more to have constant access to the 911-activated service. The majority of those who were surveyed (60 percent) indicated a willingness to pay up to $20 if the device were sold in retail stores.

Into production

OLETC is meeting with manufacturers and hopes to have a deal in place soon to bring LifeLite to market. Perhaps the experience will make it easier to bring other promising products off the drawing board and into production. Research will no doubt play an important role. “Getting accurate market research data is difficult and typically requires a close alliance with the public safety community,” Chard says. “OLETC is currently developing the model and protocols to effectively perform this function. McMillion has been very cooperative in molding some of their consumer product market research approaches to the public safety market. Some work better than others and we will be continually refining approaches based the specific product and market entry criteria.”