Web Site Finally Up and running

It's Official, the bugs with the new website are (cross my fingers) worked out. The new additions to the website are a much needed overhaul to the site. I have listed a few links below. Let me know if you see any "bugs"

Check out.....
The new Product page (actually has our new products listed)
Products Page

A new "benefits of GPS" page
Benefits Page

The new ROI Calculator
ROI Calculator Page

Website Update!

We have been very busy here and I haven't had time to do any updates. We are all working overtime to close some sales in the pipeline. This afternoon we are going to be performing some maintenance to our website. The products section is going to be overhauled as well as some new features and updates. I would expect to have everything back up and running by Monday!

GSA Advantage

If you didn't read the press release this morning our product line went live on the GSA Advantage site. You can see the schedule by clicking on the link below.

GSA Advantage Product line

Big Order!

Today we have some new and very exciting news . I officially received a PO for 450 units. We have been working VERY hard to close this account and it is the LARGEST domestic order that we have ever received. More details will be released soon about the company, but I can say that they are a Major security system installer. The company is going to use the system for dispatching, fuel savings and time management of their fleet and drivers. The setup that they purchased is a CT410 running on the Sprint network. I can't tell you how excited everyone is here that we got this account. This is one of many great this to come for HISS

New Study

Motorola Enterprise Mobility recently ran a study across 255 North American IT and Telecom decision makers and had the following results:

Field Mobility workers recover approximately 54 minutes of downtime per day when their organization utilizes GPS solutions. This equates to average annual recouped labor costs of $5,484 per employee
GPS enabled field forces drive an average of 231.2 FEWER miles per week netting approximately $51,582 in annual fuel savings

I was very surprised when I saw these figures!

Thought I would share…

GSA Update

Just a quick update this morning. We are now listed on the GSA website, you can follow the link below and check it out for yourself!

Click here for the GSA site.

Quick GSA Update

Above, you can see our new GSA logo! I hope everyone see’s and understands what it does for HISS. That little logo has done more for us in the last week than I ever would have thought and the great thing is that we aren't even on the website yet. I am currently dealing with 3 counties that are adding GPS to their fleet. The response from being able to say that we will be listed on the GSA has been tremendous! It has enabled us to achieve company credibility, move from presentation to bid or proposal much quicker. Having our products on the GSA schedule will allow the government agencies to purchase directly without having the requirement of bidding if they choose.

Frankly, we felt it would streamline the process some, but we were not expecting the overwhelming positive response. It seems like it takes some of the risk out of the governments purchases. In addition, it also allows the potential purchaser to check the website and look at competition. When they do that, it even helps us more.

Since this is a huge accomplishment for HISS, I will keep you updated as we move along this path.

More GSA!

Yesterday I did a quick overview of the GSA contract. We have gotten lots of calls and Emails about how positive the release was. I wanted to do another blog about how the GSA will affect us... Yes this blog is going to be very long. I can't stress enough how BIG being GSA listed is for HISS. It is one of the biggest things to have happened to us in 18 months. Being able to show our products on the GSA schedule brings credibility and validity to the products and the Company. The due diligence the GSA performed on both the company and products was extensive.

GSA is basically a mall for government agencies and we now have an storefront in that mall. There are so many things that are positive about being listed on the GSA; first and foremost it has the potential to bring immediate sales of our products. Being listed on the GSA eliminates many of hurdles that have to be overcome in making sales to local, state and federal government agencies. In many cases it allows us to sell to the government without filling out vendor applications and to sell direct without bidding.

If you read my blog yesterday, you will know what we are 1 of 8 companies listed on the GSA under fleet management. Competition is healthy, but we really stand head and shoulders above the other products on the Fleet management side of the GSA. To be quite honest, there are some companies listed under the Fleet Management that really don't have a competing product. For Example LoJack is 1 of the 8 companies listed and they sell recovery equipment to police departments off the GSA and it has nothing to do with Fleet Management.

Over the last few months we have had conversations with other companies that recently got listed on the GSA and there advice was to "get ready". Obviously we hope that we have the same experience as the others. Below are some benefits and additional information on the GSA.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) helps federal agencies better serve the public by offering, at best value, superior workplaces, expert solutions, acquisition services and management policies. GSA's Federal Supply Schedules are large contracts through which federal customers can acquire more than 4 million products and services directly from more than 8,000 commercial suppliers More than 1 million of these products and services can be ordered using the GSA Advantage! online ordering system. The US General Services Administration is a reliable and proven source for thousands of Federal purchasers worldwide.

Benefits of being GSA listed:

· Maximizes the opportunities for contractors' participation by notifying them of new government requirements for their specific supplies (products) or services;
· Saves contractors money by reducing the cost of finding government business opportunities and reducing lead time and cost to submit quotations;
· Provides an interactive capability for contractors to communicate requirements and quotations via the web and email;
· Helps contractors establish new business relationships as new opportunities are discovered;
· Provides a fast, efficient, and easy-to-use electronic Request for Quotation (RFQ) system that streamlines the acquisition process;
· Increases sales potential by making contractors more aware of new business opportunities;
· Provides valuable information on the federal marketplace, allowing contractors to expand their customer bases; and
· Saves time, since business opportunities are sent directly to contractors via email and quotations can be sent electronically

GSA Advantage offers the most comprehensive selection of approved products and services from GSA Schedules as well as all GSA Global Supply products
Benefits of using the GSA Advantage for online ordering:
By using the GSA Advantage a customer can:

· Search for items using keywords, part numbers, National Stock Numbers (NSNs), manufacturer names, contractor names, or contract numbers;
· Browse by category of products and services;
· Compare features, prices, and delivery options;
· Configure products and add accessories;
· Place orders directly online;
· Review delivery options;
· Select a convenient payment method; and
· View order history to track status, reorder, or cancel.


A special thanks to Alex who has championed this project and has spent endless hours fighting through the red tape to get our GSA certification!

We are now GSA Listed!

I have not blogged in a long time, to long actually. I have a lot of catching up to do and I will try to do that over the next week. Today's announcement was too big for me not to say a few things about it. A few months ago we made an announcement that HISS was going to apply to the GSA and try to get GSA approved. Today after battling the paper work and proving our technology to the GSA, we have followed through with that promise and our product line is officially GSA approved!

Being GSA listed is HUGE news. It gives us a sales channel that we never had before and it makes it much easier to sell to government departments. We are 1 of 8 companies that are approved for Fleet Management on the GSA. I have to say that there is not much competition. When looking at the competitors that are already listed, our products really stand out. Looking at the other competition, we are the ONLY company that offers a full product line from basic GPS tracking to more complex monitoring. We are also the only company offering leasing programs.

GSA Schedules offer customers direct delivery of millions of state-of-the-art, high-quality commercial supplies and services at volume discount pricing. All customers, even those in remote locations, can order the latest technology and quality supplies and services, conveniently, and at most favored customer prices. GSA Schedules also offer the potential benefits of shorter lead-times, lower administrative costs, and reduced inventories. When using GSA Schedules, ordering activities have the opportunity to meet small business goals, while promoting compliance with various environmental and socioeconomic laws and regulations.


I have lots of product updates and sales updates, I will try to get them out in the next week!

Software Sales!

Today is the day where the rubber hits the reoccurring revenue road. Before today, HISS’s revenue stream consisted of margin on the hardware sales of the CT line and accessories and a small amount from sales of the data pipeline. Today we have all of those things along with the ability to bill our own software. This process allows us to collect a portion of the revenue billed and add it to our bottom line, rather than all of it going to the software vendor. We have only been doing this for a few weeks and already have had an incredible response to our offering. We have already had committed over $20,000.00 annually of reoccurring revenue on the system and currently have 10 active demos going with new customers. With the addition to our own software we now have 3 avenues of revenue, hardware, software and (pipeline) Kore. From a software sale, we are now able to add software to the deal and vice versa on the hardware. It seems like a winner for everyone. We are still carrier and software agnostic, in other words we will still sell on any network and use any software. This is a giant step in the right direction for HISS

CT-100

The CT-100 is something that we have been working on for the last few months. Currently the CT100 only runs on Sprint/Nextel networks. It works using a combo of GPS satellites and cellular triangulation. Since it does not have to have a clear view of the sky, it can be worn on a belt or placed in a backpack and still send accurate positions. The CT100 is currently in the field being used by real customers and is in its final stage of testing. The customers that are using/testing the CT100 need it for a variety of reasons; one customer is using them to track small parts on large campuses and another is using the device for child safety by placing the CT100 inside a child's backpack. We expect that many more uses for the device will come forward as it gets greater exposure in the field.

Contract with Sky Shield

I couldn't wait for this news to come out this morning. Our team has been working very hard to secure a contract with Sky Shield! I can't go into all the details of the solution, but basically HIISS is being paid to integrate our Cyber Tracker technology into a full bus solution. The solution will include a Cyber Tracker, RFID and Video. I am very excited to begin working on this project as we have lots of experience in integration of different products. This is a great step for us in securing a contract to provide a full solution. We expect the entire solution to be completed in the next 90 -120 days. ( bearing in mind no changes are made to the scope of work) We will be having weekly progress calls with Sky Shield to update them on our progress and after the solution has been built we will do a live field test in school busses. Its a very exciting Monday!

Gas Prices

It has been one busy week. I have been super busy with calls with new customer leads as well as existing deals that are on the verge of closing. One of the reasons I have been so busy is that customers are seeing the benefit of asset and fleet management with the cost of gas going up. One benefit of our product is that we can monitor the speed of a vehicle. You may think that monitoring the speed of a vehicle is to much like big brother, but if you are a business owner with a fleet of vehicles and your employees have a heavy foot, they are costing you a lot of money. Of course there are lots of benefits to a company that installs a GPS systems, but this is what we are seeing today. Below is an article that was done by CNN that really explains why employers are looking to mange the speed of there fleets.
The facts presented are very sobering.

With gas prices rising, gas-saving advice abounds: Drive more gently, don't carry extra stuff in your trunk, combine your shopping trips.
This is all sound advice but there's one driving tip that will probably save you more gas than all the others, especially if you spend a lot of time on the highway: Slow down.

In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon. That figure will be even higher for less fuel-efficient vehicles that go fewer miles on a gallon to start with.
The reason is as clear as the air around you.
When cruising on the highway, your car will be in its highest gear with the engine humming along at relatively low rpm's. All your car needs to do is maintain its speed by overcoming the combined friction of its own moving parts, the tires on the road surface and, most of all, the air flowing around, over and under it.
Pushing air around actually takes up about 40% of a car's energy at highway speeds, according to Roger Clark, a fuel economy engineer for General Motors.
Traveling faster makes the job even harder. More air builds up in front of the vehicle, and the low pressure "hole" trailing behind gets bigger, too. Together, these create an increasing suction that tends to pull back harder and harder the faster you drive. The increase is actually exponential, meaning wind resistance rises much more steeply between 70 and 80 mph than it does between 50 and 60.
Every 10 mph faster reduces fuel economy by about 4 mpg, a figure that remains fairly constant regardless of vehicle size, Clark said. (It might seem that a larger vehicle, with more aerodynamic drag, would see more of an impact. But larger vehicles also tend to have larger, more powerful engines that can more easily cope with the added load.)
That's where that 54 cents a gallon estimate comes from. If a car gets 28 mpg at 65 mph, driving it at 75 would drop that to 24 mpg. Fuel costs over 100 miles, for example - estimated at $3.25 a gallon - would increase by $1.93, or the cost of an additional 0.6 gallons of gas. That would be like paying 54 cents a gallon more for each of the 3.6 gallons used at 65 mph. That per-gallon price difference remains constant over any distance.
Engineers at Consumer Reports magazine tested this theory by driving a Toyota Camry sedan and a Mercury Mountaineer SUV at various set cruising speeds on a stretch of flat highway. Driving the Camry at 75 mph instead of 65 dropped fuel economy from 35 mpg to 30. For the Mountaineer, fuel economy dropped from 21 to 18.
Over the course of a 400-mile road trip, the Camry driver would spend about $6.19 more on gas at the higher speed and Mountaineer driver would spend an extra $10.32.
Driving even slower, say 55 mph, could save slightly more gas. In fact, the old national 55 mph speed limit, instituted in 1974, was a response to the period's energy crisis.
It was about more than just high gas prices, though. The crisis of the time involved literal gasoline shortages due to an international embargo. Gas stations were sometimes left with none to sell, and gas sales had to be rationed. The crisis passed, but the national 55 mph speed limit stayed on the books until the law was loosened in the 1980s. It was finally dropped altogether in 1995. (The law stuck around more because of an apparent safety benefit than for fuel saving.)
Despite today's high gas prices, don't expect to see a return to the national 55 mph speed limit. The law was unpopular in its day, and higher speeds have become so institutionalized that even the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy test cycle now includes speeds of up to 80 mph.
Driving 10 miles per hour faster, assuming you don't lose time getting pulled over for a speeding ticket, does have the advantage of getting you to your destination 50 minutes sooner on that 400 mile trip. Whether that time difference is worth the added cost and risk is, ultimately, up to you.
Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.

Interview with Alex

This will be a very quick blog. I wanted to give everyone a link to WallSt.net so you could listen to an interview that Alex Ensley did yesterday on the Green Grant that we are working on. Below is a link to the site, but you do have to sign up for an account but it is free.
Have a great weekend!

The link to the interview is HERE

Updates

I have been surfing the web for years. I am more of a geek than most people know. Today I bit the bullet and signed up for Googles AdWords. I don't know why I didn't do it sooner. For those of you who haven't done it, it was actually a very complicated process. However, I think it was worth the trouble. Googles AdWords is marketing service that Google offers that allows companies to market their products online using keywords. For example, we used keywords like "tracking, GPS Fleet Management, GPS devices and tracking products". I think that this, along with a few other ads that we are working on, will add a great deal to our sales efforts.

On to another note I just got off the phone with a customer that we sold in Charlotte last year. He was so excited about the Cyber Tracker I just had to share the news. This customer has about 30 devices on trucks. Last year one of his drivers fell very ill and was unable to contact their offices before being hospitalized. After not being able to reach him, the company used the Cyber Tracker to locate the vehicle and send a replacement driver to take over the critical load and make the delivery on time. He told me that it saved them an incredible amount of money, time and head ache and they would not have been able to do it with out the Cyber Tracker.

I love hearing success stories like this because it shows how powerful our products are and it also shows that tracking devices are not just a "big brother" tracking device. They are able to save companies money, time and help on gas costs by better routing.

More to come soon on GTT and other great up coming news!

New Developments with AT&T

Other than the snow today, this week has already started to be great! We have a lot of new and exciting projects coming up. I have been having some really good conference calls with AT&T over the last few weeks and I have to say I am extremely impressed on their organization. They really have their ducks in a row. The press release that came out today really shows the benefits to the Cyber Tracker in several ways. The new 700 mhz spectrum will give the Cyber Tracker the ability to have better “ in building” coverage which will expand the range of use for our products. Currently, most tracking devices have to have an eye to the sky to get an accurate reading. It will also provide the necessary bandwidth to give customers more audio and video options. This will be a great new way to provide new services to new and existing customers. We are all looking forward to the possibilities! I will try my best to keep this updated more as I have been falling a little behind.

HISS and GTT

For the last several months, we have been talking to Global Tracking Technologies about merger opportunities. I am very excited about the possibilities of adding GTT to our team. There is a lot of synergy between our two companies and we have similar business plans. A lot of details will be coming in the next few weeks, but I'll try to give as much here as I can.

GTT is a GPS software company that also carries several tracking devices. They are based in Tampa, Florida and have a strong presence in the Middle East and Africa. These are areas that HISS has had a great deal of success and with the possibility of using the GTT sales personnel located in that area, we can’t help but believe that it will add sales for both companies.

Will they replace our other software partners? Absolutely not! Just as there is no one tracking device that meets all customers needs, the same is true for software applications. We believe that by adding each others products and services we will have a stronger combined organization.

Over the next few weeks HISS and GTT will be doing due diligence. As that process unfolds, we will keep everyone as updated as possible. I look forward to providing you more information as it comes available.

Lets talk about Alex

Lets talk about Alex Ensley and his expanding role at HISS:

The press release that came out this morning was actually a result of an investor who introduced us to the NC Military Business Center. It just goes to show you that anything can help and although we get a lot of ideas from investors that fall short, this one was a winner! Alex is technically over logistics at HISS, but just as everyone else performs various roles in the company, Alex has been dealing with a contact who works for the North Carolina Military Business Center. Her job is to introduce NC based business’s to both NC State and Federal contracts. In addition, they help those businesses bid on contracts offered by both branches of government.

The approach to the project is two pronged. First, we have the opportunity to search for government contracts and bid on contracts when they become available using the above resources. Second, just because a bid is awarded to a particular company does not mean that we are out of the running for that particular project. By using this resource we have access to a database of recent government contracts that have been awarded. This database lists what company got the contract and by using this website we can contact those companies who were awarded the contracts. This gives us the opportunity to introduce our company and product line to them and possibly become a subcontractor for the winning proposal.

I asked Alex to summarize his thoughts on the program and he said the following :

“The overall scope of this opportunity is amazing. The contracts I have found recently vary greatly both in scope of products as well as price. For example, within 15 minutes of searching I found 7 applicable contracts, ranging in price from $2,500.00 to $700,000.00. In one day we were able to establish 18 contacts with businesses who were recently awarded government contracts. This is an extraordinary resource in several ways because not only does it help with sales, but it is also a great networking tool. It assists HISS in getting our business name out there and introduce our organization to other companies who might benefit from the use of our products in their pursuit of government contracts.”

All in All it is a very cool program and I think in the long run it will go a long way to help the company meet and exceed its sales goals. It also goes to show you that networking is a very powerful tool. Hats off to the investor that turned us on to this program!

First Big sale of the CT410

Today we announced that HISS had made its first significant sale of the CT-410! Closing the first significant sale is great news for HISS. We have had smaller sales with the 410 and 150 but this one has some legs. We need to be clear that in no way is the 410 replacing the original Cyber Tracker. Instead, by expanding our product offering, it is helping the company make sales that were being missed because the CT 1000 was more product than the customer could use.

This may be a good time to explain the differences in the three levels of products. The CT1000 has the capability to provide the end user with voice communication, tracking and tons of monitoring capabilities. The CT1000 sets itself above the competition by being able to integrate with other equipment and devices due to its linux operating system.

The CT410, the little brother to the CT 1000, can provide tracking and very basic monitoring capabilities. The CT410 does not have a operating system on it so it is limited on where it can be integrated. However it is still a powerful and robust system. The advantage it has over the 1000 is that it is operating on GSM, iDen and CDMA networks where the 1000 is only operating on GSM and iDen.

Finally, the CT150 is basically a dumb box. It has the ability to track an asset and transmit the data. It is perfect for fleets who just want a tracking application. The low cost of the CT150 makes it very attractive to customers. As you can see, our product line now covers almost every tracking and data transmission scenario.

What is Kore Telematics

Well, the easiest way to describe Kore is that they are North America's largest independent provider of digital wireless services. They buy airtime from guys like AT&T and Verizon and then we retail that airtime to the customer. What is really great about this system is that we (HISS) become the virtual provider and we generate a monthly reoccurring revenue off each device. This is a great step forward for us because in most applications we only make a margin off the hardware and a limited "commission" on software and airtime.

Kore is not in any way, shape or form meant to be a replacement for our relationship with AT&T and Sprint/Nextel. We have worked too hard to jeopardize those relationships. There are times when using AT&T and Nextel are the best route for the customer and we will continue to sell through those channels.

Kore has certified our device on their network and has issued a Joint Press Release. The full Kore Telematics press release can be found by clicking HERE.

Go Green

I always like to complement press releases on the blog because I think that the more information that is out there, the better. Being "Green" is something that seems to be in every newspaper you pick up or on ever 6 o'clock news. Its a big deal and we definitely shouldn't take issues concerning the environment lightly.

When reps are out in the field selling Cyber Trackers the easiest way to make that sale is to show a ROI (return on investment). You can do that many different ways depending on the customer and how their business operates. With gas prices being high its easy to see how the Cyber Tracker could pay for its self just in fuel savings. Think about it, if you owned a business with 250 vehicles think about how much money you could save every year just by having more efficient routes, reducing unauthorized mileage and limiting excessive speeds. At the same time that you are saving money you are reducing emissions and the "green house" effect. If all fleets would use a device, such as a CT, the companies would not only become "green" but they could see “black” on the bottom line.

New IR Firm!

Hello ALL!

I know it has been a few weeks since my last blog. It has been pretty busy around here and the holidays sure didn't help. As most of you know Barwicki Investor Relations is the new IR Firm. We believe that Barwicki Investor Relations will make a positive impact on HISS. Prior to forming Barwicki Investor Relations, Andrew served as Vice President of Investor Relations at Nu Horizons Electronics Corp. (NASDAQ: NUHC). As the sole individual within the IR department he handled all aspects of investor relations and corporate communications. Andrews proactive investor relations program increased shareholder value by 88% and market cap by 110%. Andrew attracted 27 new institutional investors with a 2%+ initial investment position and increased institutional ownership and broker-dealer involvement. Institutional ownership increased to 72% from 44% and trading volume multiplied 6-fold.

I am very excited about Andrew taking over the IR side of HISS and believe that he will make a positive impact with his prior experience. There is a lot of positive things coming so I will try to update the blog again later this week.