Telematics Update interviews Ken Connor, director of sales, Quake Global, Inc.

What does your company do?

For over 10 years, Quake Global modems have enabled its customers to track and monitor their assets anywhere in the world. Quake Global has become the leading manufacturer of M2M communicators for the ORBCOMM® Satellite System, while also supporting the Iridium® and Globalstar™ satellite networks, dual mode satellite/terrestrial networks and GPS technologies. QUAKE™ prides itself not only on delivering a broad range of specialized satellite and GSM communicators, but also on creating a number of highly customizable, fully programmable solutions for the marketplace. Regardless of the mode of operation or network, all QUAKE modems are rugged and reliable. Our major customers include large OEMs, value-added resellers and system integrators that provide solutions for a wide range of applications, including asset tracking, condition monitoring, predictive maintenance, security, and remote control.

How do you differentiate your offerings from your competitors?

First and foremost, QUAKE is the only manufacturer of network agnostic modems, providing its customers with a unified communications protocol across multiple global satellite and terrestrial networks from a single device. I can’t emphasize enough the simplicity offered to customers who no longer need to contract multiple vendors with multiple solutions and then turn around and develop a separate communication protocol for each in order to track, monitor and/or control an asset across multiple satellite and terrestrial networks along with GPS. Utilizing a QUAKE modem, like the Q-Pro, customers can develop significantly quicker and cheaper solutions.QUAKE modems are also the best performing in the industry with the highest percentage of satellite-in-view time and, whether environmentally sealed or as components, comprise the broadest lineup of J1455-certified products with unrivaled tolerance of shock, vibration, temperature variation and electrical deviation. We offer our customers unparalleled choice and flexibility. Customers can customize the inputs/outputs and memory, have fully programmable functionality through the API and tailor their modems to incorporate multiple satellite and terrestrial communicators and GPS into a single device—or they can tailor their modem to operate on a single network.Another aspect that I feel differentiates us from our competition is our customer-focused tech support. QUAKE customers can rest assured that they have a true partner in product development and support on both the hardware and software side. At QUAKE, we emphasize our commitment to the highest standards of product performance, quality control and customer satisfaction, and it shows in our products and our reputation.

What partnerships are you currently forging? What industry milestone did you recently achieve?

QUAKE is always looking to expand its customer base of industry OEMs, value-added resellers and system integrators. QUAKE’s goal is to offer customers all over the world choice and flexibility in meeting their asset tracking and monitoring needs. QUAKE’s expanded network reach includes GSM, which allows customers to track and monitor their assets with low cost cellular coverage while maintaining constant satellite service availability when out of range of these terrestrial networks, all from a single device. QUAKE is proud to have recently announced its Q-Pro series. The Q-Pro is the first and only dual mode, multi-satellite solution on the market. It operates on the ORBCOMM, Globalstar and soon the Iridium constellation of satellite networks as well as with GSM networks and GPS. Customers can choose to incorporate any combination of or all of these networks into a single environmentally-sealed device.QUAKE is also very proud to announce that its CEO, Polina Braunstein, was recently named a finalist in the prestigious Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2009. This accolade follows QUAKE’s acceptance of the 2009 TechAmerica Award for High Technology Innovation and the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500 Award two years running for 2008 and 2009.

Which trends will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?

Going forward, we see the industry continuing to migrate towards meeting customer demands for flexibility in terms of highly programmable “black box” solutions that can access numerous networks to meet their specific needs. Customers have also expressed concern that they might be locked into a particular set of functionality during the life of the product. QUAKE is excited to be at the forefront of this industry shift. QUAKE’s new series of modems, including the Q-Pro, Q4000, Q1400 and iQ, are highly customizable, offer the customer numerous network options and are even programmable over the air while out in the field. We feel our products are very well positioned to meet and even exceed customer expectations in this changing landscape.

You were an integral part of ourrecent event, Fleet andAsset Management USA2009. What key topicsdid youdiscuss with the industry at this show? (Check out the website for thesister Europeanevent Fleet and Asset Management Europe 2010)

At Telematics Update'sFleet and Asset Management USA 2009 show in Atlanta, I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion with three industry leaders in consumer-grade devices that collect and deliver telematics data, including TomTom, Tele Atlas and Garmin. Our panel discussed the application of these consumer-grade devices in commercial settings for small to medium fleets. While expressing my respect for how far these consumer devices have progressed in recent years, I highlighted some of the non-negotiable requirements that most fleet managers have come to expect. These include but are not limited to electrical and mechanical specifications that far exceed the design parameters of most consumer devices, fail-safe operation with no user intervention required and, in some instances, permitted, and stable product life cycles of 3 to7 years. QUAKE prides itself in defining the industry standard for industrial grade modems in terms of performance, reliability and durability. Customers can be confident that QUAKE modems won’t suffer from operating “resets” that plague consumer devices when critical information and/or instructions need to be conveyed. Our products operate from the poles to the equator, from the Sahara Desert to the Alps (where they function to locate trapped or missing persons), and everywhere in between. We build our products this way because in addition to monitoring and controlling high value assets, people’s lives depend on it. After more than 10 years, our customers have come to expect this level of performance from QUAKE, and they certainly do, even in outer space.