Subscriber Discussion

Integrators, Is This An Attractive Revenue Model For You? (Vsaas)

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Carter Maslan
Sep 27, 2015
Camio

Hi, I'm co-founder and CEO of a VSaaS provider (camio.com), and we are trying to figure out the best way to partner with integrators for a) automated installation referrals, and b) re-selling Camio services.

Right now, we're thinking that integrators would earn $3 per camera per month as an annuity. Even when Camio refers the installation to the integrator, the integrator determines and keeps 100% of the installation and equipment fees. However, we *might* ask integrators to share in the initial customer acquisition cost in competitive Ad markets by refunding Camio an estimated $21 for each new customer Camio delivers to them.

We'd run regional ad campaigns matched with automated scheduling with local integrators, so that a customer can go from "want" to "scheduled installation" online with a few clicks. (we've done this manually to-date with this pre-scheduling form https://www.camio.com/set-me-up).

Here's a revenue projection worksheet that starts conservatively with 2-3 camera installations:
https://go.camio.com/partner$

Is this model attractive to you?

Do you have suggestions?

thanks in advance for your help,

Carter

JH
John Honovich
Sep 27, 2015
IPVM

Carter, does the customer pay you direct and then you pay the integrator monthly or?

What influence or say does the integrator have on the choice of camera or installation price?

In general, getting referrals from a provider / manufacturer is a big benefit for integrators (related Sales Leads Survey Results).

Avatar
Carter Maslan
Sep 28, 2015
Camio

Today, the customer pays online via credit card directly to Camio and Camio pays the integrator. But that's only because we've implemented online subscription management. If the integrator has its own billing system for the customer, then Camio can receive payment from the integrator instead.

The integrator chooses the camera/NVR and installation price. The only requirement is that the camera or NVR is capable of uploading motion-detected snapshots or encoded video for the duration of the motion event (which is supported well by suprisingly few camera/NVR makers).

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Sep 28, 2015

Personally, I wouldn’t sell this product/service. Too few camera options and it doesn't look like there’s any integration with intrusion systems. Video Verification at the central station is a growing market for us. Between this and the products/services we already offer, this seems to be a step backwards. We offer a solution where video is recorded both locally and in the cloud (upon alarm activation), video is also pushed to the phone for alarm verification or to the central station. Municipalities are starting to require video verification of an incident at the central station before priority police dispatch, this is where the market for products like this will be. Without integration at the central station and at the control panel. IMO I don’t see how a product like this will go very far. Right now, this seems more like a product for DIY and not for professionals.

To answer your question, the revenue model is attractive. But others are already doing it better.

(1)
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Sep 28, 2015
Nope, would never sell it. Too many companies out there doing it already. Quit trying to reinvent the wheel. Yawn.
JH
John Honovich
Sep 28, 2015
IPVM

2 and 3, you do realize that he said he's interesting in sending leads to you (i.e., installation referrals)?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Sep 28, 2015

I understand that, maybe someday this will be a product that we can look at. Knowing that there are better, more affordable solutions for small business/home owners. I would rather go in a different direction. Personally, I cant see puting this in my own home/business. Therefore I wouldnt feel comfortable installing it somewhere else, even if we were getting a referal for the work.

Avatar
Carter Maslan
Sep 28, 2015
Camio

Yes, Camio can talk to SurGard receivers for central station monitoring, and it's easy to add any other receivers that accept UDP/Contact ID messages over the Internet. Video verification is accessible via lightweight links like https://www.camio.com/?v=h1aeba0828lc that are available even after theft, fire, power loss, etc.

We see huge usability problems we can solve among many installations. So many people (even with high-end systems) cannot answer simple questions like "tell me if no one opened my business doors by 7am" or "when did the dog sitter leave?" - and most cannot browse remotely due to slow access to on-site systems that are insecure in their direct connections to devices.

JH
John Honovich
Sep 28, 2015
IPVM

"when did the dog sitter leave?"

How can you determine that exactly?

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Carter Maslan
Sep 28, 2015
Camio

Camio doesn't yet have the precision to tell you it's your dog sitter by recognition. But it does have the precision to show you any "people departing walkway" with sufficient browse speed that it's nearly equivalent in terms of usefulness (i.e. you see the dog sitter at-a-glance rather than wading through video)

U
Undisclosed #4
Sep 28, 2015

Of the 15 new installs a month in the revenue projection worksheet, how many of those would typically be referrals from the vsaas provider?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Sep 28, 2015
Yes, however I see too many headaches. My customers want a dvr in the house so they have control over it, and residential internet has enough problems as is...such as time warner can be out for hours on end. I would have more mad customers than happy, plus most customers don't want to pay a monthly fee when they can pay for a cheap recorder in the house. Dwg distribution played this already by offering cloud viewing/recording, and shut it down...not enough demand and price of upkeep too high.
(2)
Avatar
Carter Maslan
Sep 28, 2015
Camio

Most everyone has treated video surveillance as blackbox recordings only to be reviewed by timestamp for after-the-fact forensics rather than as an active source of useful info on a daily basis.

Camio won't do well with integrators selling that kind of video surveillance because the performance bar is so low (i.e. just record unwatched video). We're aiming to make it super-simple to see highlights of the gardeners or package deliveries like https://youtu.be/RX3Q8w2IVPQ.

TB
Todd Binkley
Oct 18, 2015

Carter,

In my opinion you're going to need to move outside the "typical" security integrator... They just don't get it and they don't want too. It's just like when VoIP was being deployed.. None of the legacy pbx vendors wanted anything to do with it. The point is they can't make a case for it because they simply don't want to. They're set in their ways of selling hardware one time with hopes of ongoing maintenance and support. Also a lot of them don't understand the Monthly Recurring Revenue model.

What I would suggest is target SMB IT integrators that already sell VoIP. They understand IP networks, routing, firewalls, QoS and Data. Also 9/10 of them offer an MSP service for ongoing monitoring. Lastly they can easily bundle it with their IP Phones and sell the SMB space all day long.

Selling VSaaS and IoT technologies requires IT companies not security integrators.. I hope that helps.

Note: I'm not saying "all" security integrators represent the "typical" integrator and those select integrators will simply find a way or at least won't rule it complete out until they can give it the dedication that it deserves.

Todd

SafeCamz.com

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