I was wondering if it seems to anyone else that Briefcam is in trouble? We had an integration deal to use it with one of the industry-best VMS's, and then when we were about to close the deal, our integrator said Briefcam relented, stating management had changed and they needed a ton of additional fees . According to our partner, they wouldn't honor the previous written quote and they said their cost for licensing FR had gone way up. This doesn't sound good as a long-term strategy for winning friends and influencing people. Your thoughts?
Subscriber Discussion
Briefcam Would Not Honor Quote, Charged A Ton Of Additional Fees, What's Happening?
U
Undisclosed #2
Mar 03, 2019...management had changed and they needed a ton of additional fees.
Referring to Canon Acquires Briefcam, or something more recent?
UE
Undisclosed End User #1
Mar 03, 2019It was definitely after the acquisition that the quote changed, but I don't know if it had anything to do with the transition. Sorry, but I can't tell you the exact circumstances on their back end. It just seems like it shouldn't matter to us as customers, and I'm looking for that insight. I've heard great things about Briefcam, but I don't think they have much footing in retail. After seeing the "new" costs, I can understand why!
JH
John Honovich
Mar 03, 2019#1, thanks for sharing. Note: I changed the title to be more descriptive. If that's not accurate, let me know and I'll adjust.
Question:
integration deal to use it with one of the industry-best VMS's
Is this Milestone or someone else? I ask because, as #1 alludes to, Canon acquired Briefcam last year and Briefcam is now even closer with Milestone. So I wonder what impact that has?
I've reached out to Briefcam management for feedback.
U
Undisclosed #2
Mar 03, 2019UE
Undisclosed End User #1
Mar 03, 2019John, out of respect for the other partners involved, I'd prefer not to go into further VMS description. It's safe to say that Briefcam is already well integrated into the VMS platform and on the surface doesn't seem to be related to the VMS. Again, I honestly don't know the back-end of their company, but this was a great opportunity for Briefcam to get their product into a visible place in retail, and the concern seemed to be more around either providing the wrong specs up front and not wanting to honor the commitment or simply wanting to ensure maximum markup. This is possibly in light of third party FR licensing fees that have increased after the quote was given. I'm still considering Briefcam in a much more limited fashion, but I sense that there might be some internal turmoil. If so, I'd like to hear the community feedback and know that before I integrate their features into the operation.
JH
John Honovich
Mar 03, 2019#1, can you at least confirm whether it's Milestone or not? I am curious if the choice of VMS had any role.
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
Mar 04, 2019I think another important thing to note is the time from the original quote to purchase. Are we talking 30,60,90 days or 12 months?
UE
Undisclosed End User #1
Mar 04, 2019It was within the term specified as valid in the quote. You're not going to find anything stupid on this end.
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
Mar 04, 2019Yea, if there's no change in scope on your end, that's a bad situation to be put in. I find it odd that they wouldn't know about a price hike previously and have quotes expire that day. I imagine it is mostly likely a big mistake by the sales guy and at this point and he's trying to save face.
U
Undisclosed #4
Mar 04, 2019If the quote is still valid, and they are changing the terms, I would never do business with them again.
Jack Ives
Mar 04, 2019According to our partner, they wouldn't honor the previous written quote and they said their cost for licensing FR had gone way up.
Do you have any insight into who the third party FR company is?
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #5
Mar 04, 2019I know the software has gone through major changes in the past year or so. I have seen that with that and an expansion in their sales force that there has been some quoting confusion at times.
That bring said, when we have worked with them they have gone above and beyond to make sure us and the customer are satisfied.
U
Undisclosed #6
Mar 04, 2019FWIW, I do not think BriefCam is in trouble, in fact I think they feel just the opposite, and that may be part of your issue. Before their acquisition they may have felt more pressure to get revenue and resorted to more discounting than they would have liked. Now that they are owned by Canon, and presumably well funded, they have less incentive to tkae "bad deals", and may even have strong incentive (or orders) to focus on profitability and solid margins.
Pure speculation, but overall your situation does not seem entirely surprising to me.
JH
John Honovich
Mar 04, 2019#1, here is Briefcam's response:
It is concerning to hear this feedback, as it is not aligned with our company values in general and with the management mandate to honor all previous quotes until 3/31/19. In addition, the narrative doesn’t seem to map to our current pricing models. The 2019 pricing structure is in-fact different than years prior, however cost/price per channel is not significantly different, and it provides the buyer with more flexibility for procuring BriefCam. We would however love the opportunity to connect with the end user to work through the pricing concerns, and get to the bottom of the issue.
BriefCam has just come off of another record year in terms of exponential revenue growth, number of new customers, number of customers upsold, and securing our largest deals to-date, while also significantly expanding our global employee footprint.
Let me know if you want me to connect you to them.
Jack Ives
Mar 05, 2019The posting cited increased licensing costs for the FR engine Briefcam is using as the reason for not honoring the quotation.
I'll ask again, what FR engine is Briefcam licensing?
UI
Undisclosed Integrator #7
Apr 06, 2019Just wondering, what the outcome was here? Milestone referred us to Briefcam due to a recent client inquiry.
Is it possible, the integrator was the issue, raising prices, maybe did not quote the project right?
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