The agreement possibly might be had by simply doing a public records request. I've gotten plenty of project and contract documents before simply sending an email to someone requesting them. But different states will have different rules and policies.

Here is the full Dean Drako School Security Camera System Report. It is light on methodology so it is hard to tell how or who they actually asked:

Multiple surveys were executed over the time period from January 2016 through March 2016, targeting adults throughout all regions of the United States. An outside survey service was used to run the survey, with an independent source list.

Smartvue was founded in 1998 and launched its first cloud solution long before Eagle Eye. We have been leaders in this space with 45 patents and today we upload 28 million minutes of video to our cloud everyday, more than YouTube's last published number. -Martin Renkis, Founder + CEO Smartvue

Some may conclude, might as well take 1 free, dump it later if need be, rather than have to get money to pay up front.

Yes, I say take the deal. Wire everything for easy disconnect. After a year, negotiate a new deal, it's not like EE really wants their year old equipment back. If the deal still isn't good enough, pop everything off the wall and reuse the cable and server closet with Hikua equipment, or someone else offering a grant.

Jeff,

Thanks for the feedback!

try before you buy, for 1 year?

That's a totally fair way to frame the offer and if Eagle Eye had labelled this "Eagle Eye Offers Schools 1 Year Free Trial" I would have no objection.

But they did not. They choose to spin it as:

Eagle Eye Networks CEO Dean Drako Announces $1,000,000 Drako Cloud Security Grant for Schools

That is what I am objecting to, calling this a grant and including the one million dollar figure.

And then in the fine print, they structured it to be a 1 year grant trial maximizes the sales benefit to Eagle Eye and minimizes the utility to each school. Let's say the 'value' of each 1 year trial is $10,000, to use a round number. What this is, in reality, is up to a hundred 12 month trials for schools.

And, as a sales promotion, for a startup with little track record and low name recognition, it is a good one.

But it is not a grant, and it is deceptive for Drako to frame it as such.

3, interesting find.

Worth noting on the Video Insight grant, they are giving away 48 VMS licenses (perpetual, not trial nor time limited) as well as hardware (16 cameras and an encoder). None of that has to be returned, unlike Drako's 'grant'.

"Mr. Honovich.... Take down this post!"

The schools know the deal up front!!! Drako is giving away 1 year of free services!!!
How is that bad? How is that unfair???

Kenny, it could be bad in a lot of ways. Maybe there are restocking fees, or maybe there are limitations that push you into the sale before you are ready, e.g. "The free version is limited to X GB per camera per month and 12 events".

Shouldn't we take a look at the actual agreement before assuming altruistic motives?

Kenny,

Thanks for the feedback.

As I replied to Jeff above, it is how they have presented it. If they would have promoted it as '"Eagle Eye Offers Schools 1 Year Free Trial" I would have no objection.

And it is quite obvious they presented like they did because they wanted to get the extra PR benefit of making a grant / donation for "one million dollars".

Hey Mr. Honovich, most of your subscribers have kids that go to school, so why not "do the right thing" and give all your subscribers with kids in school free access to IPVM?

Is that your analogy to what Drako is offering?

Would this be "doing the right thing"?

*Warning - the following is only illustrative of what a similar "Grant" by IPVM would look like. It is fiction, though.

IP Video Marketplace CEO Announces $10,000 Honivich Subscription Security Grant for Schools

Accredited K-12, Colleges can receive one year grant for a IPVM subscription...

IPVM announced today that it has funded the Honovich Security Subscription Grant for Schools for up to $10,000; individual schools who are awarded the grant will receive a fully functional security subscription login (1) — including a camera calculator and finder and, mobile phone remote access applications, as well as information on cameras, networking equipment to connect IP cameras, and secure gateways to the cloud — at no cost for 1 year. Eligible schools include accredited private and public schools in the United States: elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges.

“We are funding this subscription security grant to make it easier for more schools to provide the highest level of safety to their students and staff by providing the best information about their security options,” said John Honovich, president & CEO, IPVM. “IPVM's industry leading coverage of video surveillance offers many benefits to improve campus security information, including group membership management, leading mobile access, scalability, and an overall lower total cost of ownership.”

The Honovich Security Subscription Grant for Schools is appealing to help schools offset costs, as more districts move to include security camera coverage on campuses, and wish to ensure their surveillance systems are chosen wisely.

School grant recipients who wish to add new users are responsible for the cost of additional logins and setup. At the end of the 12 months, if the school chooses to continue using IPVM, they would purchase by renewing their IPVM subscription. The school also has the option to discontinue use at no charge.

Grant winners will be selected based on the merits and timeliness of their application.