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Elton Crawford, VP, Operations, Route1
The Boardroom” On SecuritySolutionsWatch.com
Route1 (TSX:ROI)
We are honored to chat today with Elton Crawford, VP, Operations, about why Route1 is uniquely situated to deliver what the market is demanding in the ALPR (Automated License Plate Reader) space.” — Martin Eli, Publisher
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 12, 2022 /EINPresswire.com / -- We are honored to chat today with Elton Crawford, VP, Operations, about why Route1 ( ) is uniquely situated to deliver what the market is demanding in the ALPR (Automated License Plate Reader) space.
About Elton Crawford
Prior to joining Route1 Inc. in July 2022, Mr. Crawford served as the Assistant Director, Operations at the University of Arizona, Parking and Transportation Services Department where he delivered solutions for improvement in operational and information systems, with an emphasis on effective use of automated license plate recognition (“ALPR”) technology. Mr. Crawford also an Army Combat Veteran of the storied 101st Airborne, Air Assault Division with 23 years of experience as a leader in one of the largest and most diverse organizations on the planet.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Elton and congratulations on your new position at Route1 as Vice President, Operations. Before drilling down into your role and your perspectives on the ALPR market, please tell us more about your background.
Elton Crawford: Thank you. I am excited for the opportunity to share my perspective and passion for operations and ALPR. Serving in the military taught me the value and necessity of mastering the operational environment through effective communications, leveraging real time information that enabled decision making, and optimizing processes to achieve desired outcomes. Let me explain what I mean.
Before retiring in 2017, I served in a variety of leadership roles in some very fast paced and unique organizations who were asked to be successful in some very complex and dynamic operational environments. We planned, trained, and rehearsed at every level of the organization to hone our operational systems, processes, and skills so they would become a matter of routine. As you can imagine, becoming proficient in operations provided the best chance of achieving successful outcomes where the stakes were highest. After a couple of decades of exposure to this type of regiment and hyper focus on mastering the operational environment, it becomes a large part of who you are, how you think.
I think my operational mindset and the skills I learned in the military have a place in my chosen post military professional career, which has centered delivering ALPR, real time information and data solutions, and operational outcomes. I certainly found success in the application of these while serving as the Assistant Director, Operations, at the University of Arizona, Parking and Transportation Services Department and I am excited to apply them in my new role as the VP of Operations for Route1.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: We recently sat down with Tony Busseri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Route1 ( ), who shared with us his thoughts on the growth of the ALPR market. Given your extensive, hands-on experience in this space, as Assistant Director, Operations, at the University of Arizona, Parking and Transportation Services Department, please also share with us your perspective on the growth of this market.
Elton Crawford: The University of Arizona, Parking and Transportation Services Department was my first interview and job after retiring from the military. During the interview, I was able to effectively communicate the operational mindset and skills sets I could bring to their organization. I secured the position of Operations Manager, charged with establishing a new ALPR program and overhauling their Dispatch Center.
When I first assessed the Dispatch Center, I found their daily operations tasks and workflows where antiquated with a heavy reliance on exchanging paper copies or emails to complete most of their operations. These are ineffective, point-to-point and non-collaborative methods of communication which unnecessarily rob organizations of their resources and diminish their true operational capacity. Systems and communication were siloed and disconnected with no real time data or video capture technology available for the organization that could provide a sense of situational awareness or even enable decisions based on current parking activities and levels on campus. In short order, I recommended a variety of integrated solutions, including a video management system and the Genetec AutoVuTM ALPR technology to my leadership that could improve visualization of the parking environment and drive better decision making and profitability for the department.
The improved Dispatch Center, coupled with establishing a robust ALPR program provided a monumental increase in capability for the organization. While at the university, I was able established a robust ALPR deployment of mobile and fixed ALPR systems. This technology provided benefits to both the parking department and their customers. By optimizing enforcement processes and converting three of the parking garage facilities to gateless operations using AutoVuTM, Genetec, Inc. Free-flow and Multi-tenant technology, the University of Arizona, Parking and Transportation Services Department for the first time was able to offer customers touchless, virtual permit parking options while improving both operational proficiency of their staff and profitability.
Implementing those solutions in turn resulted in enhanced situational awareness and increased profitability for the department over the next four years with the added bonus of earning myself promotion to Senior Operations Manager and then Assistant Director, Operations.
In regard to future growth of this market, I think we are at a unique point in time for ALPR technology. Two to three years ago, there were some early adopters of the technology but for the most part the industry was still getting to know how ALPR could benefit their operations. Attending the recent 2022 International Parking and Mobility Conference (IPMI) in New Orleans, LA in July opened my eyes to an industry that is more educated on the technology and more customers who have deployments of it around the country. I took away the perspective that consumers are more knowledgeable now, most likely are using the technology in some form or fashion but were also still eager to get more of it and better integrate or unify ALPR into their existing ecosystems. I couldn't help thinking that consumers are looking for the next level of operational application of this technology and what a great time for me to assume this new role. The timing couldn't have been better because Route1 is postured uniquely to deliver what the market is demanding.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Let's talk about Route1's ALPR solution. One will read on Route1.com,“Route1 provides a complete suite of license plate recognition technologies and professional services to build smart, safe communities. Fixed and mobile camera systems automatically detect, read, and validate license plate information with the highest level of accuracy, giving clients real time insight into their operations and allowing them work more efficiently. Route1 offers end to end deployment services coupled with white-glove support, while leveraging proprietary security and privacy solutions.“ Care to elaborate about Route1's unique value proposition in the ALPR space?
Elton Crawford: I feel Route1 is uniquely situated to deliver what the market is demanding in the ALPR space. Route1's turn-key engineering experts, along with their leadership, are on point in helping clients visualize operational requirements and have a proven record of delivering real time information and data centric solutions that help consumers optimize operations and profitability. I certainly found this to be true in my role as the Assistant Director, Operations where I reached out to Route1 leadership to help me improve our operational video capture capabilities on campus. Probably the more important point here is that I found Route1 understood the vision and I could easily engage with them to help define what solutions were possible in achieving the desired outcomes.
To your second point, as an end user (EU) of ALPR technology for the past five years at the University of Arizona, we were fortunate to have Route1 as our integrator. I was encouraged that Tony Busseri and his team at Route1 heard my call to offer more robust Service Level Agreements (SLA) options to sustain our ALPR capability over the long term. This is simply visionary, and something no other integrator offers for ALPR. Martin, this is one of the primary reasons I stepped away from the university campus to join Route1 because I firmly believe that as ALPR technology becomes more prevalent in the industry spaces and these systems are accumulating more and more operational hours or subjected to end-of-life cycles, there must be consideration to help organization sustain operational readiness and momentum.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Route1's success story at the University of Arizona ( ) is truly quite impressive,“We had our first camera up within 20 minutes…. And though we planned to finish by 10 am before the first vaccination appointments, everything was done 10 minutes before cars began lining up at 9 am. We were fully operational from day one.” Care to elaborate?
Elton Crawford: This is a very good example of how Route1 helped define operational requirements, design unique solutions, and deliver operational capability to a client. This is something I have firsthand knowledge of and really goes beyond the norm. While serving as the Assistant Director, Operations, the University of Arizona, I was assigned to operate a state Point of Distribution (POD) for COVID 19 vaccinations. The POD was designed primarily as a drive up and through site. Given the unique operational design and mission, it was quickly discovered that we needed to learn how to keep the flow of traffic moving through the site and maximize the number of vaccinations administered each day. There was a lot of pressure to get this right and this had visibility of very senior leadership within the university and state government. It was very clear to me that we lacked the real time data necessary to optimize our operations, which centered around tracking vehicle movement through critical“stations” on site and the ability to properly identify delays in lane throughput. This in turn, hindered our ability to decide how best to deploy resources and staff and slowed progress in achieving our daily vaccination allocations and quotas. Route1 answered the call for help by providing a rapid and effective deployment of ALPR cameras which could produce vehicle“travel time” data, in real time, as vehicles moved through the site. Having this solution was key to optimizing our POD operations and enabling our team to direct resources that ultimately enabled 250,000 vaccines to be distributed to the Tucson, Arizona community.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: With a 25 year track record, and 1,600 employees, Genetec is clearly and important strategic partner for Route1 ( ) in the ALPR market. Please share with us more about this collaboration.
Elton Crawford: Genetec is an extremely important partner and trusted brand for Route1. Their ALPR offerings are on a solid foundation, and we are excited to be part of a team that continues to meet emerging demands of both the market and our clients. Route1 and Genetec share a multitude of touchpoints between our organizations which has allowed us to strengthen our partnership over the years to the benefit of both teams and our shared customers. Having a solid foundation with Genetec as a partner, has enabled Route1 to launch beyond traditional solutions and deliver unique, value-added solutions to our clients for many years. Genetec has and will remain a strategic partner to Route1.
Stephan Kaiser, AutoVuTM General Manager, Genetec, Inc. said,“Time and time again, Route1 has demonstrated their ability to go the extra mile and deliver new value and innovation. They help organizations use their physical security systems as strategic tools, and go beyond traditional Applications to deliver more value”.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Any other key strategic relationships you care to mention?
Elton Crawford: Route1 is committed to building and strengthening strategic partnerships. We see absolute value in working closely with T2 Systems, Passport Parking, iParq, LAZ Parking, SP Plus Corporation, and many other parking providers to not only increase new business opportunities, but to establish Route1's brand of choice for delivering turn-key engineering and professional services, operations optimization, and technology life-cycle maintenance and support, particularly for ALPR and other video capture based technology users. Beyond new business opportunities, we desire strong partnerships to enable our partners' successes partnership to enable our partners successes and create opportunities to remain active with existing, shared clients to help them maximize the use of the technology.
SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: The Route1“pivot” is clearly well under way ( ) with clear signs of growing traction in your target markets. Let's talk about the journey that Route1 clients and customers take with Route1 from“cradle to grave” and the Professional Services and Support ( ) that are central to achieving that level of long term success.
Elton Crawford: We continued to see improved levels of recurring revenue derived from our ALPR clients through improved support contracts. We expect to grow the annual value of support contracts to US $850,000 or more by Dec 31-22. As a note we started the year at a base of US $595,000.
in 000s US Dollars Q1-22 A
Technology life-cycle maintenance and support 165
in 000s US Dollars Q2-22 A
Technology life-cycle maintenance and support 182
in 000s US Dollars Q3-22 F
Technology life-cycle maintenance and support 198
We also added dedicated human resources in the first half of 2022 to support: (a) Route1's end user client experiences, and (b) channel partners that are either technology integrators, BPOs or parking facility management service providers. The net result has been improving client experiences and demand for the Company's turn-key engineering services.
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Martin Eli, Publisher
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