Soundthinking Inc's Competitiveness

Our ShotSpotter Flex solution is unique because it provides scalable wide area surveillance over large and geographically diverse areas, provides immediate and precise data on gunfire, helps communities define the scope of illegal gunfire, and provides cities with detailed forensic data for investigation, prosecution and analysis. While we are not aware of any direct competitors offering wide-area solutions comparable to ShotSpotter Flex, we believe the primary competitors in the broader gunfire detection space are Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Raytheon Company, V5 Systems, Safety Dynamics, Inc. and Thales Group.

Most of these other outdoor solutions on the market offer limited scope point protection, also known as “counter-sniper systems.” These systems are designed primarily well for defined military or SWAT team applications, where the target is known in advance and it is possible to put a sensor directionally toward the target. However, urban areas and critical infrastructure require a wider system of protection that can cover a large area.

Although there are not direct competitors for our public safety solution of concern, we do compete with other possible uses of the limited funding available to our ShotSpotter Flex customers. Because law enforcement agencies or government entities have limited funds, they may have to choose among resources or solutions that help them to meet their overall mission. Accordingly, we compete not only with our customers’ internal budget decisions, but with numerous companies vying for these limited funds, including Everbridge, Inc. and Axon Enterprises, Inc., among others. We believe that in areas with significant levels of gun activity, ShotSpotter Flex is uniquely positioned to assist customers in interrupting, detecting and preventing gun violence.

Our security solutions business operates in a highly competitive environment. In addition to other gunfire detection companies, we may face competition from companies offering alternative security technologies, such as video surveillance, access control, alarm and lighting systems. The direct competitors for security solutions include the Guardian system by Shooter Detection Systems LLC, SENTRI by Safety Dynamics Inc., V5 Systems and AmberBox, Inc. We believe none of our security solutions competitors is able to offer the comprehensive outdoor coverage we do.

To date, while we have seen growing interest in our security solutions, interest in the indoor gunshot detection offering has been limited. We expect future customer deployments for our security solutions to consist primarily of outdoor gunshot detection deployments. We are evaluating our options with regard to our indoor gunshot detection offering, which may include ceasing to offer indoor gunshot detection or partnering with an indoor gunshot detection solution provider.