High Tide Technologies Distributors Conference

By HTT Experts - February 19, 2019

Overview

Each year, High Tide Technologies holds a distributors conference in Nashville, TN – our base of operations. It gives us the opportunity to connect with the people who sell our cloud-based SCADA products and services to utility companies all over the country.

At this year’s distributors conference, we discussed notable challenges and accomplishments from 2018, and provided a comprehensive overview of what to expect in the upcoming year. The annual event was held at the Hilton Garden Inn, located in Music City’s bustling downtown area. We had a blast welcoming over 50 of our distributors from all over the country.

The purpose of this recap is to outline the key takeaways from the conference for those who weren’t able to attend, while providing a refresher for those who were.

2018 In Review: Growth, Challenges & Accomplishments

It was a big year for High Tide Technologies. We were able to expand our internal and external operations while securing a key partnership with E/One. Additionally, we were able to upgrade and release TelemetryVIEW 2.0. Here are the 2018 highlights:

Growth

Shipped over 900 RTUs (Remote Telemetry Units), a hardware sales increase of 29% year-over-year
Gained 133 new customers
5 new distributors: FJ Nugent & Associates (Florida), Iowa Pump Works (Iowa & Nebraska), and Site Specific Design (Long Island & New York City), Water Tech Corporation (Louisiana), and
Great Lakes Water & Waste (Northern Ohio)
Hired 4 full-time employees to accommodate growth
System Status: Over 800 individual utility customers; 3,600 active sites installed; one large SCADA system with many end-users

Challenges

Fortunately, most of the challenges we faced in 2018 had to do with scaling growth and making updates to our system functionality. Ultimately, these challenges will help us better serve our distributors and clients.

Modem & Network Stability: Cat-M delays (moving forward, all new shipments will be LTE)
Increase in sales has stressed our staff and systems, leading to new additions to our team
Release of TelemetryVIEW 2.0

Accomplishments

All new modem shipments are now LTE CAT-1
Release of TelemetryVIEW 2.0
Signed contract with E/One

2019 Goals

Our business objectives for 2019 largely focus on continuing to refine our systems and while improving our internal processes. These goals are in alignment with our expressed objective to be the best cloud-based SCADA service provider in the industry.

REINVEST, REINVEST, REINVEST
Net 30% increase in staff
Focus on internal systems enhancements
Improve product support
Smooth upgrade of 2G Verizon modems
Continue to manage and expand our distribution network
Continue to enhance TelemetryVIEW to be the best in the industry
Complete SOC 2 Certification

Internal Systems Goals

Brand new ERP system that will integrate all our disconnected systems

Netsuite by Oracle
Better integrated quoting and ordering system
Better RMA system with tracking
Single customer database shared with product support ticketing, marketing, shipping, etc.
Integration of accounting functions with production systems

Product Support Goals

Create comprehensive manuals, help videos, etc. before new features and products are released
Collaborate with distributors to improve our process for acquiring startup information
Improve pre-release testing of web interface and hardware
Full ticketing system to make sure we can fully accommodate requests
Better connection between product support and production on RMAs

2G Upgrade Goals

The 2G upgrade will be a large undertaking that will require a coordinated effort on our part, as well as on the part of distributors and customers. The main points are listed below, but don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding the details of this transition. We have a great opportunity to shine above our competition during the upgrade process as long as procedures are followed.

1,300+ Verizon 2G modems go dead 12/31/2019
Assuming 10 months, we will average 130/month and probably peak at 200/month (50/week)

Marketing & Sales Update

Our marketing and sales initiatives are aimed at continuing to refine and improve our efforts to establish High Tide Technologies as a leading presence in the telemetry industry. To accomplish this feat, we have focused on improving customer/distributor support, as well as working to improve our visibility in both online and print media.

Over the past year, we have made large strides in competitive keyword rankings and will continue to prioritize organic growth. Additionally, we will be launching a Competitive Replacement Program to entice new business.

Successful Marketing Initiatives

Rebuilding & redesigning our website
Improving sales support
Creating targeted ads (print & web)
Content marketing (blogs, case studies, infographics, etc.)

Competitive Replacement Program

Verizon network upgrade taking place throughout 2019

Competitive units will be forced to upgrade modems
Modem upgrades are typically poorly executed

High Tide is offering a 30% discount for all competitive replacement units in 2019

Contact Sales (sales@htt io) regarding any competitive replacement project
Discount will be awarded on RTU sales only
Not communications or accessories sales
30% off distributor pricing
Call to discuss current features and/or functions to align with customer expectations
Note: Must be sites that currently have competitive units

Sales Support in 2019

New brochures in 2019
Training Visits/Sales Calls: We have had success with training visits & sales calls instead of regional trade shows. Training & sales calls can be scheduled together.

Events in 2019

We are open to continuing education and trade-show speaking engagements
Trade show support consists of banners, handouts, brochures, case studies, product sheets, and advertising

Marketing Summary

We will continue to establish High Tide Technologies’ presence on search results pages
We are offering a 30% hardware discount on competitive replacements
Contact us directly for sales calls, quotes, and case study opportunities
SOC 2 will be completed in 2019. We will update you when this is completed

Technology Update

Technology (and data providers) have an enormous impact on the SCADA and telemetry industry. It is imperative that we stay abreast of any developments so we can continue to provide the highest quality data monitoring to our customer base. Here are some relevant technology updates to be aware of on the horizon.

AT&T Update

1,230 3G or LTE units deployed
Only shipping LTE modems now
Preparing for 3G sunset at the end of 2021

Verizon Update

Kicking off 2G upgrade process today
1300+ 2G units in the field
600 LTE units already shipped
Still have roaming issues in Kentucky and West Virginia

Iridium Update

Iridium is still our preferred satellite commutations vendor
We have 430 Iridium installations active
Last satellite replacement launched January 11th by SpaceX
New more rugged antenna

What’s New?

Hardware & Firmware

All LTE on both Verizon and AT&T
Added Input LEDs to the RTU (last year)
Firmware enhancements:
- Improved stability and auto recover mechanisms

Accessories

Stocking and selling a lot of Pressure transducers
Surge arrestors and isolators
Pump Amp Switch and Transducers
Relays
Heaters, local displays, etc
Enclosure Desiccant Packs
Evaluating Time Transit and AVF Meters for resale
If you have something you need let us know and we will look into it

Seldom Used Features

We Need To Improve Education on:

Lift station Flow estimate based on WW geometries
Pump Amp monitoring
Multismart and PC242 pump controller Modbus Interface
Service Log
Local Low suction cut off with transducer

Operations Overview

What’s New?

New staff hires
New ERP system coming soon
New order forms coming soon
Order deadline
Order rush fee
New Iridium antenna
New Order Form: We love to have feedback about this process so we can continue to refine it

Important Reminders

Information About the 2G Upgrade

Procedure for receiving, swapping and returning

After receiving your purchase order, HTT will send a box with detailed instructions and a shipping label

2018 Sales Awards

It‘s important to recognize excellence. So we took some time at out annual distributors conference to acknowledge sales awards to the distributors who excelled in 2018.

Gold Award for 1^st place goes to: WASCON, Inc. (Tennessee/Kentucky)

Silver Award for 2^nd place goes to: Odessa Pumps (West Texas)

Bronze Award for 3^rd Place goes to: Trombold Equipment Company (West Virginia & Western Pennsylvania)

Most Improved Award goes to: J K Duren Company (Georgia)

Website Development Update

2018 Software Development Highlights

99.5% uptime
Continue customer roll out to the new site

General Highlights: SCADA HTT IO

2-Stage Authentication
Generic controls engine for more advanced interactions
Enhance Customer Configuration like changing to alternate controls schemes or taking pumps out of service
Paging graphs back to any date in history
Data is responsive to any screen size, making for optimal user experience
Improved Summary pages
Integrated Pump Graphic:
- Shows all pump related data in one block (HOA, AMPS, Seal fail, etc. )

2019 Software Development

To hire two additional people for our software development team
Analytic Alerts
Enhanced service history and logging, for example, recording operator-on-location using cell phone GPS
Performance improvements
SOC 2 will be an excellent security feature selling point

Product Support

Product Support Highlights

Added Stephen to our team in November and he is already taking calls
Last 6 months have been challenging as we scale growth
All new customers are being built on our new web interface
We have built most of the 800 customers new dashboards but have not had a chance to contact all the end users
Working on an improved ticketing system for larger tasks
More communications channels with installers like Slack
Preparing for the 1,300 Verizon 2G modem swaps: We will average 7 per day and probably do 15 on some days for the next 11 months

Best Ways To Reach Us

(877) 488-4882
(615) 256-6678
techsupport@htt.io
Slack chat channel (for some users)
Please do not call or text our direct lines or cell phones unless it is a genuine emergency

Distributors Conference Summary

During the conference, a reoccurring theme that we wanted to stress to our distributors is the importance we place on reinvestment. It will permeate all we do this year. By reinvesting, we aim to improve the quality of our products and services through improved processes and user experience.

Another point that we emphasized was the importance of everyone working together on the 2G upgrade project. This will be a concerted effort on our part, the part of the distributors, and the part of individual clients. A seamless transition is necessary for us to continue providing the highest quality cloud-based SCADA services without interruption.

In 2019, we look forward to continued company growth and the further refinement of our processes. We want to position ourselves to better serve our distributors and clients alike. Here’s to another great year! Thank you for being a part of the High Tide Technologies family. Your dedication and support have been a huge part of our success.

Fun Facts: HTT SCADA Trivia

How many text messages did our server send out in 2018?

451,246

How many voice calls did our server make in 2018?

92,541