Company Name: Cradlepoint
Headquarters: Boise, ID
Signature Product: Cloud Managed 4G LTE In-Vehicle Router
Website: https://cradlepoint.com/4g-lte-network-solutions-first-responders
Cradlepoint is the global leader in cloud-delivered wireless edge solutions for branch, mobile, and IoT networks. Cradlepoint’s Elastic Edge™ vision — powered by NetCloud services —provides a blueprint for agile, pervasive and software-driven wireless WANs that leverage 4G and 5G services to connect people, places, and things everywhere with resiliency, security, and control.
Q&A:
1. Where did your company name originate from?
We were the first company to create a product that turned a cell signal into a personal WiFi hot spot. Initially, there was a cradle that attached to the phone, or that the phone “cradled” in, that created the WiFi signal.
2. What was the inspiration behind starting your company?
In 2006, the company realized that networking would eventually go from wired to all wireless. Cradlepoint become the first company to create a 4G LTE wireless business-grade router and will be the first to market with a 5G router.
3. What is your signature product and how does it work?
For first responders, our signature product is our COR IBR1700 NetCloud Solution Package. This solution was purpose-built and brings dual-modem/dual-SIM connectivity options and cloud management to deliver enterprise networking capabilities for a wide range of mobile applications that require secure, always-on connectivity.
4. Why do you believe your products are essential to the police community?
First responders need always-on internet connectivity in the field because they depend on digital and connected technologies to help quickly provide life-saving assistance, deal with crisis situations, and bring order to chaotic situations. Cradlepoint’s ruggedized and ultra-reliable solutions keep first responders ready and prepared, connected and out in the field, and improve communication which helps to speed up response times.
5. What makes your company unique?
We love being in Boise, Idaho. In addition to our location, our deep experience and knowledge of cellular networking from all major worldwide carriers and operators also makes our company unique.
6. What do your customers like best about your products?
Ease of use and the fact that our solutions do a great job. Some of our most common feedback is the fact that Cradlepoint solutions just work, there is little needed to get things set up and very little troubleshooting. We also hear a lot about our great 24x7 customer service.
7. What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder/local government community?
We are honored to be able to help “connect and serve” those who protect and serve us. Our goal is to support first responders by improving their ability to communicate with one another, to have always-on connectivity for devices, and keep officers connected to leading edge technologies that make them more efficient—and provide better outcomes to the communities they serve.
8. Do you support any charitable organizations within public safety/community? Tell us more.
Yes, we make donations to many state and local first responder organizations across the U.S. You can see some of the charity work we’ve done in the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ho3KRd2qhg
9. What’s next for your company? Any upcoming new projects or initiatives?
5G is one of the most anticipated technologies of the 21st century. It has the potential to disrupt how we communicate and live. It opens the possibility of truly freeing work from being bound by location, and of bringing unprecedented levels of connectivity to areas that have had limited options. Cradlepoint is helping organizations to develop a clearer picture of how 5G fits within organizations’ existing technology and business roadmap, plus how it will impact their network design.