Frequently Asked Questions About Locution Systems

1. How do you pronounce the company name, and where does it come from?
2. Just what is this "natural voice" technology?
3. How did you develop this technology?
4. What are the company's origins?
5. Why haven't I heard about Locution Systems?
6. What's the company’s financial status?
7. Who are some of your customers?
8. Is your technology proprietary?
9. Your system seems to do what other dispatching and fire station alerting systems do. What makes it so different and state-of-the-art?
10) How's this technology being received?

1. How do you pronounce the company name, and where does it come from?
It's pronounced "Low-KYOO-shun," which refers to the quality and clarity of speech. Our automated dispatching technology is based on the "Mercedes" of speech technology – hence the company's speech-themed name.

2. Just what is this voice technology?
Our voice technology is based on the most advanced speech technology available today: concatenated speech – which sounds the most crisp, clear, and natural.

3. How did you develop this technology?
Our CEO, Glenn Neal, is an engineer and long-time public safety technology pioneer. He started developing this technology roughly 20 years ago, and the current version takes full advantage of all the advances in computers, such as increased memory and processing power, faster data transmission, Web-based technologies, and more.

4. What are the company's origins?
Locution Systems, Inc. has been in business since 1986, and has focused exclusively on technology for the public safety arena. The company originally was founded by Glenn Neal, an engineer who developed a specialty in speech technology, and the fledgling company was called GCN Electronics back in those days. The company was formally re-named Locution Systems, Inc. in 1993. Since then, the company has invested heavily in the research and development necessary to develop a whole new technology for public safety applications, which is based on universal technology standards and protocols. This adherence to universal technology standards makes it much easier to migrate as technology advances and standards change.

5. Why haven't I heard about Locution Systems?
Some people think our company has become successful over night. Not so. It literally took years to develop the voice technology that drives the company’s speech "engine," which, in turn, drives the automated dispatching portion of the system. The company has been working quietly to set a new standard for public safety dispatching and fire station alerting. We’ve accomplished that. And now it’s time to speak out about what we’re doing to public safety departments of all sizes.

6. What's the company's financial status?
Locution Systems, Inc. doesn't reveal proprietary financial information. However, the company is self-funded, privately held and profitable -- with plenty of financial "staying power."

7. Who are some of your customers?
Our customers come in all shapes and sizes. We serve the city of Visalia, California (4 fire stations) all the way up to the Cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. We can serve such a wide range of customers because our technology is highly scalable and can be configured to meet the needs of small, medium, and large public safety departments.

8. Is your technology proprietary?
Yes and no. The speech "engine" that we've developed is proprietary technology. However, all our systems have been designed to industry-standard specifications. So that means our proprietary software for dispatching and fire station alerting runs on off-the-shelf hardware, which makes it quite cost effective.

9. Your system seems to do what other dispatching and fire station alerting systems do. What makes it so different and state-of-the-art?
The Locution Systems family of products are in a class by themselves for several reasons.

	•	One, our system is software-based, which offers SIGNIFICANT advantages. A software-based system is MUCH easier to upgrade, and can be upgraded remotely. An old-fashioned hardware-based system would require a visit to each fire station to change out each chip for upgrades…we can do this remotely and at any hour of the day or night.
	•	Two, our speech technology (dispatching) component of the system features far more functionality than other systems claim to offer. In fact, our dispatching system sounds so real that many people don’t believe it’s a voice file coming out of the computer.
	•	Third, our system is lightning fast and maneuverable. For instance, we recently had to test the dispatching speed for one of our installations. We found that the Locution system sent multiple dispatches to multiple locations in less than a half second.

10. How's this technology being received?
The reception to our public safety technology has been phenomenal. Most of the time, when we brief people on what our products do, their main comment is: "This is exactly what I've been looking for!" Once the system is installed, and brought on line, the faster response times make believers out of anyone who wasn't sure about the new technology.