First I want to thank all our customers for their continued support. If it was not for our customers and the grace of God we would not been successful all these years. Repeat customers are a sign a company is doing something right. GlobalCom has always been dedicated to find the needs of our customers even when we recommend another solution outside what we can offer.
2005 was the most active hurricane season in memory. The devastation caused by hurricane Katrina taught many of us hard lessons I hope we can use in the future. The demand for satellite phones during this period was overwhelming. GlobalCom sold over one thousand phones just during the month of September 2005.
Early in 2006, weather experts forecasted an active hurricane season. During the first half of 2006 demand for satellite phones were strong from customers preparing for the 2006 hurricane season. The demand for satellite phones during the first half of 2006 exceeded our projections by 100%. The 2006 hurricane season ended up being uneventful. Demand for phones after June was naturally lower compared to the same period in 2005.
Some of our existing power production distribution customers chose to prepare for the 2007 hurricane season by purchasing and activating hundreds of satellite phones. These customers will be ahead of the game prepared in the event their cellular and landline communications are disrupted. Due to an uneventful 2006 hurricane season I am concerned the public will become complacent. Not preparing for the 2007 hurricane season. In most cases people wait till the last minute when a hurricane is about to hit the coast before they think about preparing. Failure to plan is planning to fail. We live in a society that is accustomed to instant gratification. With a simple keystroke on the Internet or phone call we can have almost anything we want the next day. But if you wait till days before a hurricane hits the coast all the common carrier shippers stop shipping because they are preparing for the hurricane. So even if we have phones in stock it may not get to its destination till days after the hurricane. After Katrina customers were flying private aircraft into our location picking up phones and delivering them to the area of devastation because common carriers could not serve the area.
Some federal government agencies also failed to prepare. They did not have the necessary emergency satellite phone equipment in place before hurricane season. After realizing all communication would be disrupted after Katrina they decided to order satellite phones. At that point supply was low and demand was high so they were lucky to receive phones they needed. There were numerous logistic issues trying to get the phones in a timely manner in the end users hands.
During the frenzy after Katrina many of the users that received the phones did not take the time to read the instructions which in a number of cases caused problems with the usage. With a handheld satellite phone you must use the phone outside away from tall structures and trees. Many tried to use the phones indoors and around tall buildings. You must have line of site to one of the satellites for communication. It is extremely important organizations with emergency communication equipment regularly test the equipment and periodically train the users. “When all else fails read the instructions”. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Are you prepared for 2007?
