This evaluation is what we received in December of 04.   Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization Advisory Council, 13-14 December 2004 Ft. Lauderdale, FL http://www.oletc.org/ This summary details the council’s evaluation for the following technology: Forced Ignition – Forced Ignition is an automatic disabling and enabling system for patrol and first responder vehicles.  The system functions as an anti-theft and security device allowing the vehicle to operate only when the authorized driver is within the preset perimeter of the unit. CLOSED FORUM ●  Council members concur that there is tremendous value in this product.  The council is very impressed with this technology – it is a great design and well thought out; it provides a blanket solution to a nationwide issue. ●  The demonstration was outstanding and is what “sold the product,” according to council members. ●  Council members favor this technology’s ease of use, versatility, and minimal involvement on behalf of officers.  The options involving control of the light bar, radio, and locks are assets as well. ●  The council is split in its opinions regarding price.  About half believe that the price was reasonable, while half believe that the price is too high. ·        At the time of the demonstration the Forced Ignition System was priced at $849.00. We realize that cost is a huge factor in deciding our fate as a successful company and have been working to reduce cost.  With the current run of product, we have lowered the retail price to $349.95 and feel this will produce sufficient sales to overcome our initial cost and to spark a national sales campaign both in law enforcement and in the private sector.  ●  The present affiliation with a major law enforcement agency (xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx< name marked out for security)  lends excellent backing to this product. ●  Other areas to consider for application of this product include the taxi cab, fire department / ambulance, limo, and construction industries. ●  The council’s major concern with this technology is the pager, which runs on batteries. The pager must always be fully charged, or the officer must carry a spare; also, what happens when a pager is lost? ·        The Reflector (pager) is equipped with very low power circuitry. The reflector runs on two standard AAA Batteries allowing approximately six months (or more) of continuous operation. As a precautionary feature it is equipped with two low power alarms to warn of a low battery with at least three days warning before absolute battery loss.  The first warning is a visual LED blink atop the reflectors infrared faceplate. The second is an audible alarm that emits an annoying beep every ten minutes.  With two back up alarms and a three-day advanced warning we feel that the Forced Ignition System has shown its dedication and sincere approach to safety and reliability of its product. ·        What happens if the reflector is lost? Unlike keys, the Forced Ignition System has the ability to be programmed over and over again without compromising the encryption of the actual coding of the system. In short, the management personnel have the ability to reprogram a spare or existing reflector to operate any vehicle within his or her fleet. This operation is as simple as a mag loop-programming pass with a wand to the reflector, which takes about two minutes to complete. The management can also change the ID codes within the matched system of the lost reflector to disallow use of the lost reflector. With the Forced Ignition program and hardware installed in a laptop or PDA, the lost reflector (in the on position) can be located within approximately 50 feet.    ●  IP/patent issues for this technology must be impeccably researched. ·        Patent applications have been filed and published with the U.S. Patent Office along with foreign protection. ●  Security issues should be addressed as well.  What is the encryption sequence and how powerful is it?  Can the frequency be duplicated?  Could an entire patrol division be shut down with a replicated shutdown signal?  Answers to these issues must be made clear. ·        A 128-bit encryption algorithm protects Forced Ignition’s coding.  Just as we did with the battery protection, Forced Ignition went several steps further to protect the systems integrity. Redundancy has been somewhat over pressed within this system to include multiple layers of protection including: 1. The 128-bit encryption, 2. A random sequence of coding, 3. A very small signal-- less than 15ms. This alone makes finding the signal extremely difficult and, with the random sequence, a person would have to break the coding and put it to use within 3 to 5 seconds before the next signal is released.   ●  The consumer market for this technology should be explored.  At least one council member pointed out that in her district, fifty percent of all car thefts occur while a vehicle is warming up in the driveway or at the curb in front of a residence. ●  As such, this product should be marketed in the North and the South, where cars are left running all the time because of extreme cold and heat conditions. ●  The consumer market could be tapped by promoting that police agencies back this technology for their own fleets. ●  Council members expect that this product would do just as well in the consumer market as it would in the law enforcement market. ●  The presentation was excellent, especially, as mentioned above, the actual demonstration.