Product Evaluations

  
Business success results from competitive superiority in economics (pricing), marketing (awareness/persuasion), and performance (installer & user benefits). But when functionality is questionable, competitive positioning is lost, economics and marketing mean little, and a supplier's credibility can actually suffer. As a client service, Freeman Labs evaluates numerous hardware and software products and systems some of which need revising and others that immediately perform as promised. Combined with J.P. Freeman's extensive market knowledge, these objective evaluations and white papers have been vital to the success of many new products and line extensions.

Labs Background & Procedure

Freeman Labs was inaugurated in 1997 to meet client requests for technical as well as business consulting services. Technology advancements, building automation, IT convergence, and the world's current security environment have intensified this need. Test configurations can be customized in any manner but are usually performed in the following formats from lowest to highest cost:

  • A critique of written product designs, market rationale/positioning, and engineering papers when no prototype or working model is available.
  • A performance test of a working prototype or production model in relation to its written product design objectives and market rationale/position.
  • A simultaneous performance test of prototype or model along with that of a competitive product regarded as the performance benchmark.
Freeman Labs' client procedure is to have a generic conversation about objectives, sign an NDA, receive confidential information about the product, system, or service; and propose an evaluation methodology. The proposal can be accepted or modified as needed. In head-to-head competitive tests competitive products are acquired through distributors as normal purchases.

Client Advantages in the Marketplace

Since the credibility of product performance claims are essential, Freeman Labs can independently ascertain many issues including whether a product:

  • Meets the claims of its producer
  • Requires modification before market introduction
  • Meets industry standards
  • Can use a cost or performance idea not originally planned
  • Meets its pricing, TCO, and value proposition objectives
  • Is easy to install and use

Labs Services

Within the primary role described above, Freeman Labs:

  • Tests a wide variety of electronic and electro-mechanical products;
  • Develops products, systems, and services to fill un-served market niches;
  • Applies technology to the modernization of product/system functionality;
  • Provides product and technology selection advice to large OEM marketers;
  • Provides advanced system design and integration capabilities for high-performance, cost-effective security and surveillance systems;
  • Qualifies products and systems for UL, CE, and FCC certification;
  • Simplifies installation procedures to reduce costs and raise brand loyalty;
  • Reduces test and evaluation costs for manufacturers through the use of an independent and reputable lab;
  • Develops information as the basis for strong marketing campaigns, including independent endorsements.