Hey, I really appreciate the constructive feedback. You're absolutely right—if you don’t already know exactly what you’re looking for, the site isn’t doing much to guide you, and that’s something we need to improve. The ML1-FE and ML1-HS are actually the same microphone, just with different housings. These particular mics are heavily used in the self-service industry, and It’s purely a preference thing—some kiosk manufacturers like the look of the ML1-FE, while others go for the ML1-HS or ML1-TD. The ML1-FE, for example, is used in thousands of self-service kiosks worldwide from parking kiosks to ATMs.
Our target market for the last 32 years has mainly been distributors, dealers, and integrators, most of who already know exactly what they need. If we are ever assisting an end user, many of them also already know what type of mic they need because their camera’s instructions specify the right input type, but for those who don’t, yeah… there should definitely be some kind of guide to help steer them in the right direction. I’ll be working on that. Do you have any suggestions on how this should look?
As for pricing, unfortunately, our agreements with distributors prevent us from listing it on the website right now, though that may change soon since many of our distributors don’t honor our MSRP anyway. If you’re looking to buy online, you can check out
A1 Security Cameras,
123 Security Products,
Security Equipment Supply,
surveillance-video.com,
anixter.com,
CCTV.net, just to name a few. We manufacture the products, but the supply chain middlemen control a lot of how they’re sold. For example, although many distributors represent our products, only few of them actually stock our units because they're relatively niche products. Because of this, even though you may have placed an order through one of these distributors, often times we're the one's fulfilling these orders. (Giving us more and more incentive to begin selling directly with lower prices).
We do plan to start selling on Amazon in the future, so I contradicted myself a bit when I said, “Better than anything you can get on Amazon.” What I should have said is that a lot of the microphones you find there aren’t really built for commercial or large-scale installations, traditionally the type of installation we supply (think government buildings, hospitals, schools, police stations, etc).
Traditionally, we’re selling in bulk to distributors and manufacturers, not do DIYers, homeowners, or enthusiests, I mean afterall, this is an IP Cam forum. Microphones are essentially a camera accessory in the historical world of Security and Surveillance, far from the spotlight. I don't believe there is a surveillance microphone forum anywhere. Nonetheless, because of this I can certainly see how navigating the site as an end user isn’t the easiest. That said, this is a brand-new site—launched less than three weeks ago—so feedback like yours is super helpful.
For the sake of this thread, I should have pointed people to our distributors’ sites where pricing is actually listed. Is there anything else you’d find helpful to have on the website?
