Evidence Management Software Licensing: What You Need to Know
April 25, 2019
What is an Evidence Management Software User License?
An evidence management software license is a legal agreement between the evidence management software provider and the purchaser that establishes the client’s right to use the software and which features they can access. The structure of these user licenses varies depending on the evidence management software provider.
Named Evidence Management Software Licenses vs. Concurrent Evidence Management Software Licenses
A named user license is individualized. Only the person named in the evidence management system may access the software. A concurrent user license allows a group of people to effectively share a license, but only one user per license may be logged in at any time. For most police and law enforcement agencies, the concurrent license model makes much more sense for their evidence management needs.
Why is the Concurrent License Model the Best Choice for Evidence Management Software?
- Price: Concurrent licensing can save an agency between 50-70% versus named licensing.
- Flexibility: If your organization employs multiple part-time resources, has different work shifts, or has variability of individuals needing access to the evidence management system, concurrent licenses provide needed flexibility without increasing cost.
- Software Development: The concurrent model puts the onus on the vendor to develop new features and improve the evidence management software. At Tracker Products, our clients do not pay for modules or add-ons. If we develop a new feature, it is included with SAFE’s concurrent license. Our clients only pay more if they want to use that new feature AND it promotes more people logging in. We are doing everything we can to give you more reason to have more people logging in; this ultimately drives a superior product.
How Many Concurrent Licenses Does My Agency Need?
As discussed, Tracker Products SAFE evidence management software is licensed by concurrent connectivity. We don’t care how many total users you have, how many total sites you have, how many total computers you have. All we care about is how many users need to log in at the exact same moment in time. So, if you purchased 5 concurrent licenses to the system you could have 5 users logged in at the exact same moment in time. If a 6th user attempted to log in, they would get a message that the system is out of licenses. They could come back at a later time or wait until a license becomes available. There are a few key factors for determining how many licenses you need.
- How many items do you enter per year in the evidence management system?
- What is the total number of evidence management users?
- How many of those users are “heavy” users (in the system all the time)?
- How many time zones are your users in? (the more spread out they are the more you can share connections).
The equation for determining how many CAL’s (Concurrent Access License)
If you are good at math and want to run this equation please feel free to do so. If you would rather not please contact a Tracker sales rep to get help.
A = What is the total number of items that you expect to enter per year?
B = Total number of heavy users?
C = Items entered per average session? (we typically go with 2… as in 2 items per session)
D = Average session time? (we typically go with 10… as in 10 minutes)
F = ((A / 260) / C)
G = F x D
H = 480 / D
and finally… (F / H) x D + B
That final equation will give you the total number of CAL’s that you will need.
Is this exact?
Like any projection, we are using the CAL calculator to help get you into the ballpark for what you need. In many cases, you are 90% assured that a license will be available for a user who needs one. That’s a 10% chance that a license won’t be available. Again, one of the key benefits of concurrent licensing is it’s flexibility, so even if these projections are off, it’s easy to add/subtract licenses to meet your needs.
Conclusion
We hope you found this post about licensing helpful in your search for the best evidence management system for your needs. Feel free to contact us with any questions about SAFE, and don’t forget to take advantage of our free evidence management comparison worksheet.
