Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Puts On a Show for Emergency Services

Notwithstanding attending its second major event in as many weeks, the TOUGHBOOK team left the Emergency Services Show in Birmingham with a spring in its step, given the range and depth of conversations with partners and system integrators. Furthermore, it provided a great opportunity for Panasonic to speak directly with so many end-user customers. 

Emergency Services Show Lives Up to its Billing

Billed as ‘the UK’s premier emergency services event’, this isn’t simply hyperbole for the Emergency Services Show – it truly is the one place where the entire industry comes together. This is partly due to a rather simple – and perhaps obvious – characteristic: the location of the NEC. With many of Panasonic TOUGHBOOK’s customers and prospects based outside of London, it’s an ideal opportunity for some face-to-face focus time with those we speak to on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. 

The turnout in Birmingham must have broken last year’s record-setting attendance, given the buzz on the show floor. Furthermore, TOUGHBOOK’s physical positioning within the NEC was perfect for us this year; it allowed us to be front and centre for key IT, operations, and fleet management decision-makers to stop by the stand, let alone capturing the attention of those who passed by and were genuinely interested in Panasonic’s technology. 

As I said earlier, you never stop learning; this is true for everyone at ESS. It was great to speak with so many who are already using TOUGHBOOKs – such as our dependable, high performance TOUGHBOOK 33 – who are looking at their replacement strategy when they come to the end of their device lifecycle, and educate them on what’s possible with Panasonic going forward. Naturally, we have a few things up our sleeves in terms of new and updated rugged models coming, that offer even greater performance, which I can’t go into here!

There was a lot of myth-busting and education taking place for those who don’t currently use TOUGHBOOKs, with many prospects currently using consumer-focused devices that are not fit for purpose in blue-light environments. There were many with very specific use cases, who have been experiencing high failure rates, so it was great to open their eyes to what’s possible when taking a different route, where customisable TOUGHBOOKs that can offer a very competitive total cost of ownership over the device lifecycle can be configured to specific requirements.

On a personal note, it was great to see Panasonic TOUGHBOOK technology being used across different stands – it really emphasises our position as the leading rugged tablet and notebook provider for the emergency services, and if anything, reminded me just how integrated Panasonic is with existing solutions. Clearly, we’re doing something right!