14 DAY TRIAL // More companies and organizations across the world are considering switching from their existing devices to Microsoft products, including tablets and smartphones, and the NYPD is the latest on this list.
According to new reports, the New York Police Department was granted a $160 million (€126,4 million) budget to test several devices on the market and replace the tools currently used by officers with more effective ones, no matter the operating system they run.
In a photo published by the NYPD itself, there’s not only a Windows tablet, but also a green Lumia 1520 which runs Windows Phone, so there’s no doubt that the department is at least considering switching to Microsoft’s smartphone platform in the coming months.
“This $160 million initiative will upgrade the NYPD’s mobile technology platform and fund it over the next three years, allowing the Department to outfit up to 6,000 police cars with ruggedized tablet computers, as well as provide 35,000 handheld devices to every police officer,” the NYPD said in a release.
What the NYPD needs
According to the very same press announcement, the NYPD is testing several capabilities of the devices included in the trial, including technology that would allow enhanced patrol efficiency and officer safety features.
The NYPD wants tablets and handhelds to “have the capability of directly receiving information pertaining to 911 emergency calls, often prior to radio dispatch, enabling swifter response to crimes in progress and requests for service.”
The new devices will also be supposed to help officers continue the counterterrorism fight by transmitting alerts through electronic devices, which according to the release “should include critical information and updates in a timely and coordinated manner.”
Microsoft already signed deals with major companies
This wouldn’t be the first time when Microsoft signed a deal with major organizations across the world to provide them with tablets and smartphones, as the company already found partners in many countries across the world in a wide variety of businesses.
In most of the cases, Surface tablets and Office 365 productivity suite subscriptions were the subject of the deal, so a partnership with the NYPD to provide them with tablets and smartphones wouldn’t be such a big surprise.
At this point, Microsoft is yet to release a statement on the current state of the NYPD trial, but there’s no doubt that the Redmond giant would be really glad to provide officers with devices to help them fight crime, as this could be not only a really good signing for its image, but also the kind of move that could really boost revenues and profits.