About Spok Holdings

Spok Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Spok) operate as a global leader in healthcare communications. The company delivers clinical information to care teams when and where it matters most to improve patient outcomes. Top hospitals rely on Spok products and services to enhance workflows for clinicians, support administrative compliance, and provide a better experience for patients. The company delivers smart, reliable clinical communication and collaboration solutions to help protect the health, well-being, and safety of people in the United States and abroad, on a limited basis, in Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. The company’s customers rely on Spok for workflow improvement, secure texting, paging services, contact center optimization, and public safety response. The company develops, sells, and supports enterprise-wide systems primarily for healthcare and other organizations needing to automate, centralize, and standardize their approach to clinical communications. The company’s solutions can be found in prominent hospitals, large government agencies, leading public safety institutions, colleges and universities; large hotels, resorts and casinos; and well-known manufacturers. The company offers its services and products to three major market segments: healthcare, government, and large enterprise, with a greater emphasis on the healthcare market segment. In 2022, the company discontinued Spok Go. Sales and Marketing The company offers a focused suite of unified clinical communication and collaboration solutions primarily to organizations in the healthcare sector. The company generates wireless revenue from the sales of wireless messaging services, equipment, maintenance plans and/or equipment loss protection to both one-way and two-way messaging subscribers. The company generates software revenue from the sale of its software solutions, including software licenses, professional services, equipment the company procures from third parties, and post-contract support. Sales The company markets and distributes its clinical communication and collaboration solutions through a direct sales force and an indirect sales channel. The direct sales force contracts or sells products, solutions, messaging services and other services directly to customers ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to companies in the Fortune 1000, as well as federal, state, and local government agencies. The company will continue to market primarily to commercial enterprises, with a focus on healthcare organizations, interested in the company’s communication solutions. The company maintains a sales presence in key markets throughout the United States, and in limited markets internationally through strategic partnerships, in an effort to gain new customers and to retain and increase sales to existing customers. The direct sales force targets leadership responsible for the procurement of clinical communication and collaboration solutions such as chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief medical officers, chief nursing officers, information technology directors, telecommunications directors, laboratory directors, radiology directors and contact center managers. The timing for a direct sale varies but may take from six to 18 months depending on the type and scope of software solution. The indirect sales channel complements the company’s direct sales force. Through relationships with alliance partners, the company is able to sell its solutions to a wider customer base. For wireless services that the company does not provide directly, the company contracts with and invoices an intermediary for airtime services. For the company’s software sales, relationships with alliance partners assist the company in broadening the distribution of its products and further diversifying into markets outside of the healthcare provider vertical, as well as in the Asia Pacific region. The company expects to continue to build its alliance partner relationships to expand and broaden the company’s distribution efforts in 2024. Marketing The company has a centralized marketing function, which is focused on supporting the company’s solutions and sales efforts by strengthening the company’s corporate brand, generating sales leads, and facilitating the sales process. The company’s principal marketing programs include: Website development and maintenance, which provides product and Company information, customer support options, paging capabilities, as well as thought leadership and engagement; Content marketing (e.g., eBriefs, case studies, brochures, videos and infographics) as an underlying foundation of all marketing campaigns or initiatives; Webinars about customer successes, current industry trends, and the company’s solutions; Social media involvement to provide information regarding upcoming educational events or new product offerings; Blog posts to provide information about industry trends and the company’s solutions to customers, prospects, and alliances; Participation at trade shows and industry events, such as Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), and other healthcare information technology related shows and conferences; and Annual customer conferences (virtual) that solicit feedback on the company’s solutions and services. Licenses and Messaging Networks In order to provide the company’s wireless services, the company holds licenses to operate on various frequencies in the 900 MHz narrowband. The company is licensed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (the ‘FCC’) to operate Commercial Mobile Radio Services (‘CMRS’). These licenses are required to provide one-way and two-way messaging services over the company’s networks. The company’s messaging networks and related infrastructure are located exclusively in the United States. The company operates local, regional and nationwide one-way networks, which enable subscribers to receive messages over a desired geographic area. One-way networks operating in 900 MHz frequency bands utilize the FLEX protocol developed by Motorola Mobility, Inc. (‘Motorola’). The FLEX protocol has advantages of functioning at higher network speeds (which increases the volume of messages that can be transmitted over the network) and of having more robust error correction (which facilitates message delivery to a device with fewer transmission errors). The company’s two-way networks utilize the ReFLEX 25 protocol, also developed by Motorola. ReFLEX 25 promotes spectrum efficiency and high network capacity by dividing coverage areas into zones and sub-zones. Messages are directed to the zone or sub-zone where the subscriber is located, allowing the same frequency to be reused to carry different traffic in other zones or sub-zones. As a result, the ReFLEX 25 protocol allows the two-way network to transmit substantially more messages than a one-way network using the FLEX protocols. The two-way network also provides for assured message delivery. The network stores, for a limited amount of time, messages that could not be delivered to a device that is out of coverage for any reason, and when the unit returns to service, those messages are delivered. The two-way paging network operates under a set of licenses called narrowband Personal Communications Service, which uses 900 MHz frequencies. These licenses require certain minimum five and ten-year build-out commitments established by the FCC, which have been satisfied. Although the capacities of the company’s networks vary by geographic area, the company has excess capacity at a consolidated level. The company has implemented a plan to manage network capacity and to improve overall network efficiency by consolidating subscribers onto fewer, higher capacity networks with increased transmission speeds. This plan is referred to as network rationalization. Network rationalization will result in fewer networks, and therefore, fewer transmitter locations. Generally, the company’s software solutions do not require licenses or permits from federal, state and/or local government agencies in order to be sold to customers. However, certain of the company’s software products are subject to regulation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) and are subject to certification by the Joint Interoperability Test Command to be sold to the branches of the armed services of the United States and the United States government. Strategy The company’s strategies are to acquire new customers and expand relationships within the company’s existing customer base; minimize wireless revenue attrition; and enhance existing software applications. Products and Services Wireless Products and Related Services The company offers subscriptions to one-way or two-way messaging services for a periodic (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual) service fee. The level of service fees is generally based upon the type of service provided, the geographic area covered, the number of devices provided to the customer and the period of commitment. The company also sells devices to resellers who lease or resell them to their subscribers and then sell messaging services utilizing the company’s networks. Legacy Wireless Services A subscriber to one-way messaging services may select coverage on a local, regional, or nationwide basis to best meet their messaging needs, while two-way messaging is generally offered on a nationwide basis. In addition, subscribers either contract to use a messaging device that the company owns for an additional fixed monthly fee, or they own the device used, after either purchasing it from the company or from another vendor. The company offers exclusive one-way (T5) and two-way (T52) alphanumeric pagers that are configurable to support unencrypted or encrypted operation. When configured for encryption, these devices utilize AES-128 bit encryption, screen locking and remote wipe capabilities. With encryption, these secure paging devices enhance the company’s service offerings to the healthcare community by adding Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (‘HIPAA’) security capabilities to the low cost and high reliability and availability benefits of paging. The company also offers ancillary services, such as voicemail and equipment loss or maintenance protection, which help increase the monthly recurring revenue the company receives, along with these traditional messaging services. GenA Pagers On November 16, 2021, the company announced the launch of its newest pager, GenA. This one-way alphanumeric pager, available on the company’s wide-area paging network, features a high resolution ePaper display, intuitive modern user interface, advanced HIPAA-compliant encryption and security features, over-the-air remote programming, and an antimicrobial housing. The ePaper display advances the user experience with its larger screen featuring a high-resolution, high-contrast display for easy reading in all conditions, while an automatic front-light eases reading messages in the dark. Users can select from various font sizes, and the large GenA display also leverages proportional fonts to maximize key information on a single screen. GenA pagers also allow for superior message reception in buildings with difficult coverage conditions using the high-powered Spok 900MHz simulcast network. Enhanced over-the-air (OTA) programming through the Spok My Account customer web portal enables remote pager configuration changes, such as updating the user’s name on the pager, assigning a pager to a group, deleting message data and encryption keys, modifying global security settings, and remotely unlocking the device. The GenA pager also provides advanced message management features allowing critical messages to be locked to prevent deletion or saved to a separate folder. In addition, separate inbox folders can be set up for group messages. The GenA pager is the only product available on the market with these capabilities, and the company maintains an exclusive arrangement with the product's manufacturer whereby it may not market or sell the product to any third party without the company’s consent. Given the uniqueness of the GenA pager, its development is a key initiative that may help slow the company’s wireless revenue attrition. Software The company offers a number of solutions, providing its customers with the ability to communicate anywhere, anytime across a number of situations. The company’s solutions are used for contact centers, clinical alerting and notification, mobile communications and messaging, and for public safety notifications. Spok Care Connect Suite Contact Center Spok Healthcare Console: Provides operators with the information needed to process calls using their computers with just a few keystrokes. This solution integrates with the customers’ existing phone systems and is used by the operator group to answer incoming calls to the contact center. Operators can quickly and accurately perform directory searches and code calls, as well as messaging and paging by individuals, groups, and roles using the Spok Healthcare Console’s computer telephony integration and directory capabilities. Spok Web-Based Directory: Makes employee contact information more accessible and enables staff to send messages quickly right from the directory. Authenticated users can log on anywhere, anytime to perform a variety of important updates to contact information and on-call schedules, search the directory, and send important messages. Spok Web-Based On-Call Scheduling: Keeps personnel, calendars and on-call scheduling information updated, even with thousands of staff, using a secure web portal to maintain and allow password-protected access to the latest on-call schedules and personnel information. Spok Speech: Enables the organization to process routine phone requests, including transfers, directory assistance, messaging and paging without live operators and with more ease-of-use than touch-tone menus. Spok Call Recording and Quality Management: Records, monitors, and scores operators’ conversations to allow for better management of calls, helping improve customer service. Clinical Alerting Spok Messenger: Provides an intelligent, FDA-compliant, 510(k)-cleared solution that connects virtually all crucial alert systems, including nurse call, fire, security, patient monitoring, and building management to mobile staff via their wireless communication devices. This solution provides the ability to reach mobile team members within seconds of an alert, improving overall workflow, staff productivity, and the convenience and safety of everyone in the facility. Spok e.Notify: Enables organizations to quickly and reliably notify and confirm team member availability during emergency situations without relying on calling trees, thereby reducing confusion that may arise in an emergency situation. This solution automatically delivers messages, collects responses, escalates issues to others, and logs all activities for reporting and analysis purposes. Spok Critical Test Results Management: Automates and streamlines the process of delivering critical test results to the appropriate clinicians to help ensure patient safety. This solution can send messages from the cardiology, laboratory and radiology departments by means of encrypted smartphone communications, two-way paging, secure email, secure text, images, annotations, and voice to a variety of endpoints, such as workstations, laptops, tablets, smartphones, pagers, and other wireless devices. Mobile Communications Spok Mobile: Simplifies communications and strengthens care by using smartphones and tablets for secure code alerts, patient updates, results, consult requests, and much more. Allows users to access the full directory of accurate contact information to send messages/photos/videos to smartphones and other devices and helps to ensure all clinical communications are logged with security, traceability, and reliability. Spok Device Preference Engine: Facilitates voice conversations among doctors and caregivers by enabling users to choose the desired communication method based on factors such as message priority. Public Safety Spok pc/psap: Speeds emergency dispatch by giving Public Safety Answering Point call-takers an easy-to-use, standards-based, graphical interface that integrates the underlying phone system, mapping systems, and other resources for critical information availability. 9-1-1 call-takers are able to instantly involve police, fire, EMT, and hazardous material personnel with a single click of the mouse or touch of the screen. Spok Enterprise Alert: Directs emergency personnel to a 9-1-1 caller’s exact location (building, floor, room), helping to ensure speed, accuracy, and reliability of response. The E9-1-1 software provides real-time, onsite notification when 9-1-1 is dialed, and works to decrease emergency response time. Hosted Solution Spok Care Connect Hosted Solution: Provides hospitals and healthcare systems with remote access to Spok Care Connect solutions (currently Spok Healthcare Console, Spok Web-Based Directory, Spok Web-Based On-Call Scheduling and Spok Mobile) and reduces the burden on information technology resources while providing immediate access to Spok solutions. Services The company offers a variety of professional services to assist the company’s customers in the successful implementation of, and to maximize the benefits obtained from the use of, the company’s software solutions. The company also offers support services to enhance and refine the customer's experience throughout their relationship with Spok. Professional Services: The company offers a full suite of professional services that are provided by a dedicated group of professional service employees. The company’s professional services include consultation, implementation, and training services. The company’s professional services staff uses a branded, consistent methodology that provides a comprehensive phased work plan for both new software installations and/or upgrades. In the support of the company’s implementation methodology, the company manages the various aspects of the process through a professional services automation tool. The company may also use third-party professional services firms as supplemental resources to implement the company’s solutions for customers as needed. Software License Updates and Product Support (Maintenance): Software license updates and product support, which is generally referred to as maintenance when sold to customers, is an important offering to customers who utilize the company’s on-premise software solutions. In order to support the company’s products that provide clinical communication and collaboration solutions to the company’s customer’s organizations, the company has a dedicated customer support organization. The customer support organization provides support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and the service can be accessed via telephone, email or the Internet via the Spok webpage. The Spok support service is augmented by third-party services where needed. Software license updates and product support are generally priced together as a percentage of the software licenses for which these services will be provided. Largely all of the company’s customers purchase maintenance when they purchase new software licenses, after which renewals generally occur on an annual basis and are paid in advance. Software license updates provide customers with rights to unspecified product upgrades, as well as maintenance and patch releases that are released during the term of the support period. Sources of Equipment The company does not manufacture the messaging devices its customers need to make use of the company’s wireless services or the network equipment the company uses to provide wireless messaging services. The company has relationships with several vendors to purchase new messaging devices. Used messaging devices are available in the secondary market from various sources. With the exception of the company’s GenA pagers, the network equipment and messaging devices on which the company may place its logo or label are generic. The company sells third-party equipment for use with its software solutions. The third-party equipment that the company sells is generally available and does not require any specialty manufacturing to accommodate the company’s software solutions. Intellectual Property As of December 31, 2023, the company held 87 trademarks and three patents, as well as three pending trademarks and no pending patents, which are important to protect the company’s intellectual property. The expiration dates of these trademarks range from 2024 to 2034 and can be extended for 10-year periods upon renewals. Customers The company’s customers include businesses and their employees who need to be accessible to their offices or customers, first responders who need to be accessible in emergencies, and third parties, such as other telecommunication carriers and resellers that pay the company to use its networks. Customers include businesses, professionals, management personnel, medical personnel, field sales personnel and service forces, members of the construction industry and construction trades, real estate brokers and developers, sales and services organizations, specialty trade organizations, manufacturing organizations and government agencies. Regulation The FCC issues licenses to use radio frequencies necessary to conduct the company’s business and regulate many aspects of the operations that support the company’s wireless revenue. The Communications Act requires radio licensees, including the company, to obtain prior approval from the FCC for the assignment or transfer of control of any construction permit or station license or authorization of any rights thereunder. Additionally, the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act of 1994, (‘CALEA’) and certain rules implementing CALEA require some telecommunication companies, including Spok, to design and/or modify their equipment in order to allow law enforcement personnel to ‘wiretap’ or otherwise intercept messages. Since the company’s middleware software products connect to medical devices, the company is required to comply with the FDC Act’s requirements, including but not limited to: registration and listing, labeling, medical device reporting (reporting of medical device-related adverse events), removal and correction, and good manufacturing practice requirements. The company has complied with the regulatory requirements of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDC Act), and registered and received the necessary clearances for the company’s products. In addition, the company’s software solutions have access to personal health information subject in the United States to the HIPAA, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (‘HITECH’), and related regulations. These statutes and related regulations impose numerous requirements regarding the use and disclosure of personal health information with which the company helps its customers comply. As a result of the enactment by the United States Congress of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (‘OBRA’) in August 1993, states are now generally preempted from exercising rate or entry regulation over any of the company’s operations. The company submits and receives JITC certification for certain of its products through the Defense Information Systems Agency, which allows the company to sell and implement its solutions at federal government agencies. Competition The company competes with a broad array of wireless messaging services provided by mobile telephone companies, including AT&T Mobility LLC,T-Mobile USA, Inc., and Verizon Wireless, Inc. Selected competitors for portions of the company’s product portfolio include American Software, Inc. - Enterprise software solutions; CareCloud, Inc. - Healthcare solutions; Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. - Healthcare IT solutions; Domo, Inc. - Cloud-based solutions; eGain Corporation - Cloud-based solutions; Health Catalyst, Inc. - Healthcare data and analytics; HealthStream, Inc. - Healthcare workforce solutions; Kaltura, Inc. - Cloud-based solutions; KORE Group Holdings Inc. - Mobile communications solutions; LiveVox Holdings, Inc. - Healthcare solutions; NantHealth Inc. - Healthcare solutions; OptimizeRx Corporation. - Healthcare solutions; Tabula Rasa Healthcare, Inc. - Healthcare solutions; UpHealth, Inc. - Healthcare solutions; and Weave Communications, Inc. - Software solutions. History The company was founded in 1986. It was incorporated in 2004. The company was formerly known as USA Mobility, Inc. and changed its name to Spok Holdings, Inc. in 2014.