Peter Quintas has always remained a passionate entrepreneur. His favorite part of his journey has been to serve law enforcement, first responders, and public safety personnel. His focus on transformative technology provides a more modern and intelligent platform in the public safety sector and his expertise in building high-growth businesses in innovative enterprise software have helped him create a niche in the industry. For the past 20+ years, Peter has held Executive and CTO positions in several technology companies such as Nomi, InterAct Public Safety Systems, PowerChord, Inc., and True Systems. As the Founder & CEO of SOMA Global, a leading provider of cloud-native, modern public safety solutions, Peter is responsible for driving product and platform development, defining business goals, and executing through growth, including operational and financial responsibilities.

Excerpts from an interview:

Founding of SOMA Global – The History

Founded in 2017, SOMA Global aims at redefining and delivering modern, public safety solutions with a primary focus on saving lives and protecting first responders. SOMA’s team includes public safety and technology veterans, who understand and respect the value of a partnership with an agency. Their Public Safety as a Service (PSAAS™) Platform offers the best computer-aided dispatch, mobile dispatch, records management, and jail solutions on the market. Peter is an engineer at heart who loves building new products and companies from the ground up. “I was part of a small group that acquired a legacy public safety company 15 years ago. I kept close watch in the space and ended up coming back to it because of the lack of technology innovation and the market condition in the consolidation of vendors that had left our agencies, law enforcement, and first responders underserved,” said Peter Quintas.

PSAAS™ – The Features 

The public safety industry is riddled with outdated, inefficient, and expensive software. Peter adds that this legacy software is typically a client-server installation with an inept user experience that costs users’ time and is prone to costly errors. “SOMA’s proprietary PSAAS™ (public safety as a service) framework adds value to our partners by bringing their mission-critical technology functions to the cloud. These functions include but aren’t limited to computer-aided dispatch, mobile dispatch, records management, jail solutions, and school safety solutions.” SOMA is unique, as it’s genuinely a cloud-native, modern technology stack. The company embraces a partner versus vendor approach to its relationships. Their mission is to empower public safety agencies to better serve their communities while also striving to ensure everyone gets home safely each and every day.

Industry Challenges 

“The most pressing challenges facing public safety organizations today start with the relationship within the communities they serve,” observes Peter. He emphasizes on the modernization of technology. Communities today experience a high level of transparency, communication, automation, and customer service from the private companies they interact with. A streamlined experience is expected from our communities, and due to aging technology infrastructure, public safety organizations need to provide a more modern experience.

“Modernizing begins with technology but does not end there. Software development, testing, delivery, and support must all be updated to provide a modern SaaS (software as a service) experience. The core business model and pricing are even different. History has demonstrated that this is too far of a drastic shift at its core for legacy companies to adapt.” SOMA strives to bring technology solutions and new procedural efficiencies so public safety personnel can focus on what matters most, keeping their communities and personnel working efficiently and safely.

Revolutionizing Public Safety Solutions

SOMA Global does not consider itself a vendor to its agencies; instead, it works as an extension of its agency partners. The company has partnered with agencies of varying types, geographies, and sizes to conceptualize and build a solution that meets their needs, but in a modern way. “Our customers mean everything to us, and we take great pride in building strong rapport and trust within our partner relationships. We work with our partner agencies and challenge them to re-think how technology can streamline their operations, better serve their communities, and help protect lives.

We are transforming the way they do business; it’s not just a technology evolution.”

Growth and Success

SOMA scaled up its operation after receiving a minority $22.5M investment in January 2021 from family-owned Weatherford Capital. The investment has boosted its ability to scale up to meet the need of its growing partner network and continue innovating its platform solutions.

A Piece of Advice

“Position your mindset in that if you do not fail, you simply aren’t pushing fast or hard enough. Failure is expected and should be considered a learning experience,” observes Peter. He adds that his ability to embrace a people-first culture significantly contributes to their overall success. Pete recognized early that his team must venture outside of their comfort zone to challenge the status quo to do right by their customers; they embrace a ‘do things differently’ mindset he signs off.