Launched in 2021, the NEO 2 program marks a historic turning point in the modernization of French security forces.
On the occasion of Milipol 2025, Marine Pagnon, Head of Institutional Relations and Partnerships at Crosscall, takes stock of 4 years of strategic collaboration with law enforcement agencies and reveals its vision for the critical communications of tomorrow.
NEO 2 represents a major technological ambition in the field of public security .. How did this project come about and how did was Crosscall was able to meet its challenges?
Marine Pagnon: The NEO 2 program is part of a very specific French philosophy of public safety. NOur model is based on the presence of plainclothes or uniformed officers in direct contact with the public, ensuring local security, deterring crime, and providing assistance.
However, this presence in the field requires ever greater efficiency and versatility in security, control, and intervention missions.emergency responseemergency response. TheAgency NDigital Agency Fforces Ssecurity I(ANFSI) therefore aimed to equip all officers with a single smartphone, enabling them increase their mobility and carry out a greater proportion of their tasks directly in the field.
Let's take a concrete example: previously, during an identity check, if an officer needed to verify information about an individual, they had to take them to the police station to carry out the verification, etc. In terms of operational efficiency, this was a huge waste of time. With NEO 2, officers can directly access police files from their smartphones, carry out checks on the move, and make the appropriate decisions immediately.
Crosscall has responded to these challenges by drawing on what makes us who we are: a smartphone that is obviously resistant to the most extreme conditions and has extended battery life. But we have gone even further. NEO 2 has become a tool that fits perfectly into all field applications: from security missions on public roads to road checks with motorcyclists, border controls border controls to the most delicate missions carried out by elite units. It is this versatility that makes all the difference.
What concrete evidence of operational effectiveness have you seen in the field?
M.P.: The most striking figure, in my opinion, is a breakage rate of less than 1% across the entire fleet. When you consider the number of daily interventions, the harshness of the missions, and the intense mobilization of forces on a daily basis for securing major events athletes such as the Rugby World Cup, the Soccer World Cup, or the Olympic Games, it's a genuine feat.
Another indicator of success: the initial contract has been extended until 2029, well beyond the initially planned duration. This guarantees a much longer period of use than originally imagined, demonstrating the reliability of our equipment over time.
But what is perhaps even more telling is the increasingly versatile use of smartphones, thanks to our entire ecosystem of accessories. The X-COMM, for example, was developed specifically to replace the traditional push-to-talk button. In noisy environments, it greatly facilitates radio communications while offering the ergonomics agents are accustomed to. The X-COMMAND , meanwhile, allows motorcyclists to control their communications directly from the handlebars, without compromising their safety during traffic stops, and provides the necessary discretion for officers during operations surveillance surveillance.
How do you explain this success?
M.P.: I would say that it rests on two fundamental pillars.
The first is that the product has become much more than a smartphone. It is a true development platform that can be used to meet specific needs and evolving uses. evolving. Significant research and development work has been carried out in collaboration with the Police and the GGendarmerie Nationalto create a modular that meets their operational needs their operational needs.
The second pillar is our approach to local collaboration. Crosscall is a human-sized organization, which gives us a flexibility and agility that the giants in the sector. We have dedicated teams that provide support to ANFSI for all development work on- measurement. This proximity allows us to react quickly and co-develop solutions, and ensure seamless operability with internal security issues, particularly in terms of sensitive data protection.
Speaking of proximity, this collaboration also provided an opportunity to deploy cutting-edge innovations, particularly during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
M.P.: Absolutely. The Jthem OParis Olympics represented an exceptional public safety measure, with forces deployed with a high degree of mobility across all Olympic sites and throughout the Paris region.
This event provided an opportunity for a full-scale test of the STORM critical communications network onseveral thousand terminals. STORM is the program that aims to replace conventional radios with 4G communications on smartphones.
As part of the preparations for this major event, we noticed that there was a lack of audio accessories to facilitate radio use. In noisy environments, having a dedicated accessory makes perfect sense for smoother communications. That's how the X-COMMwas born, which we developed entirely from scratch. It is a fairly unique product on the market: Bluetooth and wired, rugged, and ergonomic to meet the operational requirements of forces in the field.
What are these large-scale tests forfor for the future of security force communications?
M.P. That opens the way to even greater modularity. Developments such as N are already emerging.EO DK with biometric control, which is fully compatible with terminals CrosscallThis will add another layer of functionality in the field.
But the latest major innovation developed by Crosscallis the new version of X-SPACE. This solution transforms the smartphone into a real desktop computer, with distribution now on two 4K screens. Agents simply connect their smartphone to thescreen, and they have a complete workstation. A single terminal for field missions and office work.
The implications are considerable: substantial savings on IT equipment, greatly simplified fleet management, and a lower environmental impact environmental impact since the number of devices required is drastically reduced. It is estimated that a smartphone can replace up to five different terminals.
In addition, there is the issue of interoperability. With the large-scale deployment of STORM across the entire fleet of smartphones used by security forces, we are moving towards a convergence of emergency communication tools emergency communication tools, with the gradual disappearance of the radio in favor of the smartphone.
Finally, the advent of artificial intelligence suggests further new developments to improve team efficiency and collaboration, even if everything remains to be imagined on this point.
How Crosscall is preparing to support this change?
M.P.: It is important to note that the NEO 2 program is scheduled to run until 2029. This means that we will be involved in this program for nearly 10 years. Over the next 10 years, we will have the opportunity to support the profound transformation of the police and gendarmerie professions.
And I think our strength lies precisely in this ability to remain agile while being reliable in the long term. We are not just a supplier of equipment: we are a partner who co-creates with our customers dfuture-oriented solutionsfuture and sustainable. This philosophy takes on its full meaning in a program as strategic as NEO 2. And we are all the more proud that we to be able to do it alongside alongside the women and men who ensure our safety on a daily basis.