How to Evaluate Maritime Communication Software: 12 Questions to Ask Any Vendor
The Problem with Standard Demos
Vendor demonstrations for maritime software are designed to show what works well. They're conducted on high-speed fibre connections, with fully provisioned demo accounts, on flagship devices in well-lit offices.
The questions that reveal real-world suitability aren't on the demo script.
Here are 12 questions to ask in any maritime communication platform evaluation — and what to look for in the answers.
Infrastructure and Architecture
1. Does the platform work without internet connectivity?
What to look for: Not "it caches messages" but "the full platform operates on the vessel's local network with zero internet dependency, including push notifications." Ask to see a demo with network connectivity disabled.
2. Where is data stored?
What to look for: On-vessel server storage with optional shore synchronisation. Any answer that involves "your data is in our cloud" introduces a dependency on the vendor's infrastructure and a data sovereignty question.
3. What happens during a server failure on the vessel?
What to look for: High-availability configuration options, automatic failover, and the recovery procedure. If the answer is "call our support team," that's a single point of failure at sea.
Notifications and Alerting
4. How do push notifications work without Apple or Google infrastructure?
What to look for: Web Push (W3C standard) delivered through a server on the vessel. If the platform requires FCM or APNs, notifications fail when the vessel is offline.
5. Can you show the notification path for an emergency alert from alarm trigger to crew device?
What to look for: A clear technical description of: alarm system → integration → message creation → push notification → crew device. No "via cloud" steps.
6. What happens to notifications sent while a crew device is offline?
What to look for: Message queuing with guaranteed delivery on reconnection. The answer should specify: queue location (on vessel server), queue duration (days), and delivery behaviour.
Compliance and Records
7. How is the incident communication log structured?
What to look for: Structured records with: timestamps, participant roles, message content, acknowledgement status, resolution marking. Not just a chat transcript.
8. Can flag state inspectors access communication records?
What to look for: An export format, access mechanism, and evidence retention period. Bonus: has the platform been inspected or reviewed by any flag state authority?
9. Is data processing GDPR-compliant?
What to look for: Self-hosted or EU-hosted infrastructure, data processing agreement, and a clear answer about where crew personal data is processed.
Integration and Migration
10. How does the platform integrate with our existing SIP/alarm infrastructure?
What to look for: Either native SIP integration or a documented API-based integration path. Ask for reference installations with the same alarm system or PBX you use.
11. What is the data export format if we migrate to a different platform?
What to look for: A standard export format (Matrix room history export, JSON, CSV) with full message content and metadata. Any answer that implies your data is not exportable is a lock-in red flag.
Onboarding and Operations
12. How does a new crew member get active on the platform?
What to look for: A provisioning path with explicit steps and a realistic time-to-active. The target for a maritime platform should be under 2 minutes without IT support intervention. Ask to demonstrate it live.
How to Weight the Answers
No vendor will answer all 12 questions perfectly. The weighting depends on your fleet context:
- Deep-sea vessels: Questions 1, 4, 5, 6 are non-negotiable
- Compliance-heavy operators: Questions 7, 8, 9 carry extra weight
- High-churn crew: Question 12 is critical
- Legacy infrastructure: Question 10 determines feasibility
- Long-term investment: Question 11 is your exit clause
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