XML 18 R7.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.8.0.1

Description of Business | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 2017
Description of Business [Abstract] |
Description of Business | Description of Business KVH Industries, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, the Company or KVH) designs, develops, manufactures and markets mobile connectivity products and services for the marine and land mobile markets, and inertial navigation products for both the commercial and defense markets. In the fourth quarter of 2016, consistent with certain internal organizational changes implemented, the Company changed its reporting structure from two operating segments based on geographies selling navigation, guidance, and stabilization and mobile communication products, to two operating segments based on product lines: mobile connectivity and inertial navigation. The change was driven by several factors including:
• | changes in the Company's overall organizational structure, including the appointment of a Chief Operating Officer and a new Chief Financial Officer;
• | the completion of the Company's planning process for 2017, as a result of which the Company changed how it will measure and assess its financial performance; and
• | the Company's process for measuring incentive compensation for key executives in 2016 and later years.
KVH’s mobile connectivity products enable customers to receive voice and internet services, and live digital television via satellite services in marine vessels, recreational vehicles, buses and automobiles. KVH’s CommBox offers a range of tools designed to increase communication efficiency, reduce costs, and manage network operations. KVH sells and leases its mobile connectivity products through an extensive international network of dealers and distributors. KVH also sells and leases products directly to end users. In the second quarter of 2017, the Company launched a new mini-VSAT Broadband service offering, AgilePlans, which is a monthly subscription model providing global connectivity to commercial maritime customers, including hardware, installation, broadband Internet, VOIP, entertainment and training content and global support for a monthly fee with no minimum commitment. KVH offers AgilePlans customers a variety of airtime data plans with varying data speeds and fixed data usage levels with overage charges per megabyte, which is similar to the plans that the Company offers to its other customers. The Company recognizes the monthly subscription fee as service revenue over the service delivery period. The Company retains ownership of the hardware that it provides to AgilePlans customers, who must return the hardware to KVH if they decide to terminate the service. Because KVH does not sell the hardware under AgilePlans, the Company does not recognize any product revenue when the hardware is deployed to an AgilePlans customer. KVH records the cost of the hardware used by AgilePlans customers as revenue-generating assets and depreciates the cost over an estimated useful life of five years. Since the Company is retaining ownership of the hardware, it does not accrue any warranty costs for AgilePlans hardware; however, any maintenance costs on the hardware is expensed in the period these costs are incurred. KVH’s mobile connectivity service sales represent primarily sales earned from satellite voice and Internet airtime services. KVH provides, for monthly fixed and usage fees, satellite connectivity services, including broadband Internet, data and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, to its TracPhone V-series customers. Mobile connectivity service sales also include the distribution of commercially licensed entertainment, including news, sports, music, and movies to commercial and leisure customers in the maritime, hotel, and retail markets through KVH Media Group (acquired as Headland Media Limited), the media and entertainment service company that KVH acquired on May 11, 2013, and the distribution of training films and eLearning computer-based training courses to commercial customers in the maritime market through Super Dragon Limited and Videotel Marine Asia Limited (together referred to as Videotel), a maritime training services company that KVH acquired on July 2, 2014. KVH also earns monthly usage fees from third-party satellite connectivity services, including voice, data and Internet services, provided to its Inmarsat and Iridium customers who choose to activate their subscriptions with KVH. Mobile connectivity service sales also include engineering services provided under development contracts, sales from product repairs, and extended warranty sales. KVH's inertial navigation products offer precision fiber optic gyro (FOG)-based systems that enable platform and optical stabilization, navigation, pointing and guidance. KVH’s inertial navigation products also include tactical navigation systems that provide uninterrupted access to navigation and pointing information in a variety of military vehicles, including tactical trucks and light armored vehicles. KVH’s inertial navigation products are sold directly to U.S. and foreign governments and government contractors, as well as through an international network of authorized independent sales representatives. In addition, KVH's inertial navigation products are used in numerous commercial products, such as navigation and positioning systems for various applications including precision mapping, dynamic surveying, autonomous vehicles, train location control and track geometry measurement systems, industrial robotics and optical stabilization. KVH’s inertial navigation service sales include product repairs, engineering services provided under development contracts and extended warranty sales.

X
- Definition Description of business. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | kvhi_DescriptionOfBusinessAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | kvhi_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64851502&loc=d3e6003-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64851502&loc=SL51803626-108592 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_NatureOfOperations
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration