EMP Intake vs NAVEX EthicsPoint: investigation management
NAVEX EthicsPoint owns the front door: anonymous reporting and hotline intake. EMP owns the other end: a local case file where originals are preserved, hashed at intake, and exported as a package counsel can verify.
NAVEX EthicsPoint is a widely deployed ethics hotline and compliance case management SaaS. Its strength is the front door: anonymous reporting, hotline intake, and regulatory-reporting workflows. EMP Intake is a different shape: an investigation specific evidence layer that runs on your own workstation, with chain-of-custody built in. The two often sit on opposite ends of the same case.
Related: EMP for compliance teams, the workplace investigation software buyer's guide, and EMP vs Case IQ (i-Sight), plus real pricing from public records.
How they compare
| Criteria | EMP Intake WS | NAVEX EthicsPoint |
|---|---|---|
| Scope & focus | ||
| Primary focus | Evidence integrity + casework | Hotline + compliance workflow |
| Hotline + anonymous intake | External, via import | Built in, core product |
| Compliance reporting | Case-level export only | Configurable compliance reporting and analytics |
| Chain of custody | SHA-256, originals, append-only log | Docs + workflow audit trail |
| Forensic-rigor evidence handling | NIST-aligned design target | Full audit trails and workflows; an equivalent intake-hash and recipient-manifest workflow was not established in the linked sources |
| AI assistance | No built-in AI assistant claimed | AI-powered case management |
| Deployment & data | ||
| Deployment | Local, your workstation | NAVEX-managed SaaS |
| Where evidence lives | Your local disk | NAVEX cloud regions |
| Works offline | Core casework: yes. Activation, license validation, update checks, and online maps may need internet | No, SaaS only |
| Investigation depth | ||
| Timeline reconstruction | Professional: synchronized logs, video and retained map clips | Workflow event timeline |
| Incident map | Standard and Professional: Incident Maps and PDF export; Professional adds plan overlays | No published evidence-pin scene-map equivalent |
| Related-case analysis | Professional: link-analysis graph within and across related cases | AI-suggested related cases, pattern detection, Power BI analytics; an investigator-controlled graph was not established in the linked sources |
| Pricing & fit | ||
| Pricing model | $29 / $49 / $99 monthly, per workstation | Custom pricing; Essentials and Professional offerings, no public amounts |
| Target team size | Solo to small teams | Smaller organizations (Essentials) through enterprise programs (Professional) |
EMP features vary by tier. Core includes package exports. Standard adds Chain of Custody, Incident Maps and Audit Timeline; Professional adds Timeline Recon, Link Analysis, Global Heat Map and plan overlays. Package contents depend on selection; enable Manifest for checksums and the verifier.
Updated 2026-08-23. The highlighted column is EMP Intake WS.
Sources checked
Official NAVEX materials reviewed on 2026-08-23:
Vendor capabilities may depend on edition, configuration, or contract; confirm details with NAVEX.
Where each one wins
Where EMP wins
- Investigations are the core job, and you need to show exactly how each piece of evidence was handled, in a record a reviewer can check line by line.
- You need evidence to stay on your own machine, local-first, with no SaaS upload.
- You need timeline, incident map, and link-analysis depth on a single evidence spine.
- Per-workstation pricing fits a solo investigator or a small practice.
Where they win
- You need a built-in ethics hotline and anonymous reporting as the intake channel.
- You need configurable compliance reports and program-level analytics.
- AI-assisted related case suggestions, repeat issue detection, and Power BI analytics strengthen program oversight.
- You are a smaller organization that wants a hotline launched in days: EthicsPoint Essentials targets exactly that.
- You already run NAVEX across a broader compliance program and want one vendor.
- An enterprise SaaS deployment is acceptable or required.
What EMP is not
- Not a managed cloud service. EMP is local-first and self-hosted.
- Not certified. NIST SP 800-86 is a design target, not a certification, and admissibility is the court's call.
- Not a forensic acquisition tool. EMP organizes and preserves what you already collected.
- Not a hotline or whistleblower intake platform. EMP is the evidence integrity and case workspace layer.
Competitor details here are drawn from public sources such as vendor websites and documentation, and can change. Verify current capabilities with the vendor. This comparison covers EMP Intake WS. Features vary by tier. Teams has a separate deployment model and pilot scope.
Frequently asked questions
Can EMP receive cases from NAVEX EthicsPoint?
Import supported NAVEX export files into EMP as evidence files with new intake hashes. This is a manual file handoff, not automatic migration of cases, fields or audit history.
Do we need both NAVEX and EMP?
It depends on your case mix. If hotline-based, anonymous reporting is a significant intake channel, NAVEX covers the front door. EMP covers the evidence depth when a report becomes a serious investigation. A compliance-heavy program may want both; an investigation-focused team may need only the evidence layer.
NAVEX has compliance reporting we rely on. Does EMP replace it?
No. EMP does not replace NAVEX's compliance reporting and program analytics. Keep NAVEX for compliance reporting and hotline intake; use EMP for the investigation and evidence integrity layer where it matters.
How does pricing compare?
EMP Intake Workstation is $29 to $99 per workstation per month, with a 14-day trial and no card. NAVEX offers EthicsPoint Essentials for smaller organizations and Professional for enterprise programs; pricing is custom and not publicly listed. Compare EMP's workstation total with a NAVEX quote for the reporting channels, users and services you require.
See the difference for yourself
Try Workstation free for 14 days, with no credit card. For shared cases across PCs, discuss a Teams pilot.
About this comparison: it is based on publicly available materials as of August 2026, and products change. If anything here is out of date, email hello@falcrex.com and we will correct it. All third-party product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. Falcrex Systems Inc is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them.