ADI brings in Slayton, IP training

MELVILLE, N.Y.--In an effort to educate its customers and create a greater market for a growing number of IP-based products, international distributor ADI announced in July a partnership with Slayton Solutions and the NBFAA to offer "in-depth networking training to technicians and dealers at the local level." The program's first educational sessions were held in June and will continue in 47 cities, with as many as 85 days of training, through 2007, all held in ADI branch locations. "Dave Engebretson [owner of Slayton Solutions] is nationally recognized as both a college-level teacher and an industry expert," said Mike Masten, director of ADI's training program (see "Allied, others, bring in Engebretson," in the May issue of Security Systems News). "I feel more than confident that he's going to be able to deliver the right message to the ADI customer base, which is simple: You need to be quoting IP systems right now." ADI, which prides itself on never having charged for any training offered, will not be collecting any money with this training either. That's where the NBFAA comes in. All fees will be collected through its National Training School and continuing education credits will be bestowed on those completing "Networking 101 for Technicians," "Networking 101 for Sales and Project Managers," "Networking 102 for Security," and a few other sessions. These training sessions are necessary for security installers and integrators, said Eric Elsenbroek, manager of the ADI systems group based in Louisville, Ky., because "more of the jobs we're seeing are IP in their specifications ... Their competition is coming from the IT world and they already have a strong background in IP." Masten said the training sessions are also part of a push on ADI's part into IP-based product sales. "It's going to be a whole marketing campaign," he said, "an IP logo, an IP catalog." He noted that ADI's first IP catalog, focusing only on CCTV, was released at ISC West. But "the next catalog will really reach across the entire industry and not be limited to CCTV." And what can you expect from Engebretson and his colleagues at Slayton? "I'm the best live trainer in the industry today," he said. "Well, let's be humble--I'm in the top five. The key issue is that I'm entertaining. No one walks out saying they're bored." For a full list of classes, which include stops in Chicago, New York, Louisville, and New Orleans through the end of this year, visit www.alarm.org/profdev/courses/sni.html.