Ansley Communications launches security division

CORNELIA, Ga.--Ansley Communications, a telecommunications and network integrator here, announced in December a new security division aimed primarily at the commercial market. "We've been working on the process, and finding the right employees for about six months," said Mike Foor, president of Ansley Communications. This year, Foor expects Ansley to do about $1.8 million in revenues. Its customers are small- to medium-sized businesses and its speciality is fiber-optic and data voice cabling and telephone systems. Ansley has been in business since 1999 and is owned by four siblings, whose parents own A&A Electric, an HVAC company located across the street. A&A is a separate company, but Ansley has been marketing its new residential security offering to A&A Electric's customers. The decision to launch a security division was driven by Ansley's idea that it would be "such a good fit for our customer base, to offer a total solution with one call for all of those needs," Foor said. He said the company's IP telephony and networking expertise give it a leg up in security installations. It offers intrusion, CCTV, access control, as well as fire and smoke detection "and the latest IP network video products" to commercial and residential customers. Foor hired a friend, who also has a local security business, as a consultant to help get the security business up and running. They've also hired Chris Westbury, who owned a security company in Macon, Ga., to help with service, installation and sales. Ansley is split about 50-50 between network and telephone business. In the past couple months, before the official announcement of the security launch, Ansley has put on about 25 new commercial customers. It provides third-party monitoring through a Florida-based central station. Ansley's phone sales growth has slowed, but Foor expects the security business to more than make up for that. "Within a year, if we market this correctly, about 20 percent of our revenue will come from the security side and increase from there," Foor said.