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Rapid Response moves into 40,000-square-foot facility

Rapid Response moves into 40,000-square-foot facility

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Rapid Response Monitoring relocated this month to a new 40,000-square-foot facility that houses its central station and corporate headquarters in a move that foreshadows a planned expansion to the West Coast. Initiated three years ago, Rapid Response broke ground on the location last fall, and has since spent more than $5 million on the new building. It began testing the monitoring center in September, through the installation of bi-directional T-1 lines between the new site and its old location to ensure a seamless transition. “We needed the additional space because of growth, changes in technology and modernization of space for employees,” said Jeffrey Atkins, president at Rapid Response Monitoring. The new headquarters, which replaces the company’s old facility, is located approximately three miles away. The new site is leased with the option to buy. The State of New York extended the company a grant of $400,000 to help pay for the expansion and to keep the company, and job opportunities, from moving elsewhere. Atkins is now in the early stages of establishing a presence on the West Coast. The future monitoring center is slated to open sometime during 2007, and will be the company’s second location since it opened its doors in January 1992. “I think it’s important to have multiple central stations within multiple time zones to provide better service to dealers,” he said. Rapid Response is a third-party monitoring firm that works with independent dealers, who average between 500 to 1,500 customers, that sell and install their own systems. The company currently monitors more than 200,000 accounts and works with 525 dealers. One of the considerations while constructing the new facility was the company’s employees, Atkins said. Rapid Response employs 280, of which 180 are central station operators, with the rest serving in technical and administrative roles. “Everything we did for the modern employee, we did it,” he said.

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