Archive: January 2011
Good service leads to good contract
January 31, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
COLCHESTER, Vt.—Good customer service has not only given Safety Systems of Vermont steady growth since it started eight years ago, but led to a quarter-million-dollar project retrofitting the Burlington International Airport's fire alarm system, said co-owner Scott Carroll.
“Customer service is what got us where we are,” said Carroll of the five-employee company, based here.
Now the Gamewell-FCI distributor for northern Vermont, Carroll said the company, of which Tracie...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Show some customer love with free classes
January 31, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
A new tip from the Security Industry Alarm Coalition made me think about Valentine's Day, which is right around the corner. That's because SIAC's suggestion—to offer free alarm system classes to customers—is all about getting closer to your customers and the police department, and helping your business to boot.
According to SIAC, offering such classes has a host of benefits.
“Your state or local electronic security association (or your company) can get great visibility from...
New business billed as 'hassle-free' program for dealers
January 28, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
YONKERS, N.Y.—A new business called Online Alarm Quotes offers the benefits of a dealer program and allows dealers to maintain complete independence, according to Tom Fowler, co-founder of the new venture.
The company has been in development for about two years and its official launch was Jan. 17, said Fowler, who also is president and CEO of 24-7 Security, which serves the New York metropolitan area.
He said security dealers who sign up as members of Online Alarm Quotes get qualified leads—about...
Diversity benefits Standard Electronics
January 28, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
SANTEE, Calif.—Being able to install and service “a plethora of diverse systems” including data networks has kept Standard Electronics busy through the economic downturn, according to Jerry Hanson, VP of operations for the company, which is based here.
Fire comprises 70 percent of this Gamewell-FCI engineered systems distributor, whose history dates back to 1955.
However, Standard also does security systems, electronic master clock time recording systems, data networking systems,...
Micro Key expands functionality of Millennium central station platform
January 27, 2011Daniel Gelinas
KISSIMMEE, Fla.—Micro Key solutions, a provider of central station automation software, in January announced improvements to its Millennium central station automation platform that the company says will improve efficiency, increase functionality of the platform, and save dealers time and money.
“MyView and PayPoint will save central stations and alarm dealers time and improve cash flow by allowing their customers to pay their bills online. And since these tools are actually imbedded...
End user-focused alert solution looks to cut out professional monitoring
January 27, 2011Daniel Gelinas
LOS ANGELES—A new end user-focused security solution running with the tagline, “See inside your home with unlimited, FREE alarm monitoring,” looks to neatly remove professional monitoring services from the home security equation, saving end users money, while potentially eating into dealer and central station RMR.
Attikis, which is in beta testing right now, is a managed service and, according to its website, is free. The only cost end users will incur is a per-call charge when...
Gareth Webley to keynote TechSec Solutions
January 27, 2011SSN Staff
YARMOUTH, Maine—TechSec Solutions programmers today announced that Gareth Webley, chief information security officer and VP IT Security and Compliance for Eaton Corporation, will give the keynote address at this year's TechSec Solutions, which will take place Feb. 13-15 in Delray Beach, Fla.
Webley joined Eaton Corp., a diversified power management company with 2009 sales of $11.9 billion, this year. It has 70,000 employees and does business in 150 countries. He has global responsibility for...
NMC appoints Chancy Pray new director of sales, Southern Region
January 27, 2011SSN Staff
ALISO VIEJO, Calif.—National Monitoring Center on Jan. 26 announced the appointment of Chancy Pray as director of sales, Southern Region. Pray will support the growth of NMC and will be based at their Irving, Texas central station facility.
Pray began his career in the electronic security industry in 1992 and has expertise in central station monitoring for security systems, CCTV, access control, and fire alarm systems. His experience includes work for Multimedia Security Systems, The Alert...
PrivateBank, Pinnacle and Kratos people
January 27, 2011Martha Entwistle
My inbox this morning included a couple interesting "people moving to new jobs" news items.
First, PrivateBank officially announced today that Jennifer Holloway, formerly in charge of M&A for Protection One, is their new managing director for the Security Industry Group. Before she took the job with PrivateBank, Jennifer provided some great analysis for SSN on several transactions, most recently on the Monitronics sale. She won't be as free to comment on stories now, we know, but look forward to...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
$4 million donation will aid fire research
January 27, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
Ever wonder about the science behind national fire codes? Well, the Fire Protection Research Foundation is vital to that, and a recent $4 million boost to the foundation's endowment will aid it in its work, according to the head of the foundation.
The National Fire Protection Association yesterday announced it had made the multi-million-dollar addition to the foundation's endowment. The nonprofit foundation is involved in research that is key to the success of the industry, ranging from determining...