ApxAlarm expands building, staffing

PROVO, Utah--ApxAlarm, an independent residential security company that made its mark last year by generating upwards of 90,000 new accounts (see "Apx generates accounts" in the November 2006 issue of Security Systems News), has expanded its data center and doubled its inside sales staff. Underway for about three months, the project was completed March 5. "We added another 27,000 square feet in a separate building across the street," in the office park where Apx is located, said Jack Inbar, Apx vice president of operations. "We have dedicated fiber connecting the two locations." Apx is a "summer model" alarm company that uses a compressed selling cycle where most of its sales are generated through door-to-door sales between May and September. The inside sales staff, on the other hand, is year-round. "We will have 67 inside sales people," up from 30, said Alex Dunn, vice president of business development for Apx. The new space will increase ApxAlarm's "capacity by 420 seats, which will accommodate the growth in our data entry, customer service, technical support, contract administration, scheduling and inside sales departments," Dunn explained. As part of the expansion, Apx upgraded its database from SQL 2000 to SQL 2005. Apx also installed a new Avaya phone system that includes capabilities such as, "when a customer calls in, even before we pick up the phone we can identify who is calling and the current status of their account and route them to the right customer service representative from the very beginning," Inbar explained. Apx did not release the cost of the project, other than to characterize it as a significant investment. "It's all about the customer experience," said Dunn. The goal, he said is to "set the standard in the industry for customer service."