A Bold move at the CSAA ops seminar

ADDISON, Texas—Bold Technologies announced at the CSAA Fall Operations Management Seminar, held here, that the company will foot the cost for CSAA Five Diamond Certification for any central station that converts to its Manitou automation platform, or any customer who becomes a CSAA member.

The base cost for licensing one operator as Five Diamond is $180. CSAA members normally get a 30 percent discount per operator off any purchase of 1-4 licenses, leaving a CSAA member price of $126 per operator. The savings can really add up, according to CSAA VP marketing and programs Celia Besore. “So if they have 10 operators, Bold will pay for all 10 of them to take Level 1,” Besore said. “Or if they have 10 operators, but two of them already have Level 1, they'll pay for eight Level 1s and two Level 2s.”

Bold business development director Chuck Speck said Five Diamond Certification improved the industry all around and offered an opportunity for each entity involved to grow. “The goal of this partnership is better educated customers for us. So there is some selfishness to this, I guess. We're going to have a much better package and a much better customer base coming out of this,” Speck said. “If we're looking for a selfish goal out of this, it's to be able to support the industry better with technology and have them leverage us. Because they're as interested in their industry as we are.”

Besore said the partnership would help the industry move toward higher standards and showed a real commitment to excellence on the part of Bold. “The whole thing was Bold's idea. Any one of their customers who are not CSAA members, but become members, Bold will pay for any of the training of their operators to help them become Five Diamond,” Besore said. “If there is anyone who is a CSAA member, but they're not a Bold customer, if they become a Bold customer, Bold will pay for their Five Diamond training.”

Speck also said there was no end in sight to the sponsored Five Diamond program. “Originally we had intended that this was something we'd do through the end of the year, and then we said until ISC West, but then we realized there is no termination on the goal,” Speck said. “We're always going to want better educated customers, so there really is no termination on this deal.”

CSAA's Five Diamond Certification is a program designed to bestow differentiation in the marketplace. There are approximately 2,700 central stations in the United States, which communicate and interact with law enforcement, fire and emergency service agencies. Of this group, just over 100 centrals have achieved Five Diamond status. In order to achieve Five Diamond Certification, each and every operator at a central station must have not only passed the CSAA-designed course, but demonstrated: proficiency in alarm verification, which helps reduce false alarms; proficiency in communications with public service answering points, such as 911 and other emergency responders; knowledge of electronic communications equipment, including radio; an understanding of the codes and standards of such organizations as Underwriters Laboratories, Factory Mutual, the National Fire Protection Association and others; as well as proficiency in the area of emergency preparedness under a wide scenario of possibilities. The first Five Diamond Certificate was awarded in 2003.