Protection One seeking alliances

LAWRENCE, Kan.--Five years into a successful alliance with BellSouth, home security giant Protection One has created a new executive level position to oversee and create new strategic partnerships with other companies. John Pumpelly, who most recently served as director of intellectual property licensing with BellSouth Corporation, is the new vice president of alliance relationships at Protection One. Richard Ginsburg, president and chief executive officer of Protection One, said, "It really was new ground [for Protection One and large security companies in general] to enter into this kind of alliance. Now that we have five years under our belt we felt like it was time to bring in someone with that kind of experience to manage that alliance and frankly, to look for some others." Pumpelly wasn't available to talk about his new position, but Ginsberg said he was instrumental in the development and marketing of collaboration's result, BellSouth Security Systems from Protection One, which was formed in 2001. With a presence in nine states, BellSouth Telecommunications is one of the largest regional Bell operating companies in the country. "We approached them and showed them that it would be more beneficial to join with a company that was already in the security business that has the infrastructure and the expertise. They agreed, and did it on a trial basis in a few cities and then we expanded it into their entire region," Ginsburg explained. "They get the best of both worlds. We do what we're good at and they do what they're good at and the customer wins because they get a more competitive product." In terms of future partnerships of a similar nature, Ginsburg said no particular companies had been targeted and that they're talking to many companies inside and outside of the service business. Because of its size, Protection One can offer a potential business ally "economies of scale, purchasing power and we think better service," Ginsburg explained. Ginsburg said there have been few successful alliances "the size and scope of what we did with [BellSouth] phone company, where we transformed our company in that region to BellSouth Security from Protection One." Ginsburg called the alliance initiative further evidence of Protection One's turn around. "We've gone through a lot, and here we are able to attract this kind of talent into the organization," he said. "This should be a sign that we are willing and able to grow. It should be viewed as a positive sign for our employees and customers."