'20 under 40' 2014—Aaron Salma

Aaron Salma, 31
Account manager, Affiliated Monitoring, Union, N.J.

What inspired you to get into the security industry?
I've always had a passion for law enforcement and security. In college I studied criminal justice. I also was always interested in new technologies and loved to solve problems. It was the combination of these interests that drew me to our industry. At Affiliated I am always learning about new technologies and every day I get to provide creative solutions for our dealers.

What can be done to boost the ranks of young people in the industry?
In many ways our industry is on the cutting edge. We use technology and software to help people lead safer, easier and more secure lives. Working at Affiliated, we are constantly implementing new advanced technologies and services to help our dealers. This is a natural fit for the interests of young people and if there is any challenge to getting them to join the industry, it's because we're not doing a good job of explaining what we actually do.

Where, in terms of technology and trends, do you see the security industry going next?I agree with Affiliated's view that the electronic security industry is stronger than it's ever been. The Internet of Things is real and increasingly I am seeing the integration of video verification and non-traditional sensors into both commercial and residential alarm systems. As the U.S. population gets older, Affiliated's PERS and mobile PERS offerings are in high demand. Also, our industry's interactive services platforms continue to get better. Talented security dealers backed by professional alarm monitoring now have a broader, more useful set of services to offer their customer than ever before.