American Alarm and Communications' unique approach Unique in central station composition to employee outlook
By Spencer Ives
Updated Wed December 17, 2014
ARLINGTON, Mass.—For American Alarm and Communications, it's not just about the growth of the company, but an invested growth in the individual—which, itself, facilitates company growth. The company on Dec. 15 hosted a visit for a new Security Systems News editor.
Maria Moretti, Command Center manager, Chris Newhook, central station manager, and Keith Hunt, technical manager, all underscored the principle in American Alarm's philosophy that employees should follow what interests them, regardless of where it leads them—be it from central station operating to customer care or technical support to sales.
“If you start in the central, you understand the root of what we do. From there you can go anywhere,” Newhook told Security Systems News during a site visit.
Both he and Moretti said that shifting from one position to another adds to the knowledge of an employee, helping them no matter the position.
What else makes American Alarm unique?
“The personal touch. That people still think of us as a 'mom and pop' [security company],” Newhook said.
That personal touch, though, leads to one of American Alarm's biggest challenges, keeping that level of care while growing as a company, Newhook said.
“We're growing, there's no doubt about that. … In the last 10 years, it's been leaps and bounds,” Hunt said.
A component of American Alarm not often seen is the composition in its “Command Center,” said Moretti.
In one room are central station operators, technical support, customer care and service schedulers. “[This design] was for the best quality of communication amongst the teams,” said Moretti, “I think it has worked to our advantage.”
“The teams are so close, they learn about each other's roles,” she said.
Newhook also noted that American Alarm is preparing for the implementation of ASAP-to-PSAP in Boston in 2015.
American Alarm and Communication has 25,000 monitored accounts across 25 states and five branch offices in New England. Its central station is UL-listed and Five Diamond certified.
Comments