Cam-Dex technology center for sales and more

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Cam-Dex Security has had more activity and visitors at its headquarters here since completing an upgrade and expansion of its new technology center this winter.

Current and potential customers and employees are busy using the center an average of two days a week, Cam-Dex President and CEO John Krumme told Security Systems News.

That activity will translate into better service for customers, better-trained employees and likely more business for this systems integrator, Krumme predicted.

“We wanted to create a center where we could bring customers and prospective customers to see a demo of new products … [and] bring in customers after the system is sold … for interactive training,” Krumme said.

The center is also used internally to train employees on new technology and upgrades.

The center features products from “multiple manufacturers including access control, IP video and enterprise level-type software solutions,” Krumme said.

During the week that Krumme spoke to SSN in April, a major customer—the national security director for a corporation—was bringing eight corporate facility managers from around the country into Cam-Dex's center to evaluate two different security systems.

Allowing the customer to compare two systems this way was not something Cam-Dex could do previously. The center was also designed to be an integral part of the sales cycle for Cam-Dex.

Customers will frequently come in to check out a software upgrade, for example. “We feel it's our job to continue to educate and present new ideas to [customers] so they know their integrator is bringing the newest technology capabilities to them,” Krumme said. These customers may not order immediately, but if they see something that “makes sense for them, they can budget for it. The cycle for security systems is lengthy, it can start a year and a half [before the purchase].”

In-house training is something employees are actively seeking, Krumme said. The training “builds tremendous confidence,” which is good for business, he added.

Cam-Dex is privately owned, with annual revenues in the range of $6 million to $8 million. It has about 20 full-time employees, including a large engineering staff, and employs up to 20 subcontractors over the course of a year as well. Cam-Dex serves numerous vertical markets including government, health care, manufacturing and financial services and is a member of Security-Net.

The opening of the center coincides with the 55th anniversary of this family-owned business. “We've reinvented ourselves several times,” Krumme said. The company was built on a check-cashing surveillance camera for grocery stores. “The old products are long gone, but we still have a few of the same customers … that same [grocery store] customer has been with us well over 40 years. We've changed the technology and branched out. We're a different company today.”