East Coast Integrated Systems: new name, new focus

SALEM, N.H.—East Coast Integrated Systems, formerly known as East Coast Fire and Security, is in the midst of a rebranding as the company renews its focus on commercial and enterprise customers.

“The former company, East Coast Fire and Security out of Salem, N.H., had been around since 1990, and then in September of last year the company was purchased by SPS - New England,” East Coast Integrated Systems' CEO Justin Davis told Security Systems News. “The team (outside of the former owner who retired) from East Coast Security is still here servicing the same customer base but our focus is renewed on enterprise and commercial customers versus the residential market.”

Although the company is still based in Salem, there are plans this year to “relocate our space to handle our growth,” said Davis, who pointed out that as a result of some major integrator acquisitions that went on in the Boston market over the past few years, there was “a substantial void left by these companies after being acquired by the big national integrators for the customer who wants that white-glove service with a local presence and all of the things that come with being owner-operated in the market in which you are working.”

For 2017, the company is actively adding to its staff, specifically sales positions and licensed technicians. Davis said the company is also continually reevaluating and aligning its product mix with enterprise products that fit more closely with its renewed focus on servicing enterprise accounts.

“A big focus and goal for 2017 is to reestablish our brand and our new identity as East Coast Integrated Systems,” he explained. “We are doing a lot of training internally on the new technologies that we adopt and making sure that we are buttoned up from an installation and service perspective, going back out and familiarizing the marketplace with our capabilities, as we truly are a design and build house and we can do full security as well as fire.”

On the technology side, Davis said that cybersecurity issues are “gaining more and more traction both at the customer level and at the industry and consultant level,” he said. “This topic is getting into more conversations and some of the thinking from a products perspective is—where there is smoke there is fire, even if you can't prove it, why take a chance? So, the safer route many times is to just go with another product that has a better track record.”

He continued: “Products come and go, but the conundrum that integrators face today is the price point on a particular product and all of the things that go with it, such as with cameras, for example, where some are expensive and some are not. When you are going up against the competition, lots of times some integrators try to price out lesser equipment to get their price point lower. My mantra, and how I have always operated, is to bring the best value to the customer, but that value may not necessarily equal lowest price. Educating the customer on superior product and technology, total cost of ownership over the life of the solution, that is a harder and more complicated sell, and requires an appreciation from the buyer to want to hear that kind of value proposition.”

East Coast Integrated Solution focuses on commercial and enterprise-level accounts in New England and the greater Boston market, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a particular focus on K-12 and higher education, biotech and pharmaceuticals, healthcare and assisted living, industrial and manufacturing, retail and logistics.