How Security-Net keeps techs on track

EXTON, Pa.—Security-Net's president Skip Sampson says keeping techs, customers and partners informed and coordinated is a snap thanks to a new proprietary software the national systems integrator is using.

Called SN-APP, Sampson says the software is “a differentiator for us that's about making the client experience with Security-Net better than the experience with other national integrators—which is the reason Security-Net was formed in the first place.”

Security-Net is a $375 million business made up of 21 member companies. It has 50 offices and more than 1,200 employees.

SN-APP is the newest iteration of Security-Net's CRM. Security-Net secretary Bill Hogan said it's working well because it was designed for Security-Net by software designers who understand the physical security industry. One of the designers previously worked for a security company as a project manager.

“It's a much more robust platform [than earlier versions] with many, many more features that we hadn't imagined [years ago],” Hogan said.

Sampson said Security-Net used “feedback from our national account client base about what they wanted to see, what their expectations are and what they were not getting from other national integrators.”

For example, a common pet peeve for end users, he said, is a tech showing up to fix something, but not knowing where the security device is located.

That doesn't happen with SN-APP, Sampson said. Even if the tech has never been to the customer site, they can call up the site on their phone. All devices are geo-located on the map and have product details and service history.

SN-APP is used for much more than service calls, however. It's a project tool that's used for the whole lifecycle of a job, “from the initial survey to the proposal, to the installation and servicing of that account,” Sampson said.

End users, Security-Net partners and even sub-contractors can be given access to the software via permissions. That's how the software stays completely up-to-date on the status of any project.

“Clients are looking for transparency today—you really can't showcase enough of the details,” Hogan said.

With the progress and status of a job in all locations available to the end user at all times, “it really holds the integrator accountable,” Sampson said. “Once you open the window to your work activity, not only during the installation, but the service period, you make yourself totally visible.”

In the process, uniformity and best practices are reinforced, Hogan said.

SN-APP is available as a desktop and web application and as a mobile app as well. Sampson said Security-Net does not have any plans currently to sell the software to other integrators.