Integrators '20 under 40' 2016—David Martinez

David Martinez, 39

IT manager, Legacy Security Services

Greenville, S.C.

David Martinez, now the IT manager for Legacy Security Services, a wholesale monitoring station based in South Carolina, entered the security industry by chance.

“I stumbled across an opening at King Central … I started off as an operator back when I was 18 and I've pretty much been doing this since,” he said.

King Central opened in 1985. As a result of several acquisitions, the company changed its name to IASG—Integrated Alarm Services Group—in 2003 when it went public. Martinez left IASG in 2007 and joined Legacy later that year.

“Probably within about a year-and-a-half of starting as an operator, there was an opening in the technical department at King Central,” he said. “They extended that opportunity to me and it was a great fit. It was what I wanted to do as a career. … They enjoyed my work, and I enjoyed doing it. I just never left the industry—I've practically been on call since then.”

Martinez said he loves the changes in technologies of the industry. “The challenging changes are probably what draws me to work every day … particularly right now, the changes in PERS—GPS devices being somewhat new, obviously very fragmented, so there's always trying to figure out a way to make them all streamlined.”

Supporting multiple devices like PERS and GPS-based units is made easier through Bold, the company's automation software, he said.

“Video and card access integration is going to be the most exciting [technology] for me. Obviously, false alarms are playing a big role in the industry and I think getting video products integrated with not just security systems, but also card access systems, [is] going to help us reduce those false alarms,” he said.

The company, based in Greenville, S.C. operates two locations and has about 100,000 accounts. Legacy was founded in 2007.