ISS constructs new office

MIAMI—When Integrated Security Systems moves into its new office in June it will have 11,000 square feet of additional space, a 35-person training center and, possibly, a new revenue stream from its training offerings.

“It will be a state-of-the-art training center for employees and customers,” ISS CEO and president Jeffrey Nunberg told Security Systems News.

Thirty-five people will be able to be trained at one time and the space will accommodate 50 people for a presentation or company event.

ISS currently uses off-site hotel meeting space when it does large training programs.

“It will enhance our formal training process and enable us to provide a client or multiple clients with training on similar systems,” Nunberg said.

“One thing on my agenda once we are moved in is to hire a training manager,” Nunberg said. He will also assess whether there may be a revenue opportunity from regular training for clients.

ISS is doing a lot of training right now because it's doing a lot of hiring.

“We're hiring new people weekly, project managers, installers, service technicians, engineering-type folks for systems design,” he said.

A multi-million dollar three-year contract with an international power company is driving some of that hiring.

Nunberg declined to name the client whom he described as an international solar-, wind-, hydro- and fossil fuel-generated power company with offices in the United States, Canada and Europe.

ISS will be replacing the customer's entire access control system (and old Casi system with Lenel OnGuard), and Nunberg said ISS beat out some large national companies for the contract.

Asked what differentiated ISS from its competitors, Nunberg said:  “The fact that we're not a big national company” is one of the reasons.

“We can deliver personalized service, and we don't report to Wall Street … we don't hide our revenue in Bermuda,” Nunberg said. “We're not a mom and pop shop, we're a good sized regional, so we can deliver like the big guys, but [our customers' business] means something to us.”

Companies that are venture-backed, on the other hand, “have to meet Wall Street expectations,” Nunberg said “and [unlike privately owned companies,] those venture capital guys are not in the business to make customers happy.”