Micro Key debuts mobile apps to save central stations time/money

KISSIMEE, Fla.—Two new smartphone apps from central station automation platform provider Micro Key will help integrators and central stations save time and money and run more efficiently, according to Micro Key business development manager Victoria Ferro.

“This is a service for the dealers, but both central stations and dealers will benefit,” Ferro told Security Systems News. “Dealers can put their accounts on and off test without central station operator intervention, freeing them up to handle actual alarms. Central stations can also bring on more dealers without having to add operators.”

Usually, dealers need to call the central station and have an operator put an account "on and off test." The operator takes the account offline in order to put it on test and puts it back online to take it off test. This process ties up an operator's valuable time.

WebTech and Mobile Virtual Operator, both of which Micro Key—provider of the Millennium automation platform—debuted in Las Vegas at ISC West, are tools designed to be interactive, upper-level tools to the integrator in the field.

WebTech is an application that allows technicians to receive service/installation tickets electronically while out in the field. The app enables techs to get a list of pending service tickets, view service history, create a needed parts lists, type a summary of service calls, put accounts on and off test, as well as capture signatures and complete tickets, according to Ferro. The app is available for any web-enabled smart device.

Similar in nature to WebTech, Mobile Virtual Operator allows in-the-field-techs to test the zones and to receive instantaneous status updates without having to call the central station and speak with an operator, Ferro said. The app can also be used to put accounts on and off test and to verify zone descriptions. Mobile Virtual Operator is currently only available for the iPhone.

Micro Key recently partnered with CSAA on a membership promotion, which finds the central station software company offering to pay a year's membership to any new Millennium customers.