Moon Security to enhance PERS division

PASCO, Wash.—Moon Security Services, a full-service security company with accounts in several states in the Northwest, plans to ramp up its PERS division in the coming months, Mike Miller, vice president of the company, told Security Systems News.

“It's certainly an RMR opportunity, and it certainly fits in with our life safety philosophy,” Miller said. “At the same time, my warm and fuzzy point would be that there's a lot of people that need our help and this is one way to do it.”

With most projections signaling an explosion in the PERS market as baby boomers age, central station alarm monitoring companies have increasingly tried to make inroads into the market. Moon Security's push will involve revamping its PERS division—now called Moon Medical Alert— from both a technical and marketing standpoint.

Moon Security plans to transition from one-way to two-way voice communication products, employing PERS units manufactured by Louisville, Ky.-based LogicMark, which creates a line of PERS-related products.

Miller says the product is appealing not only because it offers an upgrade to two-way voice communication, but because it does so with enhanced mobile flexibility. “We really like the two-way voice at the pendant,” he said.

While PERS devices with pendants always offer some kind of radius in which the transmitter can still communicate properly with the in-home unit, ranges tend to vary according to device. Some units work only within a hundred feet or so from the home.

However, when LogicMark offered a demonstration at Moon Security's headquarters, a representative went outside and walked about 500 to 600 feet away from the location of the conference room. “We were still able to hear him clearly,” Miller said.

Before implementation, Miller will make some adjustments at the company's UL-listed central station. Though monitoring companies have become solid entrants into the PERS space, the devices present some challenges—both to central station managers and call operators—that might seem unfamiliar at first.

“One of the challenges from a central station standpoint is recognizing that it's a bit more manpower, because you're going to be talking on the phone more,” Miller said. “You also have got to make sure you have the personal touch with people, because you're talking to elderly people and people in need of medical help.”

After a two-day training session in the latter half of August, covering topics like installation, marketing strategies and central station practices for PERS, Moon Medical Alert will be ready for a roll out. Miller said the division will be fully implemented “before the next month and a half.”

In the meantime, the company is finalizing its sales approach and fully adapting its central station to for the new division.

“It's just a matter of getting in front of the client and also making sure we have the ability to answer questions internally,” Miller said. “We need to do testing, and ensure that it meets the other processes that occur at our central station.”