Peace of Mind Technologies' bold vision

NEW YORK—Peace of Mind Technologies' CEO Jon Ecker has what he calls a “bold vision” for his systems integration firm: “We want to be the No. 1 security integrator in New York City in the next five years,” he said.

“We do have certain revenue goals: We want to be five times the size we are today in terms of revenue, but we also want to be a coveted place to work, be a recognizable brand, and we want people to seek us out for our services and solutions,” Ecker told Security Systems News.

Founded in 2002 by Ecker, the company has had enviable success. POM has 45 employees and is growing “at a steady 30 percent clip annually and is profitable,” Ecker said. He declined to reveal total revenue figures.

POM derives 25 percent of its total revenues from services. “Over the last couple of years we've focused on driving our managed services division,” he said.

The company provides “maintenance contracts on everything.” Its service department includes service dispatchers who manage all the trucks in the field and 10 technicians dedicated solely to service.

In addition to 24-hour service, POM offers remote updates, remote visitor management, remote video monitoring, managed access and cloud video. “The cloud video is a brand new technology for us but it's growing,” Ecker said.

Twenty-five percent of POM's work is in education, its other verticals include health care, commercial buildings, commercial building tenants, multi-unit residences and hospitalities. It also does work for entertainment studios including the Kaufman studios in New York.

In addition to access, intrusion and video, POM does AV and communications and a lot of low-voltage infrastructure cabling for telephone and data.

POM has done a number of projects for The Marymount School of New York, a private school for girls on the Upper East Side. The school has three separate buildings several blocks away from each other. POM tied in all the access and video and installed a card access control system, using an S2 Security system that “automatically generates attendance reports for the schools,” Ecker said.

POM also installed 50 ASSA ABLOY wireless wifi locks on classroom doors at the school's 84^th Street location.

The school's facility director manages the access control system.

POM also installed a remote video monitoring system at an athletic field across from the school's 97^th Street location. The system replaced guards at the location and “has been an incredible cost savings and a great service for them,” Ecker said.

Ecker, who is an SSN “20 under 40” alumnus, Class of 2007, said he's learned a lot about building a company over the past 13 years. Culture is key, he says.

The company's core values are: drive, service, innovation, leadership and integrity. “We hire and terminate based on those core values,” Ecker said. He's passed on “dozens and dozens of applicants who have the skills [but don't have the right attitude.]”

“We're a full service company, you've got to have everyone, from technicians and project managers, sales and administration aligned [in terms of goals and attitudes]. Everyone has to be drinking from the same cup because if you don't have that …  it can create a lot of problems, fast.”

Ecker has a leadership and sales coach as does his executive staff, many of whom started out in non-managerial roles. “Coaching is very important. Even Michael Jordan has a coach. You can always do better and get better,” he said.

He does retreats with his department heads “where we think about big initiatives” and his department heads have retreats with their departments.

The technical and sales staff also have a full roster of training and certification classes to attend every year.

“I've invested a lot of resources back into the company over the last several years and I think it has paid back tenfold. People love it. It's good for the culture.”

“You can't be a success without it,” Ecker said.