ScanSource to offer security 'on demand'

GREENVILLE, S.C.—The ScanSource booth at ISC West, which has featured memorable themes in the past, will be dedicated entirely to the launch of its new educational program: ScanSource Security On Demand.

The distribution company, based here, unveiled the program, which has been in the works for six months, on April 2, the first day of ISC West.

“ScanSource Security On Demand is an education and information portal with heavy video content. It's directed to our security and network reseller customer base,” Christie Hamberis, VP of merchandising for ScanSource Security, told Security Systems News.

The portal is open, initially, to all current and prospective clients at scansourcesecurity.com/ondemand. It features short videos with content that's relevant to resellers, both security companies and ScanSource telecom resellers who may be interested in expanding into security.

The portal has several different content areas including vertical markets information; product reviews; technical support; information on special deals; marketing information, product demos and “fun stuff.”

The vertical market information shows “how security plays within a specific vertical market and what the opportunity looks like for a security reseller or a telecom reseller who's [not yet selling security],” Hamberis explained.

Product reviews are non-critical reviews that “give a perspective on the product that's important to resellers, whether they're technical or sales people, or people in the office or out in the field,” she said.

The technical support area includes technical training information starting with the basics such as “the difference between different camera form factors or how to differentiate between VMSes,” Hamberis said. There's also a link to demos of products, so resellers can dial in or link into demos and check out a camera's resolution, for example.

ScanSource's manufacturer partners can use a “big deals” section of the portal to explain promotions.

The “marketing minute,” section features business building information “about how to staff your company, how to put on an event,” Hamberis said.

Wendy Thacker, ScanSource Security director of merchandising and the point person on this project, said that the portal also includes “some fun stuff,” such as a section called Coffee with Cohee, which will have videos featuring ScanSource employee Mark Cohee speaking about a variety of current topics inside and outside security. The segments will last as long as it takes Cohee to brew his Keurig coffee.

In the future, the plan is to link into ScanSource's Learning Management System, so resellers will be able to access more training and certification contents.