Security-Net update with Jim Coleman

Members of Security-Net, a group of 20 independent integrators that work together as a single national integrator, is having business meetings and doing some celebrating (its 20th anniversary bash is tonight) here in Chicago during the ASIS show.

On Monday, I spoke to Jim Coleman, president of Operational Security Systems, and newly elected president of Security-Net for 2014 and 2015. Other new officers include Skip Sampson, VP, Koorsen Security Technology, Steve Morefield, founder, Firstline Security, and Mike Painter of Alpha Corporation.

Coleman took some time out from training sessions that were taking place for the integrator's SalesNet and TechNet groups. SalesNet and TechNet are networks of sales people and technicians from the different companies. The groups' members communicate frequently and meet in person several times a year.

Coleman said the SalesNet group had a four-hour training session. “We brought in an expert to walk through the module and talk about sales leadership—how to be a sales leader in your organization,” he said. The TechNet group was in a meeting about “how you use technology internally in your organizations, how the same databases and networks that we use in the systems we install [should be used] to make your company more efficient and productive � to keep up with change in your company.”

Both groups were also spending time with Security-Net vendors working on product training. And speaking of manufacturers, Coleman said that Security-Net has negotiated an agreement with Honeywell, where “our members are going to become qualified to install and service Honeywell video and access control systems for national accounts that we would execute.” I asked him if the group would be attending Honeywell Connect, a conference in November that will for the first time bring together dealers from Honeywell's three dealer groups, FAP, HIS and CSS. He said that Security-Net will have a large presence there. I'm going this year as well.

Asked what initiatives Security-Net is working on, Coleman said it plans to make further investment in its national accounts software platform that the group uses to share documents and other information among the different companies. Specifically, the group is working on some mobile apps for salespeople for when they do surveys, for installation people to report progress on what got accomplished, any issues in the field,” he said. The apps will be used by individual Security-Net companies internally and in concert with other companies when they work on the same national account, he said.

I'm off to the McCormick Center now for a day on the show floor. Looks like a beautiful day in Chicago from my hotel room. It took me all day to get here from Maine yesterday, but I did get to sneak in a run along the lake in the early evening. I'm looking forward to me meetings today, but I'm hoping to get out on that running path asap after the showfloor closes.