Three out of four for Monitronics; Tweets for SIAC
By Rich Miller
Updated Wed February 29, 2012
Make it three out of four for Monitronics.
The Dallas-based alarm monitoring firm was recently named Frost & Sullivan's North American Company of the Year for 2011, adding to similar awards the company won in 2008 and 2010.
Frost & Sullivan praised Monitronics for maximizing value to clients by expanding its customer service operations and streamlining internal processes, resulting in record-low attrition for the year. The market researchers also cited the company's “concerted efforts” to expand its dealer network, a point that wasn't lost on Bruce Mungiguerra, VP of sales and dealer development for Monitronics.“The biggest part for us, for our company and our dealers, is the way our program is modeled as a 100 percent dealer environment,” he told Security Systems News. “All of our business comes through our dealer network, and we really promote a high level of branding for our dealers to promote themselves and be their own local company.”
Mungiguerra said the award gives Monitronics' dealers a big boost when it comes to marketing their services.
“Being able to have been recognized as the North American alarm provider of the year now for three years, it really helps give credibility to the dealers,” he said. “They can use those logos and that information on their branding to show what a great central station we are. … At the end of the day, our bread and butter is the ability to provide great monitoring services to retain our customers for a long time.”
Tweets for SIAC: Social media and the Security Industry Alarm Coalition? It might not sound like a match made in heaven, but SIAC sees the value of Tweets and blogs and is taking advantage of the new tools. Since launching its initiative a year ago, the group has attracted more than 100 followers on Twitter and 40 to 50 blog readers a week.
“While we have overcome many challenges, our industry continues to face significant issues in many communities,” said Stan Martin, SIAC's executive director. “Social media helps us keep industry leaders informed on key issues in real time so that we can engage law enforcement and elected officials early in the decision-making process.”
SIAC's weekly blog can be found at www.siacinc.wordpress.com, with Tweets at @SIACINC.
“It's a long-term growth process to get more people involved in improving alarm management practices across the country,” said Dave Simon, SIAC's communications director. “The first step is sending relevant, consistent information, and we believe these tools are effectively serving that purpose.”
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