'Train the Trainer' adds recertification program

YARMOUTH, Maine—Technology at central stations advanced rapidly in the decade between revisions to SIA-APCO's “Train the Trainer” course, which was updated in 2000 and again in 2011. For instructors certified under the older version, keeping pace has required extra work as more of their monitoring protocols have become outdated.  

To improve the process, Central Station University is rolling out a new program to update trainers who were certified by the Security Industry Association before 2010. Along with providing initial certification through the Central Station Operator Instructor course, CSU now offers recertification to give experienced trainers access to the current version of CSOI.

“As more material in the old revision became out of date, trainers were losing more time every year writing their own updates,” CSU President Dera DeRouche-Jolet said in a prepared statement. “We're hearing how happy trainers are to have the updated content, particularly on new technologies and false-alarm reduction.”

CSU General Manager Sean Rockhold said the 2011 revision still must be customized to meet the needs of each monitoring facility, but it deals much more effectively with the “basic core topics” than the 2000 version. The program was introduced in 1995.

“The whole point of [CSOI] is to be able to send trainers back to their own central stations to create and develop their own training program with a standardized curriculum, but then also bring in their own automation system, their own hardware and their own procedures, specific things for the customer base they have,” he told Security Systems News.

Among the high-priority topics for the trainers and the operators they teach is the need to reduce false alarms. The latest version of the course reflects that, Rockhold said, by expanding the focus on alarm verification and meeting the requirements of individual jurisdictions.

“It's become core to maintaining good relationships with law enforcement across the country, so we're putting our best foot forward to work with them to solve problems, not create them,” he said. “It's certainly something that operators are going to be seeing every day.”

The five-day CSOI course will be offered May 13-17 at Micro Key Solutions in Kissimmee, Fla.; in May at Bold Technologies in Colorado Springs, Colo. (date to be announced); and Aug. 12-16 at SIA in Silver Spring, Md. Class dates for the last four months of 2013 will be announced later in the year.

The cost for initial certification is $1,500, or $1,350 for SIA members. Trainers seeking recertification get a reduced rate: $1,200, or $1,080 for SIA members. Rockhold said the 2000 version of the SIA-APCO course is still available for anyone who wants it, but this will be the last year it is offered.