The Electronic Security Association’s (ESA) “Leadership Summit” just ended Thursday. We were fortunate to participate in a panel on best alarm management practices, designed to address video technology applications/developing relationships and supporting police. Ron Walters from our staff joined Bob McVeigh, VP/General Manager of Security Solutions, Inc., and Sean O’Keefe, CEO of Texana Security LLC. Their future-leaning discussion was a theme throughout the conference.
For those of you who attended, and those who didn’t, session after session at the meeting looked ahead rather than behind. The questions pertained to “what do we do next?” The answers gave advice, based on expert experience, on options for companies to take in the coming months and years. This bodes well not only for our industry but for our approaches to improve alarm management practices.
Major kudos go to Merlin Guilbeau, ESA Executive Director, and his talented staff, for pulling together the event. Excellent programs, like those at the summit, are a result of hard work, forward thinking and follow through. Merlin and his staff deserve our industry-wide congratulations!
Bringing together leadership throughout the country to discuss the big issues is a great way to share ideas, and get the creative juices flowing. We need these types of sessions to explore what works to reduce unnecessary alarms and what doesn’t. At the same time, we need to hear new ideas, and take chances on unproven methods. There are risks involved, but without risk there is no reward.
There was a “feel” to the Summit that the electronic security industry is transitioning from a straight-forward burglar alarm installation and monitoring business. Instead, there will be multiple services and options developing in the coming years, driven by wireless technologies, and the younger generation of Americans seeking more from their systems.
We need to adapt on the alarm management front, and companies in our industry must adapt as well. Technology will drive some solutions, but how we manage our relationships will also be critical to success. SIAC pledges to continue looking for new ways to help the electronic security industry put its best foot forward in communities across the U.S. You can count on that. We look forward to our work with the industry in the years ahead, meeting new people, exploring new techniques. It promises to be exciting.