The security industry has been forced by COVID-19 and the subsequent social distancing guidelines and regulations to reimagine its practices. Changes to the nature of work have created new vulnerabilities and worsened existing ones. Fortunately, most of these issues can be addressed effectively with minor modifications to tried and tested security practices. (more…)
For years, the trend towards more workplace flexibility has been seen in many fields. Younger professionals have especially driven this trend and consider it an important perk of their work environment. However, some industries have lagged behind, usually due to long-held perceived notions about the necessity of working on-site. The security industry has also been slow to embrace the flexible workplace trend, though often in part due to UL restrictions.
Despite this, in the early part of 2020, many organizations were forced to increase remote work in response to COVID-19. But this should not be a temporary change. Greater workplace flexibility could help the security field be more effective in the future. (more…)
Alarm monitoring operations can be complex and challenging – even more so during these uncharted times we are experiencing with COVID-19. New challenges, new ways of working together, and the need to define new processes are causing inefficient operations, unconventional communications, and manual procedures. Technology upgrades and operational workflow can place a drain on already limited internal resources. The opportunity to expand into new markets could help fuel revenue growth and an increased subscriber base; however, it brings its own set of challenges. These are only a few of the complexities that dealers and monitoring centers face today among multiple other competing priorities. Finding new solutions to help drive operational efficiencies and increase revenue growth are not only needed but critical. (more…)
As a business owner, you appreciate your customers and want to offer them the best service possible. You also have limited staff resources who often are swamped with calls all day from customers needing copies of invoices, checking when their service appointment is taking place, wanting to make a payment or other account needs. If you could remove some of those extra calls and still provide your customers with exemplary service, would it be worth it to give your staff more time to attend to other priorities? (more…)
Security industry professionals and businesses found themselves in various states of preparedness when COVID-19 struck. The pandemic has affected companies differently, forcing leadership teams across the industry to develop plans and address issues in their own way. Here, we examine the effects of the pandemic on the security industry and offer guidance moving forward. (more…)
Introducing Sedona-X™ Mobile, the future of mobile app accounting and business management software!
Sedona-X Mobile integrates with AlarmBiller, the #1 alarm billing software for security dealers, to provide you with complete customer, financial, and billing management capabilities in the field. Sedona-X Mobile gives users full account visibility, allows for on-the-go appointment scheduling, and keeps proposals, work orders, and invoices at your fingertips. (more…)
The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in countries around the world implementing “safer-at-home” lockdown orders. Although this appears to be the right decision for public health, the impact on business finances has been substantial. If you want to protect your business against the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, consider optimizing financial processes.
We teamed up with BNP Media to sponsor their webinar, Passive vs Active Video Surveillance at Yale University. The webinar covers the design phase of the Yale Police Department’s existing radar layout at the Yale Bowl and the security challenges it has presented, the need to keep the historical nature of the Yale Bowl building in mind while designing a new surveillance system, and how the Yale public safety team is using the new system to identify a threat. You can view the on-demand webinar here.
In educational environments, safety is a top concern. Despite this, security in education often falls short of expectations. With this in mind, the Yale University public safety team recognized that the famous Yale Bowl was a weak spot for the institution. Through a thorough security assessment and improvements to video surveillance systems, they were able to improve security outcomes at their athletics facility. (more…)
Although violent crime and property crime rates continue to decline, falling more than 50% since the early 90s, other serious crimes like assault and rape are climbing (Fig. 1,2). [1] This alarming trend is manifesting on college campuses and around the world.[2],[3] The question for us in the security and safety industry is: what can we do to help organizations prevent these crimes using surveillance practices and begin to reverse this trend?
Small businesses are amazing organizations, truly the backbone of a healthy US economy. In 2016 there were 30.7 million small businesses in the US comprising 99.9% of all firms, 33.3% of known export value, and 40.7% of private-sector payroll.[1] In addition to this solid economic data, small businesses often promise remarkable intangible qualities: Innovation, customer centricity, quality, expertise, and flexibility, to name a few.
Qualities such as these are not exclusively or automatically endowed upon the small. They belong to the bold, a characteristic of the large and small alike, and a driver of upward mobility. (more…)