Julie's Corner!
if affects her it affects you...even if you don't know it yet
10/29/18
Winter Is Coming …
“Game Of Thrones” fans will get that reference … but really, with winter and the holidays almost upon us, as a fellow alarm company owner, I emphatically recommend that you touch base with your customers regarding back-up battery maintenance/replacement, smoke/heat detector batteries & filters, etc.
In fact, you should ideally offer a wintertime “Alarm Panel Safety Inspection” at a substantive discount off of your normal hourly service rate. My company has done this many times in the past by including a coupon in our fall/winter billing, and we’ve had a great reaction from our clientele. In our experience, monitored subscribers really do appreciate their alarm company taking a proactive approach to the maintenance of their intrusion & life safety systems. The customer goodwill we’ve derived over the years is priceless, and it’s a terrific year-end revenue enhancer as well.
I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season!
7/20/18
The Gloomy Looming Trade War: How Will It Affect You?
It goes without saying that we are in truly intriguing economic times. Sans any prejudicial viewpoint on the current administration in general, many opinion leaders in our industry agree that the potential Trumpian tariff tête-à-tête could have a disastrously wide-ranging effect on the cost of critical components and related security products.
Don Erickson, the CEO of the Security Industry Association, seems even more convinced. “The inclusion of many of these products will (increase) the cost of key components needed to manufacture or integrate security systems,” he wrote in a formal letter of opposition that was sent to the federal government. Indeed, a “Product-By-Product Impact” analysis by Security Dealer & Integrator would seem to be a harbinger of sorrow:
High Industry Impact: Lithium ion and NiCad batteries; Circuit Boards and Relays; Video Surveillance Lenses; Coaxial Cable Connectors, Mechanical Optical and Solid State Storage Devices; Fiber Optic Cable
High to Medium Impact: Lighting and Components
Medium Industry Impact: Electrical Components; Touchscreens and Enclosures; Radar Systems; Aerial Drones
In sum, I feel it incumbent upon all of us to do our due diligence and educate ourselves accordingly on this incredibly important issue. Please communicate your concerns to your Senators and Congressional representatives. On behalf of the SVAA, thank you.
Your Partner In Protection,
Julie A. Buller
CEO, Crime Alert Monitoring Center
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“Trade War,” Security Dealer & Integrator, June 2018, p. 31
6/2/18
It’s hard to believe that we are fast approaching two decades into the 21st century. As security industry leaders and opinion makers, it’s incumbent upon us to sound the clarion call to bring the entirety of our clientele’s telecom infrastructure into modernity.
According to the Fiber Optic Association, and as we all are no doubt aware, copper wire’s bandwidth is extremely limited. It was fine for voice back in the day, but we are in an ever-evolving tech world. Conversely, fiber optic wiring offers lightning-fast speed with over 1,000 times as much bandwidth, at over distances that stretch as much as 100 times further.¹ If you’re like me, you grew up watching cartoons as a kid. I think an apt analogy would be that fiber is to copper as the Road Runner is to Wile E. Coyote. One simply runs circles around the other!
So, we must recognize that fiber optics makes sense. Please bear in mind that older legacy panels may not be able to handle the high-speed of fiber, so in those cases an upgrade would be necessary. I’m confident that we can all work together to achieve the goal of bringing the collective alarm & data telecom backbone of ALL of our customers into the constantly changing, and challenging, digital age.
¹Copper or Fiber? What’s The Real Story?, “Guide To Fiber Optics & Premises Cabling” by The Fiber Optic Association – Tech Topics, page 2.