Integrators had their full court press on the second day of ASIS in beautiful and very hopping Dallas.
Visits with Stanley CSS, Johnson Controls and Protection One found these integration firms focusing on the end user customer and their needs and rightly so, this being an end user show.
Tony Byerly, president of Stanley Convergent Security Solutions North America and the United Kingdom spoke about new eServices for commercial customers, Web-based value offerings that help position the company as a partner in their business with an executive dashboard providing the managerial tools and information these customers want to see to gauge how effectively their operations run—and how well Stanley CSS is aiding them with these and other mobile solutions. New commercial scorecards also let customers see how quickly and responsive the company is. “Our central stations handle some two million calls per year from our customers and these are answered in 10 seconds or less,” Byerly said. He added that preventative maintenance as a service is emerging strong and helps the end users plan for and manage their costs more effectively. “The customer doesn’t pay for eServices and we continue to bundle premium services such as these,” he said.
Johnson Controls continues to focus on hot vertical markets which include hospitals, education and government with building automation the beginning of an important bundle for end users, according to Denise Gadowski, program manager, Marketing Communications, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls.
Protection One’s Tim Whall, chief executive officer, talked about the emergence of a stronger national accounts program from the systems integration firm as well as a new team of management focusing on one team, one accountability, to help the end user side of the business grow. “Our concept of one dedicated national account team is a far different approach to the traditional one point of contact,” Whall said. “We don’t see account management, installation, service, monitoring, order entry billing and collections as separate functions to be run as separate national groups. Our unique approach combines members from all service functions into a single team that is educated and dedicated to national accounts. One telephone call or e-mail puts users immediately in contact with someone familiar with their accounts,” he said.
The level of services integrators provide, Whall said, will be a key differentiator, not simply the different services themselves.
– Deborah L. O’Mara, editor, SD&I magazine
