TMA 2024 Awards Finalists Announced

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce the finalists for its 2024 Excellence Awards and Marvel Technology Award.

TMA’s Monitoring Center Excellence Awards recognize any FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL or UL-listed monitoring center (TMA members) and outstanding personnel who perform in the highest professional manner, thereby making a significant contribution to the betterment of the alarm industry and the alarm profession while demonstrating exceptional service to their customers and community.

The purpose of the awards program is to:

  • Establish and promote the inherent value of professional monitoring services in general.
  • Honor those who have made the most significant contributions to the service.
  • Promote the distinct level of professionalism attained by NRTL-approved monitoring centers.

TMA’s Monitoring Center Excellence Awards are co-sponsored by SDM Magazine, which will publish a feature story on this year’s award winners in its August issue. This year, the TMA/SDM Excellence Awards competition received a total of 32 entries across five categories. Listed in alphabetical order by company within each category, the finalists are:

Monitoring Center of the Year – Enterprise

  • ADT
  • Affiliated Monitoring
  • Rapid Response Monitoring

Monitoring Center of the Year – SMB

  • Kimberlite
  • Per Mar Security
  • Stealth Monitoring

Monitoring Center Manager of the Year

  • Jessica Lambert, AvantGuard
  • Claudia Torres, Rapid Response Monitoring
  • Erik Chalifour, TELUS Security

 Monitoring Center Operator of the Year

  • Esperanza Sena, ADT
  • Angelica Miranda, Affiliated Monitoring
  • Brenda Eichfeld, COPS Monitoring

 Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year:

  • John Turner, ADT
  • Jennifer Acevedo, Affiliated Monitoring
  • John Balthrop, Stealth Monitoring

TMA’s Marvel Technology Award honors innovations in monitoring center technology. It is co-sponsored by TMA and Security Sales & Integration (SSI) and coordinated by the TMA Technology Committee. The purpose of the Marvel Award is to provide recognition for monitoring centers creating and/or using cutting-edge technology to raise awareness of these new technologies and is presented to one overall winner for the “best adoption of new technology to advance your business.”

The finalists for the 2024 TMA/SSI Monitoring Technology “Marvel” Award are:

  • Elite Interactive Solutions, Inc.
  • Rapid Response Monitoring
  • Stealth Monitoring

Award entries are judged by a volunteer judging panel appointed by TMA. The winners will be announced at a virtual award ceremony presented on April 18, 2024, at 3:00 pm ET. Register to attend at https://themonitoringassociation.growthzoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/n4HmaGMtXHNCZ

View the Spring Issue of TMA Dispatch

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The spring issue of the TMA Dispatch is now available! Login to the InfoHub to read.

One area where monitoring companies and dealers who are “new to the game” are concerned about is the camera conditions that AI can work well with and those they don’t work well with. In this issue’s cover story, TMA member and AI guru, Sonny Tai, Actuate, hopes to help clear this up. Learn more about the primary factors impacting camera accuracy.

In our Guest column, TMA friend and past keynote presenter Joel Block, Bullseye Capital, shares some of his and a colleague’s essential steps to master the art of attracting top performers. What are your company’s STATs when it comes to identifying and attracting top performers to your team?

Elizabeth Parks, President, Parks Associates, dives into the latest residential market facts and figures in her monthly column. Just for starters, her research reports that 43% of US internet households now own a security solution and 32% subscribe to a security service. The news is quite exciting.

TMA’s GSOC Committee Co-Chair Richard Flores, IV, tackles redundancy in GSOC operations and systems in this new sanding column. In doing so, he asks the reader to consider the difference between redundancy and resiliency. Are they interchangeable?

Read these and more in the first issue of 2024!

Thank Your Local Public Safety Telecommunicators in April

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National Public Telecommunicators Week is coming up! make plans now to recognize the dedication and hard work of your local public safety partners.

There are many ways to show how grateful you are for the life-saving services these professionals provide 24/7/365.

APCO International has shared some ideas here: https://www.npstw.org/

The King County WA Becames the 142nd ECC to Go Live with TMA’s ASAP

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The King County WA Sheriff’s Office Communications Center became the 142nd Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 8th ECC in the state of Washington to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).

King County went live on March 20th & 21st, 2024 with the following companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, DynaMark Monitoring, ADT, Vivint, Protection One/Everon, Brinks Home Security, National Monitoring Center, and Affiliated Monitoring. Securitas went live with King County on March 25th.

TMA Members Make SIA’s Women in Security Forum Power 100

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TMA is proud to recognize its members who made the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) Women in Security Forum (WISF) Power 100 in 2024.  The program honors 100 exceptional women in security who are raising the bar, changing expectations and breaking barriers. They lead, they inspire change and they innovate, and this is their time to be recognized!

Join us in congratulating these amazing women for their outstanding accomplishments:  

JULIE BEACH
Vice President, SONITROL, Securitas Technology

KELLY DELEO
Director, Solutions and Services – Americas, Axis Communications

AMANDA EDWARDS
Senior Account Executive, Paladin Technologies

TIFFANY GALARZA
Senior Director, Telecom & End User Tech, ADT

HRISTINA KOLEVA
Vice President of Customer Success, Stealth Monitoring

RACHELLE LOYEAR
Vice President, Integrated Security Solutions, Allied Universal

CARLA MANZANILLA
Program Manager, Allied Universal Technology Services

CAROLYN MCGRATH
Global Senior Director, Security and Fire Services, Johnson Controls

CHRISTINA PARK
Global Account Manager, Axis Communications

NANCY PETERSON
Executive Vice President/North America General Counsel, Allied Universal

JOEY RAO-RUSSELL
President and CEO, Sonitrol

SHARI WILSON
Director of Monitoring, ADT

Securitas Rolls Out Data Centre Certification Globally to Employees

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Written by Neil Sutton, Editor, Canadian Security, March 18, 2024

Securitas recently announced the availability of a data centre certification for its employees, with plans to train more than 10,000 staff.

The training, which became available in February, complements the launch of Securitas’ Global Data Center Group in 2023.

Securitas staff who successfully complete the training — which focuses on physical access control, emergency response procedures, adherence to ethics and professional conduct — will be recognized as Certified Data Security Professionals.

“Securitas’ certified data centre professionals will serve as vigilant eyes and ears, enhancing client safety by identifying hazards and improving working practices,” said the company in a press release when the training program was first announced.

At the moment, the certification is internal to Securitas, but there are efforts underway which would allow it to be recognized as a global industry standard.

Bert den Hartog, vice-president, global clients, Securitas, said the certification serves a dual purpose: to offer a higher level of service to the company’s data centre clients while providing valuable skills to Securitas staff and allowing them to gain a better understanding of how their role contributes to data centre security.

“Our officers will be security specialists in the data centre environment. Our specialists will be better prepared to provide security and safety service in a data centre and to continue with their professional development,” said den Hartog in an email interview with Canadian Security.

Securitas also plans to add more modules to the data centre training over time.

According to den Hartog, Securitas offers a broad range of training initiatives in addition to the data centre certification. Some training, which focuses on business ethics and values, is mandatory for Securitas employees.

These programs “make sure everyone in our company understands our core values, being integrity, helpfulness and vigilance, to make our world a safer place according to our mission,” he said.

Other, more specialized programs vary depending on the client or industry. “It has been proven that investment in people leads to better service and quality,” he added.

Important Tax Relief Legislation Needs Your Support NOW!

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Did you know that the U.S. House passed tax relief that would improve the Research and Development tax credit, so the full deduction of the investment cost can take place in the year that it occurred? According to ESA, it also would, temporarily, provide bonus depreciation for 100% of purchases made for equipment and short-lived capital assets.

Some TMA members would also benefit from an increase in the portion of interest on borrowed capital eligible to be deducted from businesses’ income taxes. It raises the cap to 30% of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) rather than 30% of EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes).

However, the U.S. Senate has not moved on the bill (even with the overwhelmingly bi-partisan support in the House).

Send a message to your Senators now to request passage of this legislation now!

Send a letter to your Senator through ESA at https://www.votervoice.net/ESA/campaigns/112783/respond

New CA 738 Area Code Coming 11/1/24

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The new 738 area code will overlay the existing 213 and 323 area codes in the Los Angeles area so that all three area codes serve the same geographic region. The new 738 area code that becomes effective on November 1, 2024.

Mandatory 1+10-digit dialing is already required in the 213 and 323 area codes and will be required in the new 738 area code as well.

For additional information, contact:

CA 213/323/738 overlay implementation committee co-chairs
Dana Crandall (Verizon), dana.crandall@verizonwireless.com, 682-831-3662
Javier Rodriguez (AT&T), jr1515@att.com, 512-457-2260

 

Concerned About Shortage of Skilled/Certified Works? Act Now!

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According to ESA, over 78% of integrators recently said their #1 concern for the future of the industry is a shortage of skilled/certified workers.

However, you have an opportunity to do something about it. Send a message urging your Members of Congress to support The Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act!

This important legislation would allow workers to utilize 529 education savings accounts to pay for costs related to workforce credentialing and certification programs. Lowering the cost barriers associated with the industry will help integrators find more qualified workers.

Be a leader and help solve this program by getting your Members of Congress onboard.

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

Links to proposed legislation:

 

The passing of Anita Ostrowski, Vector Security

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It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the sudden passing of long time TMA member and revered volunteer leader Anita Ostrowski, vice president of Central Station Services for Vector Security. Anita died suddenly on Sunday, January 7th. At the time of her death, Anita served as the chair of TMA’s UL Committee and co-chair of the Monitoring Center Notification of Active Threat Detection (TMA-ATN-01) Standards Committee.

“Anita was not only an exceptional and highly valued volunteer within TMA, but she was also an extraordinary human being. Time and time again, I witnessed her openly and generously sharing her knowledge and experience with other monitoring center professionals while speaking and mentoring,” commented TMA CEO Celia T. Besore. “Her contributions to TMA education, standards, and the ASAP-to-PSAP program are immeasurable.”      

She joined the Vector Security team in 1985. In her nearly 40-year tenue at the company, she was dedicated to managing its award-winning monitoring center’s services. Her commitment to excellence won her two distinct honors from TMA. In 2008, TMA and SDM magazine presented her with the Monitoring Center Manager of the Year Excellence Award. TMA’s Immediate Past President Morgan Hertel honored Anita’s outstanding contributions to TMA standards and the ASAP-to-PSAP program with one of its highest awards in 2022 – the Mel Mahler Award.

Over the course of her career, Anita was deeply committed to alarm industry standards and actively participated in TMA’s development of ANSI accredited standards. As the chair for TMA’s UL Standards Committee, she worked with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to update and adapt the standards to meet changing technologies. She also worked on the development of work-from-home requirements for monitoring center operators during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the integrity of professional monitoring, as well as sharing with the industry best practices that Vector had developed at the beginning of the pandemic. More recently, Anita participated in the development of TMA’s groundbreaking Alarm Validation Scoring standard (ANSI-TMA-AVS-01), which was released in January 2022.

In addition, Anita was also instrumental in the original development of TMA’s Operator Level 1 and Level 2, which has evolved into the gold standard for training monitoring center operators. She was a key member of the first TMA licensing group and a speaker at many TMA and industry conferences. She played an integral role in the implementation of the ASAP-to-PSAP standard across 911 centers from the very beginning.

The TMA Board of Directors, volunteer leadership, and staff join with the Vector Security family, our members, and many others across the security industry in mourning her loss.

Photo: (l to r) Pam Petrow, president and CEO, Vector Security; Anita Ostrowski; Celia T. Besore, CEO, TMA, at the 2022 TMA Annual Meeting where Anita was presented with the 2022 Mel Mahler Award  for her work in TMA standards and the ASAP-to-PSAP program.