Mark Baum to Head ASAP Outreach Committee

Mark Baum headshotThe chair of the ASAP Outreach Committee plays a critical role in advancing the ASAP service by coordinating volunteers effort to unite PSAPs and alarm companies. CSAA is pleased to announce that Mark Baum, Program Manager, Information Technology for Protection One, assumed this role in May. Baum has been working in the security industry for fifteen years with much of this time spent as a project manager for data conversion and system integration projects.  He has been working with ASAP for the last 4 years.

As well as leading personal outreach to PSAPs around the country, the commASAP-Concept1Dittee members have coordinated resources such as training materials, videos, and data collection for PSAPs to spur program growth.

CSAA thanks past chairs Kathleen Schraufnagel and Joe Carr for their efforts on behalf of the committee for the last several years.

Find out more about ASAP at csaaintl.org/asap.

Public Sector Liaison Committee Aims to Increase Engagement

CSAA’s Public Sector Liaison Committee (PSLC) “manages strategy for dealing with public sector/first responders, law enforcement, police, sheriffs, fire community, fire chiefs, and state fire marshals,” said Graham Westphal, Co-President of Bay Alarm Company and chair of the committee. “It’s important that we keep these responders informed of our technology and tools that benefit them. The committee also engages with the NRTLs, and coordinates with SIAC to complement its activities.”

The committee is in the process of launching several new engagement initiatives. “We are very fortunate that recently Shane Clary has volunteered to chair the subcommittee in fire matters and that Jon Sargent has assumed a similar role for burglary,” said Westphal.

Shane Clary headshotShane M. Clary, Ph.D., Vice President, Codes and Standards Compliance at Bay Alarm Company, has been in the alarm industry since 1974, with Bay Alarm Company since 1984, and a member of NFPA 72 since 1993.  He is a past president of the California Automatic Fire Alarm Association, a past chairman of the Automatic Fire Alarm Association and is currently the Co-Chair of the AFAA Codes and Standards Committee.

 

Jon Sargent, Corporate Industry Relations/Government Affairs Jon Sargent headshotManager at Tyco Integrated Security, has 43 years in the security industry. A Past President of the California Alarm Association, he is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff’s Association, and the North American False Alarm Reduction Association, among others. He is currently the Secretary of ESA and the Industry/Law Enforcement Liaison for SIAC.

 

For more information, contact membership@csaaintl.org.

 

 

Kylau, Butkovich Team to Lead New CSAA Technology Committee

 

CSAA has launched a new CSAA Technology Committee. As noted by CSAA Executive Director Jay Hauhn in the spring 2016 issue of CSAA Dispatch, technology was identified at the 2016 CSAA Long Range Planning Meeting as one of the most important focus areas for the association. “The CSAA Technology Committee will be a resource for regular members to learn about technologies that impact their businesses, and a conduit for associate members to provide early awareness of technologically-innovative new products and services,” said Hauhn.

The committee’s co-chairs are Sascha Kylau, Vice President of Central Station Solutions & Service at Onetel and Steve Butkovich, Chief Technology Officer at CPI Security Systems.

The first project of the CSAA Technology Committee is the inaugural “Tech Talk” CSAA Signature Series Webinar, “Get Mobile. Get Paid!” on May 19. This webinar on new technology for collecting payments is offered at no charge to CSAA members.

The committee will hold its first in-person meeting at ESX 2016 at which time the members will confirm their mission and objectives and begin strategizing the development of future resources.

Sascha Kylau headshotKylau has 18 years of experience in the security field specializing in communication technologies.  Sascha started as an engineer with Sur-Gard and held various positions including sales engineer, global product manager and global sales manager. He recently joined Onetel Security, a services company which builds custom voice and data services for the central station market. He is a seasoned public speaker on such topics as central station receivers, VoIP, IP Technology and telecommunications. Kylau is keenly involved in the security industry and participates as an active member of AICC (Alarm Industry Communications Committee), SIA (Security Industry Association) and CSAA (Central Station Alarm Association). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering

Steve Butkovich headshotButkovich is a security and information technology leader working for CPI Security Systems headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.  As a 16-year veteran of the security industry and current CTO for CPI Security Systems, he has directly managed Service Operations, Customer Care, Central Station and Information Technology Teams during his tenure at CPI.  Today Butkovich works to manage technology service providers, vendors and manufacturers to identify, develop and maintain technology solutions allowing CPI to better serve its customers with superior service and high value security and home automation solutions for their homes and businesses. He understands the importance of technology to all facets of the business and works closely with CPI Leaders in Accounting, Marketing, Sales, Installation, Monitoring, Quality Control and Service to utilize and implement new technology tools and solutions to support the goals of the business.

 

For more information, contact membership@csaaintl.org.

CSAA Proposes Bylaws Changes for Vote at ESX

Proposed bylaw changes will be put forth for discussion and vote during the  CSAA General Membership Meeting at ESX next month.

The meeting is scheduled for 2:00 PM, Tuesday, June 7, 2016 in Room 201A at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Proposed changes to the following articles will be discussed and voted upon:
Article I – Name; Article II – Purpose; and Article IV – Membership.

Changes to CSAA bylaws are governed by Article XIII of the association’s bylaws. Article XIII reads as follows:


ARTICLE XIII. AMENDMENT

These bylaws may be amended, altered or repealed by a majority vote of the North American members present at a regular or special meeting, for which said meeting there shall have been mailed to each North American member a notice in writing giving the substance of the proposed change not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date set for said meeting.

Please carefully review the proposed changes posted at:
http://csaaintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/May-2016-Bylaws-Action.pdf
to prepare for the meeting and vote.

Your association depends on your participation and input. If you represent a voting member company of CSAA, make your voice heard by attending and voting at the General Membership Meeting on June 7!

Finalists for 2016 CSAA Excellence Awards Announced

Four “Phenomenal” Winners to Be Revealed at ESX on June 9

Once again, the nominees for CSAA’s annual Excellence Awards were, in the words of one of the judges, a “simply phenomenal” group of companies and individuals. CSCSAA-Excellence-AwardsAA is pleased to announce the twelve finalists for 2016. They are:

Central Station of the Year
ADT LLC; Rapid Response Monitoring Services, Inc.; Vector Security, Inc.

Central Station Manager of the Year
Ernie Cole, Doyle Security Systems; Michelle Lindus, Vivint Smart Home; Tom Tardiff, Kastle Systems

Central Station Operator of the Year
 Hollie Smith, Universal Atlantic Systems; Morgan Dieterle, Tyco (Fifth Third Bank); Amy Cerney, Vivint Smart Home

Central Station Support Person of the Year
David Carter, Vector Security, Inc.; William Sims, Kastle Systems; Dave Mann, Kings III

“Our finalists are to be congratulated for being recognized as the best of the best,” said Elizabeth Lasko, Vice President of Communications, CSAA. “Our judges related the extremely difficult time they had choosing not only the winners, but just the finalists from all the nominations. There were some amazing stories of customer relations, innovation, and corporate culture.”

The CSAA Central Station Excellence Awards recognize any FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL or UL-listed central station (CSAA members and non-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 central station 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 central stations.

The CSAA Central Station Excellence Awards Program is sponsored by SDM Magazine.

Entries are judged by a blue-ribbon judging panel appointed by CSAA. The four winners will be announced at the 2016 Industry Excellence Awards Breakfast at ESX in Fort Worth on Thursday, June 9. For past winners and more information, visit csaa.org/csaa-excellence-awards.

 

Five Questions for Brivo’s Steve Van Till

CSAA welcomed Brivo, Inc. as a new associate member earlier this year. Read on to learn a little about the company and CEO Steve Van Till.

What is your company’s mission and how does it intersect with the alarm industry?

Steve Van Till

Brivo CEO Steve Van Till

Our mission is to provide the best cloud-based hosted access control in the world. For the alarm industry, this means an opportunity for an RMR-based business model that is completely parallel to the way monitoring services have been delivered for many years.Both the technology and the financial model strengthen the relationship between central stations and their dealers and end users.

Share a personal experience you’ve had with alarm monitoring or public safety.
I was once working in a high-rise building on the weekend, and became trapped in an elevator when I was leaving to head out for lunch.  Had it not been for the emergency phone that dialed into a central station, I might have been stuck there all weekend.  As it turned out, they were able to dispatch someone to let me out, and fix the elevator so that it didn’t happen to anyone else.

Why did you join CSAA — what are your goals for your membership?
We joined CSAA because we see an increasing convergence between alarm, access and video surveillance services. Customers really want to have all three in a single package, from a single provider. As a cloud service provider, we also see many commonalities of interest between central stations and the work we do. We have many valuable “cloud lessons” to share, and look forward to more and more alarm services migrating to this type of platform.

What makes your company special?
Our company has always been known as the first Software-as-a-Service company in the physical security space. We actually launched our cloud-based access control services in 2001, which was long before anyone was talking about “the cloud.” We achieved another “first” in 2009 when we added fully integrated cloud-based video to this same offering.  Just this past year, we launched Brivo Mobile Pass, a cloud-based mobile credential that works with no change-out to existing field hardware, and was therefore immediately available to all 8,000,000 credentialed users in the Brivo system.

Tell us something about yourself that drives the way you do business.
I’ve always had a lot of outside interests, from running and cycling and music to photography and reading and motorcycles. I’m avid about acquiring new skills, and I learned something different from each one of these activities. The biggest thing, though, is getting to know and interact with the fairly different kinds of people that tend to surround each of these areas. The perspectives I’ve gained from that are useful every single day in thinking about how to shape our corporate culture for the best.

Steve Van Till is the Founder, President and CEO of Brivo Inc., the leading worldwide provider of cloud-based access control and Software-as-a-Service solutions for physical security. He has previously served in a variety of senior management roles in high technology companies spanning Web development, healthcare, and satellite communications. A Board Member of the Security Industry Association (SIA), he also currently serves as Chairman of the SIA Standards Committee. He is a frequent author and speaker, as well as the inventor of numerous patents.   Steve has been honored by Security Magazine as one of “The Top 25 Most Influential People in the Security Industry.

— Elizabeth Lasko, May 2, 2016

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