Industry Veteran Tapped to Lead Association Representing Professional Monitoring Companies

VIENNA, VA (March 31, 2015) – Jay Hauhn, a 38-year veteran of the security industry, is the new executive director of CSAA International. Hauhn will assume his new role, which is the lead staff position of the association, on April 6.

“Jay brings a unique combination of strength in technology, existing relationships with public safety liaisons and sister associations, knowledge of new players in the market, and an understanding of the values and goals of the association,” said CSAA First Vice President Pam Petrow. “With his leadership, CSAA will be able to engage our members and collaborators in new ways to keep us relevant and stronger than ever.”

Jay Hauhn

“I am excited to have the chance to lead CSAA, and to work with the board of directors, the volunteer committees and the staff, particularly at this time when rapidly-changing technology impacts our industry like never before,” said Hauhn, who has close ties with CSAA, having served as president of the association since October 2013.

“I started my career in the security industry working in a central station, and it’s a remarkable opportunity to cap off my career as the executive director of the association that represents monitoring companies and protects their interests,” he continued.

Hauhn recently retired as chief technology officer and vice president of industry relations at Tyco Integrated Security, where he was responsible for product technology and innovation along with industry and government relations. He led product and service solution development and engineering as well as development and implementation of product strategy. He was also responsible for interaction with industry associations, regulatory agencies and local, state and federal governments.

Previously, Hauhn served as chairman of the Security Industry Association (SIA) and currently sits on the board of directors of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC). He is the recipient of numerous industry awards, including SIA’s “Statesman Award” in 2009 and SIAC’s William Mooney award in 2011. In April 2011, he was inducted into the Security Industry Hall of Fame. Hauhn was also recognized as one of the “Security Industry’s Most Influential People” in 2012 and named one of the forty “Most influential People in Security & Fire” by IFSEC (International Fire and Security Exhibition and Conference) in 2013.

As CSAA executive director, Hauhn will follow Steve Doyle, who retired in September 2014, and Louis T. Fiore, a CSAA past president, who filled the executive position while the CSAA board conducted its search. “The members of the CSAA board would like to thank Lou Fiore for taking on the responsibilities of interim executive director,” said Petrow.  “Lou, a distinguished industry veteran, has ably filled the executive role by leading the staff and sustaining our relationships with members and partner associations, in addition to maintaining his leadership roles with the Alarm Industry Communications Committee and the Standards Committee.”

For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA, 703-242-4670 x 16 or ewlasko@csaaintl.org.

About CSAA International

The Central Station Alarm Association International (CSAA) is an internationally-recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies that are listed by a CSAA-approved Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, such as FM Global, Intertek/ETL or UL. CSAA is legally entitled to represent its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. Since its incorporation in 1950, CSAA has served its members’ interests through education, online training, meetings and conventions, certification, insurance, and industry standards. www.csaaintl.org. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA, 703-242-4670 x 16.

CSAA International has released the results of the 2013 Wage and Salary Survey, which will assist businesses within the industry with competitive compensation practices. The survey is the most extensive snapshot of industry practices to date.

The purpose of the survey is to assist monitoring companies with hiring and compensation decisions.  “The information gathered will be very useful to central station companies looking to improve or expand their businesses,” said CSAA Past President Bud Wulforst, who was instrumental in the development of the survey. “If, for instance, you are a national monitoring company, how do you know what is a fair and competitive wage in Missouri vs. California? And what if you are only monitoring video, as opposed to fire, burglary, PERS, temperature, or other monitoring outlets? This survey will help get you that data.”

The data will be particularly useful to the human resources staff at alarm companies.

The survey collected information from the year 2013 in the following areas:

• Demographic Data
• Types of Monitoring
• Executive & Operational Management
• Central Station, Office, Sales, and Marketing Positions
• Dealer & Customer Support, Data
• IT & Telecom Services
• Benefits Packages
• Position Descriptions

Confidential participation was open to all monitoring companies—both CSAA members and non-members. The survey was created by the CSAA Contract Council and was facilitated by Barnes Associates, an advisory and consulting firm that specializes in the security alarm industry.

“This survey is an example of CSAA volunteers working to create resources that will be invaluable to all our members,” said CSAA President Jay Hauhn. “We especially thank the leadership of the Contract Monitoring Council for the efforts they made to gather the content. And a very special thank you goes to Barnes Associates for the extraordinary work they did to assemble the data in such a user-friendly format.”

To purchase the survey results, visit http://csaaintl.org/csaa-wage-salary-survey/ .

Additional resource: the Security Industry Recruitment Center is the premiere online recruiting resource for the electronic security industry. Post your open positions today!

Got a minute to spare? Take a quick break to view our new “CSAA 365” video. It’s the latest in our series of videos that we hope will help our members take advantage of CSAA’s services and member benefits all year long.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/HZfQCXM5OHE]

In future videos you’ll hear from CSAA leaders, volunteers, and staff about many more CSAA programs and activities. As always, thank you for your membership and support.

(Missed the introductory video? Check it out at http://youtu.be/0Kl7_8nZ7Hw or just scroll down the blog to find it.)

The week of February 9 has been a busy one for the alarm industry in responding to the FCC’s announcements regarding net neutrality.

AICC Chair (and CSAA Executive Director) Lou Fiore, along with AICC lobbyist Bill Signer, CSAA counsel Ben Dickens, and CSAA counsel Mary Sisak, visited the offices of more than a dozen Members of Congress to raise awareness of the concerns the alarm industry on this topic.

AICC’s message to legislators is that alarm industry companies welcome competition on a level playing field, but is concerned that when broadband and wireless providers offer the same alarm and video monitoring services, fair competition will not exist without some safeguards.

Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) and AICC Chair Lou Fiore

Fiore explains, “As broadband and wireless providers enter the business, we are concerned that they could use their control of the network to gain an unfair competitive advantage. If these companies do so, our customers will be at risk — and small companies, such as those that make up more than 60% of our industry, could be driven out of business.”

In 1996, recognizing that the alarm industry would be vulnerable to anti-competitive practices by a service provider engaged in alarm monitoring, Congress enacted Section 275 as part of the Telecommunication Act. Section 275 requires a carrier engaged in alarm monitoring to:

• provide alarm companies with the same services they provide their affiliates on a nondiscriminatory basis
• not engage in cross subsidization
• not use alarm company customer data to market their own alarm services

Section 275 also provides for an expedited complaint process at the FCC, an issue critical for small businesses.

The AICC is asking legislators to include these safeguards in any discussion of net neutrality or Telecommunications Act rewrite.

Fiore explained that AICC’s message to legislators is that of an industry, comprised mainly of small businesses, that is crucial to public safety. “Alarm companies are critical to ensuring that emergency services are deployed promptly and appropriately,” he said.

Much more on this issue in the coming weeks.

–Elizabeth Lasko, CSAA staff, 2/12/15