2015 CSAA Marketing MARVEL Award Winner is COPS Monitoring

/1 Comment/in , , /by

VIENNA, VA (July 17, 2015) — CSAA International announced the winner of the CSAA 2015 Five Diamond Marketing MARVEL Award on June 25 at the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) in Baltimore, MD. COPS Monitoring was honored for promoting its CSAA Five Diamond status to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

The CSAA Five Diamond Marketing MARVEL Awards Program recognizes CSAA Five Diamond companies that have used their CSAA Five Diamond designation to better position themselves in the marketplace. This program is sponsored by Security Sales & Integration (SSI). 

“We are proud to be named as this year’s Marketing MARVEL Award winner,” said David Smith, Director of Marketing for COPS Monitoring. “We work hard behind the scenes every day for our dealers helping to safeguard their customers and hard-earned reputations. We believe when we win, our dealers win. We hope that proudly advertising our network of CSAA Five Diamond central stations and being named last year’s Central Station of the Year not only help give our dealers peace of mind, but also contribute to their competitive edge in the marketplace.”

The company submitted an integrated marketing plan that prominently featured their CSAA Five Diamond status on advertising, newsletters, their website, exhibits, company overview, sales literature, and even business cards.

“CSAA is pleased to recognize COPS for their exemplary and creative efforts to use their Five Diamond status to increase their visibility in the marketplace,” said CSAA Executive Director Jay Hauhn. “When our CSAA Five Diamond companies spotlight their certification through public promotion, consumers become more aware of how important it is to choose high-quality professional monitoring. Congratulations to COPS for making Five Diamond such an important part of their marketing plan!”

The CSAA Five Diamond Program is a balanced certification program providing its companies a distinction in the central station monitoring marketplace because it signifies five points of excellence:

  1. Commitment to random inspections and quality criteria standards by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL and UL.
  2. Commitment to the highest levels of customer service.
  3. Commitment to ongoing job-related education and testing by having 100% of its central station operators certified using the CSAA online training series.
  4. Commitment to raising the industry standards through CSAA membership and participation in its activities.
  5. Commitment to reducing false dispatches.

The purpose of the CSAA Five Diamond Marketing MARVEL Awards Program is to:

  • Recognize and honor companies that have used their CSAA Five Diamond designation in creative ways to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
  • Inspire others to market their CSAA Five Diamond advantage.
  • Help other CSAA Five Diamond companies create their own CSAA Five Diamond Marketing Toolkit.
  • Heighten awareness of the CSAA Five Diamond Program to CSAA members and the industry at large.
  • Inspire ALL companies engaged in security monitoring to enrich their operations by educating them about the “best marketing practices” of CSAA Five Diamond companies.
  • Elevate the profile of CSAA Five Diamond companies and CSAA for their professionalism in the eyes of the mainstream media and general public.

All CSAA Five Diamond Marketing MARVEL Award entries are reviewed by a panel of judges selected by CSAA and members of the CSAA Five Diamond Marketing MARVEL Awards Program Subcommittee. The judges are not affiliated with any currently-operating central station.

Watch for coverage in SSI and CSAA Dispatch later this summer. Contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA for photographs and more information.

 

###

 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 Approvals, 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.

 

Nationwide Monitoring Bill Survey

/in , /by

June 24, 2014

To: Central Station Owners

From:  CSAA Contract Monitoring Council

Re: Nationwide Monitoring Bill Survey

If your company provides alarm monitoring services to alarm dealers and/or end-users in multiple states, then you are aware of the challenges associated with obtaining proper licensing for your alarm monitoring company and your alarm dispatchers. Not only do the costs of repeatedly supplying fingerprint cards and background checks create a logistical challenge and financial burden, in many cases, the expensive and time-consuming training/testing requirements for monitoring personnel is not even relevant to the tasks that they perform on a daily basis.

To combat these and the other issues associated with individual state licenses for alarm monitoring companies, the CSAA Contract Monitoring Council represented by the Alarm Industry Communication Committee (AICC) has explored a bill, the “Alarm Monitoring Model Licensing Act.” The Council believes that a nationwide licensing bill would be very beneficial to central station monitoring companies; however, the passage of such legislation is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor, and funding is needed from the companies that will benefit from this legislation. At this time, funding for this effort has been exhausted, and the Council is not seeing sufficient interest in continuing the effort.

After several years of outreach, the Council would like to know of your interest in and support for pursuing this agenda. Please help us by completing the short survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZWLGN5  .

The survey questions are:

  1. Are you interested in CSAA pursuing this nationwide monitoring bill?
  2. Will you contact your Senator or Congressperson on behalf of this effort?
  3. Will you participate in communications and other activities to help promote this bill to Congress?
  4. Will your company contribute financially?
  5. Will you personally contribute to a PAC for this effort?
  6. Should CSAA stop pursuing this initiative?

Thank you for your participation. Your response will be kept confidential, though you will be asked for contact information. Questions? Contact Elizabeth Lasko at CSAA – ewlasko@csaaintl.org.

 

 

DC Wins 2014 Intergraph Icon Award

/1 Comment/in , /by

ASAP

 

Intergraph® Security, Government and Infrastructure (SG&I) today announced the  2014 Icon Award winners: Bavarian State Police of Germany, CET of São Paulo and  Washington, D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications.  Read press release at:  http://www.intergraph.com/assets/pressreleases/2014/06-03-2014e.aspx

 

 

Annual Wholesale Monitoring Survey

/in /by

Results of the 2013 Wholesale Monitoring Survey – March 2014 (pdf)


Read an overview of the results

The CSAA Contract Monitoring Council is pleased to announce the results of the annual Wholesale Monitoring Survey.  This is a joint effort between Barnes Associates, Security Systems News and the Central Station Alarm Association to quantify the size of the wholesale monitoring market (U.S.) and its growth rate.  Participants are asked for a single data point:  how many accounts/systems do you monitor on a wholesale basis?

The participation from past years plays a critical role in providing insight into the collective activity of the many thousands of small alarm companies.  This is very important to maintaining the support of the industry that benefits all of its participants.  Your input on this survey is crucial to clarifying changes in the many thousands of small alarm companies (and in many of the larger ones).  The results can also help you better assess your performance relative to the overall wholesale monitoring market.

 

Tyco Integrated Security’s Jay Hauhn Appointed 32nd President of CSAA

/in /by

Jay Hauhn, Vice President of Industry Relations for Tyco Integrated Security has been appointed President of the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA).

Click here to read the official Tyco Integrated Security press release.