TMA is committed to promote and maintain the highest standards of professional and personal behavior in the monitoring center. This module is an introduction to important leadership attributes and core values that will help operators develop the mindset of an effective leader and show them how their contributions are fundamental to success within the professional monitoring industry.

Learning Objectives

• Important motivations and characteristics that define good leadership
• Key characteristics shared by strong leaders and managers
• The difference between management and leadership
• How leadership applies to you
• How to approach generational differences
• What new leaders should know about managing people

Conflict in the work environment is common. Just as in families, people who work together and spend a lot of time together will experience conflict. As a leader, and a member of a team, understanding how to manage yourself and your team during times of conflict will improve how you communicate with each other to resolve your differences and maximize your performance. This module provides the operator with tools to identify the five main styles of conflicts. By understanding conflict preferences, or default styles, the student will gain a better understanding of constructive ways to resolve conflict and improve the health and productivity of a team.

Learning Objectives

• Understand how to view conflict as an opportunity in your role as leader
• Recognize the essential parts of the Communications Process
• Use Leadership Roles to impact positive team environments
• Understand the five main styles of conflict and how to apply them to resolve conflict in the workplace
• Learn how to adjust your behavior and conflict style to handle conflict more effectively
• Create a mediation environment that is conducive to healthy conflict resolution
• Appreciate the link between successful conflict resolution, effective communication, and stakeholders to reinforce accountability in the workplace

Customer Care is a fundamental component of the monitoring center and an important aspect of every operator’s role when handling a call. Often our communication will extend beyond the basic operator interaction into a more involved dialogue that requires advanced skills and attention. This module will provide strategies to prepare the operator for advanced call handling. Our primary concern is always the safety and protection of our customer’s lives and property. The operator’s professionalism and dedication to handling each call is critical when lives and property are at stake. This module also provides guidance on self-care after critical events.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize best practices for customer care and call handling
• Identify strategies for effective problem solving for improved customer care
• Identify tips for handling escalated calls in the monitoring center
• Understand the impact of operator response during critical events
• Identify tips for operator self-care after critical events
• Recognize the importance of effective notetaking and customer follow up

Standards are an important tool in the professional monitoring industry to help achieve efficiency, cost savings and consistency of products and services. Compliance to standards ensure product functionality and compatibility for products and services that support public safety. Established protocols for how we implement technology and cyber-security help ensure a level of reliability throughout the alarm monitoring business. The information contained in this module will expand the operator’s knowledge about each individual’s role in the compliance process and why understanding and tracking industry standards is so important.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the basic history of standards and their purpose
• Recognize why compliance to these standards is important to the professional monitoring industry
• Gain a basic understanding of how standards are created, managed and enforced
• Recognize what role Nationally Recognized Testing Labs have with standards and how they control what goes on in a Monitoring Center
• Understand compliance requirements for handling alarm signals that are subject to standards

Across our industry, advancements in technology are being made at a staggering rate. New technologies are enhancing or replacing the technology used by older devices. This module will review how technology advancements have improved telecommunications, video, audio and PERS monitoring solutions. Because life safety and protection of property are essential to the role of professional monitoring, the industry closely tracks technology that will improve the accuracy and efficiency of monitoring systems that protect homes and businesses. This module provides an overview of current and emerging technology and its impact on the monitoring industry.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the Impact of the technology evolution on the monitoring industry
• Identify how the expansion of telecommunications paths influence monitoring and secure transmissions
• Understand how receivers and automation systems benefit from evolving technology
• Identify surveillance and video security game-changers
• Identify personal emergency response system applications
• Emerging technology and its impact on operators

Every person in the monitoring center is key to reducing the risk of cybercrime. Operator vigilance can make a difference and everyone’s cooperation is essential. This module will help students understand how they can minimize the risk of an attack on their monitoring center by understanding more about cybersecurity threats, how common attacks work, when and where individuals and companies are vulnerable to attacks, and what they can do to defend their organization. Cybersecurity is not just an IT responsibility–it is everyone’s responsibility.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the impact of cybersecurity threats to your monitoring center
• Identify the different types of cybersecurity risks
• Recognize common cybersecurity attacks
• Determine ways to identify and defend against cybercrime
• Identify cybersecurity best practices for employees within the monitoring center
• Use best practices to minimize your risk if you suspect you have been targeted

This course also counts towards all requirements for the TMA Five Diamond Monitoring Center program.