Security Sales & Integration March 2022 - 64

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS
Monitoring Matters by Sarah Salazar
Utilizing Your
Monitoring Center's
Automation System
With the
increasing
number of
telemarketing
and robo-calls,
customers
and phone
carriers alike
are blocking
unknown
callers which
can make it
diffi cult for
monitoring
centers to
engage with
responsible
parties after
an alarm
activation.
Sarah Salazar
is Account Manager at
United Central Control.
64
▶ WHEN CHOOSING a monitoring company
for your monitoring service, most companies
consider reputation, response times and customer
satisfaction levels. However, you might want
to take a closer look at what your monitoring
center's automation can do for you. Automation
platforms often off er innovative tools that can be
used to enhance your customer's experience and
satisfaction with their alarm system, and therefore,
your company by creating new and diff erent
customer engagement opportunities. From
false alarm reduction to faster, more effi cient customer
notifi cations, your monitoring company's
automation will likely have the tools you need
to maintain your customer database and provide
them with the best possible service.
Take, for instance, false alarm reduction. It's an
ongoing industry challenge with end users, monitoring
companies, alarm dealers and authorities.
One of the easiest ways to combat this common
type of false alarm using your monitoring
company's automation system is to use a cancel
code into your customer's system. Th e code can
also be programmed in the automation software
to cancel the alarm from further action, or downgrade
the priority of the alarm signal and turn
what could have been a police dispatch into a
positive " customer engagement. " For example:
A call to your customer to see if they're OK or
simply advising your customer that an alarm was
received, but also acknowledging they were able
to deactivate it quickly using their disarm code to
indicate help is not needed.
Another way to reduce false alarms using your
monitoring company's automation system is utilizing
automatic SMS text messaging, or two-way
chat service. With the increasing number of telemarketing
and robo-calls, customers and phone
carriers alike are blocking unknown callers which
can make it diffi cult for monitoring centers to engage
with responsible parties after an alarm activation.
SMS text and two-way chat removes that
obstacle and helps promote a much faster notifi -
Security Sales & Integration MARCH 2022
ssalazar@teamucc.com
cation time. Most people prefer text messages over
phone calls, and with secure two-way chat features,
they have the option of chatting with other
responsible parties and their monitoring center to
make more informed decisions on alarm activation.
Th ey may even off er the ability to electronically
cancel an alarm right in the chat room before
it's delivered to a dispatcher for action or escalate
the alarm if someone needs help right away.
Your monitoring company's automatic SMS
text or interactive voice response (IVR) systems
may also be leveraged to improve service by providing
immediate notifi cation to your customers
of low priority signals. Th is not only gives your
customers the information they need and in the
way they prefer, it also allows your monitoring
company's dispatchers to focus delivering fast response
times on high priority alarms.
Your monitoring company's automation system
also has a number of reports that can provide
valuable insights on opportunities to improve
customer service such as alarm activity, trouble
signals and failure to test. Missing or outdated information
reports are also extremely important as
inaccurate information can slow down your monitoring
company's response time and even compromise
your customers' protection during alarm
processing. Not only can you use these reports as
a means for a customer touch to follow up on the
well-being of your customers, answer questions,
schedule service and update information, but
some studies suggest the best time to get referrals
is after an alarm event - especially if you're following
up with them to see if they're OK.
Next, check with your monitoring company
about the remote tools that are available for your
company to help cut down on the time your
team has to spend on the phone. Mobile apps
give techs the ability to instantly access account
data onsite, place accounts on test and check signals
once the test is complete. Th is not only gives
them the information they need and complete
control over their service call, it's a big timesaver
over repeatedly calling the monitoring center and
taking time away from you customers.
Th ere are a variety of ways that your monitoring
center's automation platform can help you
manage your business more effi ciently and help
you take your customer engagement to the next
level. If you haven't spoken to your provider recently
about updates and services, you are highly
encouraged to do so.
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http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration March 2022

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