Using Tablets With Security Systems
Learn how security company leaders are embracing tablets to improve the way their companies sell, install and operate on a daily basis.
Tablets can be used to enhance a sales presentation by demonstrating security application examples, such as live video streams, to help establish that extra layer of credibility with a client.
Operations: Boost Efficiency and Communication
Computers and mobile phones both had revolutionary impacts on the world: computers through the digitization of information and mobile phones by freeing communications from a specific access point. Tablets, essentially a hybrid of the two devices, give security companies a mobile tool that has the processing capabilities and screen size to achieve advanced tasks. Procedures that once took hours or days can now be achieved in a matter of seconds.
Many monitoring centers and manufacturers have helped drive this increase in efficiency by making their systems more accessible to dealers with mobile devices. “We can access our monitoring center’s online database and set up accounts through the tablet instead of using a call center operator. Our team is now much more efficient when they’re at a client’s facility,” says Wilkins.
In addition to online platforms, security companies are taking advantage of the thousands of apps that can be installed on tablets – some designed specifically for the industry and others beneficial in nearly any business environment.
Chris Kalamaras, president of Howlett Technologies in Pickney, Mich., has converted all of his company’s contracts and installation paperwork into an app that his employees access in the field. “Our clients fill out the contract on the tablet and once it’s completed a signed copy is immediately E-mailed to both the client and our office,” says Kalamaras. “We can begin making the appropriate installation arrangements and salespeople don’t have to waste time returning to the office to hand in paperwork!”
Michael Stewart, president of ARM Alarm in Raleigh, N.C., says his company takes advantage of a tablet app or platform throughout the sales, installation and support process. “We can track prospects using our CRM’s mobile app and run credit checks directly from the tablet,” he explains. “Whenever we have a unique situation during an installation or service call, our technicians can use video chat to collaborate with the office and other support staff to make sure we’re always making the best decisions for our clients.”
The number of ways tablet apps can be utilized in a security environment are practically endless. File-sharing apps make it easy for outside staff to keep updated resources, a tablet’s built-in GPS simplifies the coordination of client site visits, instant messaging streamlines communication between employees and time-tracking tools can provide valuable metrics for sales and service while also helping employees record their hours.
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