Custom Alarm was awarded the 2010 Police Dispatch Quality Award during ESX in Charlotte, N.C. Pictured (left to right): Custom Alarm CEO Leigh Johnson, SSI Editor-in-Chief Scott Goldfine, Custom Alarm COO Melissa Brinkman, and SIAC Executive Director Stan Martin.
By Rodney Bosch
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) and the False Alarm Reduction Association (FARA) named Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., as the 2010 Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award winner on Tuesday.
Co-sponsored by SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION, Honeywell Security and Installation Quality (IQ) Certification Program, the PDQ Award annually recognizes the security company which best demonstrates a proactive, cooperative and successful effort in alarm reduction strategies.
The award was bestowed during the Industry IceBreaker Luncheon, a SSI -sponsored event, at the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) in Charlotte, N.C.
"The goal of the PDQ program is to raise industry-wide awareness, motivate alarm companies to be proactive and provide models that work for others to follow," SSI Editor-in-Chief Scott Goldfine said during the award ceremony.
Custom Alarm was honored for its well-balanced alarm management program and an extremely low dispatch rate of 0.19 per customer per year. On its Web site, the company states "we are performing almost 80% better than the average alarm company."
Companies are judged not only on their alarm rate, but also their training, literature, use of industry-recommended practices like Enhanced Call Verification (ECV), use of SIA CP-01 equipment, follow-up with customers and tracking problem accounts. A police department must also be supportive of the award submission and submit a letter confirming the alarm rate and acceptability of the applicant. Applications are scored by three independent judges in 15 different areas.
During the ceremony, Custom Alarm's Leigh Johnson, CEO, and Melissa Brinkman, COO, accepted $1,000 courtesy of Honeywell. Custom Alarm has submitted a program entry each year since the PDQ Award was established in 2005. It was previously named a finalist multiple times before claiming the top honor. An in depth look at Custom Alarm's award-winning practices will be featured in SSI's August issue.
Previous winners include, Broadview Security, Atronic Alarms, Alarm Detection Systems Inc., Brink's Home Security and Vector Security.
Rodney Bosch is managing editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION. He can be reached at (310) 533-2426.
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