By Ashley Willis
LANCASTER, Pa. — Wholesale monitoring firm Security Partners has launched a new division to meet increasing demand from its dealer partners for managed access control and other recurring revenue services.
“Our Advanced Services Division offers technology that is outside the traditional monitoring vehicles with associated RMR for burglar and fire alarms,” Security Partners President Michael Bodnar tells SSI. “Because it’s a higher level of monitoring service, it allows our dealers to charge a higher recurring revenue fee. Dealers will also have very nice margins in terms of the fees associated with those services.”
The new division focuses on bringing new technologies in the areas of managed video, managed access control and advanced personal safety services to the market. Company executives selected roughly 15% of the Security Partners staff, including monitoring operators, salespeople and technical personnel, to be part of the new department. Because the team needs to quickly access video coming from various sites, as well as make snap decisions as to whether an incident is a perceived threat, it was vital for staff members to receive advanced training.
“Our intention is to stay ahead of the curve to ensure prompt response and accurate reporting for our partners,” Bodnar says. “Obviously, we needed to provide the creation of the proper alarm protocols and response procedures, so we offered an internal training focused on new technologies in the video and access realms.”
In order to prepare its staff to educate dealers on the new product 
offerings, manufacturer partners were asked to provide extensive training for the team. Additionally, the firm will soon launch its continuing education program called Security Partners College to keep its employees up to date on new alarm response procedures, changes in technology and adjustments in dealer requirements.
When the Advanced Services Division staff underwent training, a small group of dealers also participated in the courses, which gave Security Partners insight on how to improve their dealers’ businesses.
“We learned firsthand what our dealers’ needs are,” Bodnar explains. “We learned what we needed to put in place in terms of technology on what would do the job well. We have always been big on providing dealers with educational Webinars and one-on-one time with our manufacturer partners in classroom settings as well.”
To further strengthen its bond with dealers, the firm will host its first annual dealer conference at its headquarters May 14-16. Attendees will have access to seminars, product manufacturers, networking opportunities, among other benefits.
As Bodnar explains, building partnerships with dealers wasn’t the only motivation that prompted the company to launch the new division. An important goal was also to fortify a relationship with law enforcement.
“Video verification is without question one of the primary ways to help reduce alarms for service personnel,” Bodnar says. “With our new offerings, we are in a good position to reduce the burden on authorities going to scenes for false alarms.”
Ashley Willis is associate editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION magazine. She can be reached at (310) 533-2419.
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