Monitronics Masters Alarm Management
An alarm dispatch rate of .184 helped Monitronics earn the ninth annual Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award. Learn more of the firm’s best practices.
Dozens of associates from various departments play a role in executing best practices that helped lead to Monitronics, a full-service monitoring provider, capturing the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award.
How do you coordinate efforts between your contracted dealers and internal monitoring epartments/personnel?
Anderson: Our first line of defense for reducing false alarm dispatches begins with the extensive training we provide for our dealers. With a primary goal of reducing false alarms that may result in false dispatches, our authorized dealers install stable and dependable alarm systems. Monitronics works tirelessly to verify that alarms are installed properly and customers are trained thoroughly on a consistent basis.
Dealers, specifically, are trained on everything from generating sales to installation requirements and customer education to industry standards they need to abide by. We offer dealers extensive support through our regional account managers, online support portal, as well as a dedicated dealer technical services department that is staffed to assist dealers in all their technical needs.
What role do standards like CP-01 and practices such as ECV play in successful alarm management?
Anderson: Industry standards such as these have enabled us to set internal standards to further reduce false alarms. Enforcing ECV protocols, for instance, helps reduce the number of false dispatches we have to make because we can identify more alarms as false before taking up the time and energies of emergency personnel. By helping customers prevent false alarms and false dispatches, we also avoid expensive false alarm fines to the customer. These standards not only help us do business more efficiently but also help us in meeting the needs and demands of law enforcement agencies around the country.
What have been the challenges implementing the plan with alarm system owners? How has the feedback been?
Anderson: The program has evolved significantly over time, beginning as the False Alarm Control Team [FACT]. Nearly two years ago, we redefined the purpose of the group and who our outreach campaigns would target so we could more effectively utilize the contacts being made with customers regarding false alarms.
Initially, the group used broad requirements for contacting customers. For instance, customers who were experiencing multiple false alarms would be contacted and offered a very basic training on how their system worked. By expanding the team’s troubleshooting skills, a deeper root cause could be discussed. Something as simple as the wind rattling loose-fitting doors or windows helped us define tighter installation and service standards. Once the outreach campaigns were fine-tuned, we’ve been able to reach out and assist more people with specific system issues, creating a better overall customer experience.
What were the challenges implementing the plan on the law enforcement side? How did you get their buy-in?
Anderson: Our approach is focused on being a valuable and reliable partner with law enforcement. The actions we’ve taken and policies we’ve changed have really been welcomed by emergency personnel. We have a dedicated team that not only works to ensure that we are compliant with ordinance requirements, but that our dealers and customers remain informed and knowledgeable about how to prevent false alarms.
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine
Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].
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