When Jon Perry co-founded Sting Alarm in Las Vegas in 2003, the security industry was still living in a largely analog world. Surveillance systems recorded to VHS tapes. Alarm signals traveled over phone lines. IT and security operated in separate lanes.
To Perry, that separation was not just outdated. It was the opportunity.
Perry came into the business with a background in IT systems, software management and development, and that perspective helped him see something early that many others missed: as security systems moved to IP, the future would belong to companies that could bridge the gap between physical security and information technology.
That mindset helped shape Sting into a company that embraced convergence early, leaned into video verification and remote guarding before much of the market caught up, and scaled through organic growth and acquisition without losing its service-first identity.
In a recent Coffee Break with Jake conversation, Perry offered a clear look at how that happened and what the broader channel can learn from it: “The security industry and the IT worlds, they didn’t really touch. As IP systems became more prevalent, you had to bring those worlds together.”
An Early Bet on Verification
For dealers in markets where police response has been weakened by false alarms and non-response policies, Perry’s story feels especially relevant. In Southern Nevada, he explained, law enforcement generally does not respond to a burglary event unless it is verified by audio, video or guard response. That local reality forced Sting to think differently and earlier than many companies in other markets.
Before today’s remote guarding category had a polished label, Sting was already working to connect customer camera systems to alarm events so operators could visually verify activity and drive a more meaningful response. Perry said that effort started with video verification and later evolved into what the company once called video analytic monitoring, a precursor to the remote guarding services that have become one of the industry’s most talked-about growth segments.
One of the first major proof points came when Sting’s operators were able to identify criminal activity in real time, issue audio warnings and help get police to the scene when it mattered. That was the moment Perry felt the concept move from interesting to transformational.
The Difference Between Cool and Scalable
Perry is enthusiastic about remote guarding, but he is also unusually candid about the category’s pitfalls. Early versions of video analytics relied on basic motion detection and line-crossing rules. Today’s platforms deliver better object recognition, behavior analysis and metadata that helps operators determine whether an event is criminal or simply noise.
Still, Perry made clear that technology alone does not create a great customer outcome. Success in remote guarding requires the right technology, the right site design, the right customer and, perhaps most importantly, the right expectations.
That lesson was learned the hard way. After Sting shifted monitoring from its own central station to a third-party model that could not deliver the level of service those video analytic accounts required, Perry said the company lost many of those customers. The experience reshaped how Sting evaluates every remote guarding opportunity today.
The takeaway is one more dealers should internalize: not every site is a fit, not every opportunity should be sold, and not every promise marketing wants to make can be operationally delivered.
In Perry’s view, getting it right starts with making sure the customer understands exactly what the service can do and what it cannot: “Making sure they know what it can do and what it can’t do is probably the biggest thing that we’ve learned.”
Two Businesses Under One Roof
Part of Sting’s complexity and strength comes from the fact that Perry does not view it as a single monolithic business. In many ways, he sees two businesses operating under one roof. One side serves residential and small business customers. The other focuses on commercial construction, enterprise video and higher-end integrated solutions.
Those businesses require different teams, different training and different presentations. Perry was direct on that point: the people serving residential and small business customers show up differently, talk differently and are trained differently than the teams handling construction and enterprise work.
Many dealers have chosen to leave residential behind in favor of commercial projects. Perry has taken a different path. He remains enthusiastic about both sides of the business, while also expanding Sting’s capabilities through the addition of fire. That move, supported by acquisition, gave the company a stronger platform for fire construction and monitoring and broadened the strategic value of its offering.
Service as a Core Operating System
If one idea ran through Perry’s comments more than any other, it was service. During the discussion, the conversation turned to online reputation and Sting’s milestone of more than 1,000 five-star Google reviews. Perry’s advice on collecting reviews was surprisingly simple: ask for them.
But the real story is not the ask. It is the operating discipline behind the result. Perry said Sting uses a platform to manage the review process and gamifies participation internally with leaderboards and recognition. More importantly, he sees reviews as a direct reflection of the company’s core values and its commitment to be the best at every customer touchpoint.
That standard applies well beyond installations or service calls. Perry spoke about sales, monitoring, patrol response, billing and accounting as all being part of the same customer experience equation.
For independent dealers competing against national brands, big-tech entrants and DIY alternatives, that kind of consistency is not just nice to have. It is one of the few advantages that still scales: “One of our core values is to be the best. At every single point of customer interaction, we want to provide the best quality of service.”
Growing With Discipline
Perry also offered a thoughtful perspective on acquisitions, a topic that remains highly relevant as more independent dealers evaluate succession options and regional consolidation opportunities. Sting completed its first acquisition in 2010 and has since closed multiple successful deals. But Perry made it clear that the company is not simply buying recurring revenue and moving on.
Instead, Sting looks for cultural and operational alignment. Perry wants deals that bring on great people, deepen service in existing markets or strengthen the company’s ability to serve new ones. Just as importantly, he wants to avoid forcing a square peg into a round hole.
His comments underscored something that often gets lost in M&A conversations: these are deeply personal decisions for sellers. Founders are not just handing over contracts. They are entrusting their employees, customers and reputation to someone else.
Perry’s emphasis on transparency and stewardship suggests Sting understands that better than most: “We don’t want to just buy a bunch of RMR and say, ‘see you later.’ We want good fit, good people and good alignment.”
Staying Relevant Without Chasing Every Shiny Object
For someone who built his career by seeing change early, Perry is notably disciplined about not chasing every new product category that comes along. His framework is straightforward: test the product, be transparent with the customer, align with strong partners and stay focused on the areas where the company truly wants to lead.
That focus sometimes requires saying no, even when a customer is ready to buy. Perry acknowledged that turning down revenue is difficult, but he also made the case that taking money for a solution you cannot deliver at a best-in-class level ultimately harms the customer and the company alike.
That discipline may be one of the clearest real-world examples of consultative selling in practice. It also explains why Perry’s comments on innovation carry weight. He is not arguing against trying new things. He is arguing for the kind of structured evaluation that keeps a company relevant without pushing it into the bleeding edge for the sake of novelty.
What the Industry Still Gets Wrong
Asked what the security industry needs to improve over the next five years, Perry pointed to communication and transparency. He believes companies need to be more honest about what systems do, what they do not do and how customer expectations can become distorted as products move from engineering to marketing to sales.
He also said customers consistently underestimate one thing about real security: response. Specifically, how quickly anyone can actually get there when something bad happens. In markets shaped by non-response, false-alarm fatigue and stretched public resources, that misunderstanding matters.
For dealers who want to preserve trust, Perry’s message is a useful one. Sell the outcome honestly. Set expectations early. Use better tools where they can make a real difference. And never confuse excitement around new technology with a substitute for operational excellence.
Still Early
Perhaps the most striking thing about Perry’s perspective is that, despite more than two decades in the industry and years of experience with verified video models, he believes the remote guarding and video monitoring segment is still early. He described it not as mature, but as being in its toddler stage, with significant growth still ahead.
That optimism is grounded in experience, not hype. Perry saw the convergence of IT and security before it became mainstream. He saw the importance of verification in a non-response environment before many dealers were forced to confront it.
And he has built Sting around a philosophy that feels increasingly durable: adopt early, communicate clearly, serve relentlessly and stay disciplined about what you want to be best at.
In an industry crowded with noise, false promises and shiny distractions, that may be one of the smartest growth strategies available.
Jake Voll is president of the SS&Si Dealer Network.
