Top Tips to Get More From Your Security Techs
Let’s focus on a few guidelines to help security technicians be more productive.
Proper planning, communication and meetings with project participants can help avoid installation errors such as this one with a sprinkler contractor.
I can’t emphasize enough that just like with a child, it is very important to get the technician on the right productive technical track early in their career. As an owner you need to provide internal and external mentoring and training opportunities. You can even discuss with the technician the costs involved, and you will reap the rewards in the long run.
Here’s a brief personal training story to that last point: I can remember, while running a weeklong technical certification training program, two technicians in my class who appeared to be extra diligent in mastering every lesson in the course. They spent time studying at night while others were out partying. I was curious as to their exemplary behavior and had to ask them what their motivation was. One technician replied, “Our boss said he would send us to this factory training. If we did good and passed all the certification courses, he would pay for the trip and training with no cost to us. If we did not pass, we had to pick up all the cost.” Since the overall expense of such a course was at least a few thousand dollars, the incentive to pass was high.
Establish Procedures, Set Expectations
One of the professional subgroups of the Electronic Security Association (ESA) is the Installation & Service Professionals (ISP), a leading community for system design, installation and service companies, personnel and management. My participation in the group and a recent opportunity to review an ISP presentation called “Effective Field Installation Techniques” by Joel Kent, president of FBN Security and National Training School (NTS) instructor, have helped me reflect on what is needed for improved productivity.
“You may have heard the famous saying, ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail,'” Kent says. Productivity is a joint effort of technicians, sales and management staff. Each system requires a system drawing, even for simple installs. One must create milestones and develop project checklists. These are also tools to help communicate to the customer what will be accomplished. It can be as simple as a pencil drawing, but the essentials must be provided and documented.
Create procedures for all that your staff does so they know what you expect of them. Try to standardize as much as possible. A typical installation process might include the following:
- Have the alarm panel checked out and programmed at the office.
- Have a job meeting to go over assignments with subs and others. Keep a job notes booklet in your pocket and document all actions and comments.
- Have techs treat their work as if they may have to return in six months to service.
- Install panel using approved grounding procedures such as National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 250 guidelines.
- Install communicator and confirm initial communications.
- Install all zones (record resistance on all loops).
- Install notification appliances and test audio levels (gloves for ceiling work).
- Properly label all cables; use a quality label printer.
- Perform final check and test of ALL zones BEFORE leaving site.
- Clean up the installation area. Don’t use the customer’s vacuum cleaner; dust pan OK.
- Properly train the customer. Note that the technician may not be the best for this. Encourage good soft skills (e.g. friendliness, bedside manner, enthusiasm, etc.) for dealing with customers.
Make sure sales personnel upon hiring spend a week in the field with a lead installer and another week with a lead service person. Additionally, make sure techs have an understanding of efficiency and are profit-wise. Perhaps next year when you’re asked about reducing costs and increasing profits you’ll be able to respond differently.
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About the Author
Bob Dolph, SSI Contributor
Bob is currently a Security Sales & Integration "Tech Talk" columnist and a contributing technical writer. Bob installed his first DIY home intercom system at the age of 13, and formally started his technology career as a Navy communication electronics technician during the Vietnam War. He then attended the Milwaukee School of Engineering and went on to complete a Security Management program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Since 1976, Bob has served in a variety of technical, training and project management positions with organizations such ADT, Rollins, National Guardian, Lockheed Martin, American Alarm Supply, Sonitrol and Ingersoll Rand. Early in his career, Bob started and operated his own alarm dealership. He has also served as treasurer of the Wisconsin Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and on Security Industry Association (SIA) standards committees. Bob also provides media and training consulting to the security industry.
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