comment on video webinar by Sharon Elder from USA Central Station / Will Coronavirus change police response April 23, 2020
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KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ************************************ comment on video webinar by Sharon Elder from USA Central Station / Will Coronavirus change police response April 23, 2020 ************************* comment on video webinar by Sharon Elder from USA Central Station ************************* Ken During the webinar I stated: Q: The reason why dealers don't sell it is because there is not good information out there on how to do it. They don't get training on how to do it and honestly they do it so few and far between it is difficult to do It was not a question, but a comment and this is why I said it. In the webinar you asked in 5 different ways what it would cost for USA to monitor an account and you got 5 different dances around it. Then they said they would charge a different amount to the dealer based on where they are in the country (which is not a good business practice in my opinion. You don't charge different for your All-in-one different from NJ to FL) What would have been nice to hear for dealers is "base price is $X, Comes with X Activations, activations on top of X are $X" Small dealers also fall short on what is the best equipment to sell and what are the best practices for selling, installing, and testing these systems. The Supply chain rarely knows the answers unless it is a small distributor that does Alarm.com, but even then they normally don't know the Central Station side of it. Steve ************************* Response ************************ Video monitoring poses different challenges for central stations. While all signals require some discretion by the operator, viewing video and interacting with anyone picked up on the video raises additional issues and challenges. When video with two-way communication is integrated with access control and replacement guard service the involvement of the operator is increased exponentially, and that's what really makes estimating cost difficult. That's not to say it can't be done, it's just not easy to articulate and it's not uniform because the services and conditions are not uniform. Because USA presented to webinar I asked its owner, Bart Didden to respond. Here is his response: ******************** Ken, I understand the frustration on the webinar of the person(s) asking the question about pricing. The answer is simple, USA has made sizable investments in our personnel and systems that supports our video solutions. We only quote pricing to dealers that are qualified through our sales process. If we quoted pricing in the webinar it would be too imprecise and impersonal. Many factors go into calculating pricing for video and dealers should check with USA or other central stations that are equipped to monitor video to discuss services and pricing. Thank you Bart A. Didden, President U.S.A. Central Station Alarm Corp. Port Chester, NY Milford, CT St. Paul, MN 877-872-1266 **************************** Will Coronavirus change police response ***************************** Ken Here is excerpt from PoliceOne.com "Law Enforcement Officers/ LEOs to respond to essential calls for service while civilian personnel address calls from the community. The COVID-19 pandemic will be a tipping point in the future of face-to-face elements of traditional policing. This is not necessarily a negative consequence. The policing profession has already been confronted with challenges in recruiting new candidates to replace departments ravaged by personnel attrition. The current crisis will undoubtedly impact the future of agency funding as well. In this confluence of attrition, the impact of COVID-19 and diminished resources, police leaders have to decide between strategic immediate and long-term solutions or hope that things get better in time. Hope is never the best strategy. Law Enforcement Alternative Report Call Centers would allow LEOs to concentrate on essential calls for service, while civilian personnel address calls from the community." I interpret this to mean that most calls from private property monitoring firms (non-verified deterrent) would go to the low priority civilian call centers for no or slow response. We believe this to be the new-norm. Lee Jones Support Services Group ***************************** Response ***************************** I don't think anyone in the alarm industry can seriously challenge the notion that alarm response is necessary to reduce false alarms and better assess the emergency situation. The form of that verification continues to evolve. I suspect that video confirmation is going to play a significant role. ECV [electronic call verification] is probably the most used form of verification. The problem is that confirmation is delayed while calls are made and parties are reached, not to mention the possibility of a compromised response. Seems to me that video is a valuable option for confirmation. As far as change in police response and how police interact face to face with the public keep in mind we are in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic and everyone is or should be alert and focused on staying healthy. This will pass [or we don't need to worry about alarm systems] and back to normal is more likely where we are headed. But that doesn't mean that changes in better technology isn't going to increase customer choices for increased security and that will include better verification procedures. The answer will never be no police response; it's an essential government function. ************************ Reaching K&K during the lockdown ********************** During this crisis the most efficient way to reach our attorneys is via email. You can also call and if not picked up, leave a message and your call will be returned promptly. Here are a few departments to contact directly: alarm / security / pers / fire department: Ken - Ken@Kirschenbaumesq.com or call and leave a message with return number at 516 747 6700 x 301 health care professionals: Jennifer Kirschenbaum,Esq 516 747 6700 x 302; jennifer@kirschenbaumesq.com Alarm contracts: Eileen Wagda 516 747 6700 x 312 Alarm licensing: Alison Gallup,Esq 516 747 6700 x 317 AGallup@Kirschenbaumesq.com; or Eileen Wagda, Licensing Administrator, 516 747 6700 x 312 EWagda@Kirschenbaumesq.com Employment issues: Kieran Bastible 516 747 6700 x 315 kbastible@kirschenbaumesq.com; or Jennifer Kirschenbaum,Esq Concierge Alarm Clients have full access through our Concierge Program Coordinator, Stacy Spector, Esq 516 747 6700 x 304 or SSpector@Kirschenbaumesq.com Collections: [courts are shut down at this time, so don't expect much progress. We will however continue to prepare papers on our end so that we will be ready when the courts normalize] Kathleen Lampert 516 747 6700 x 319 KLampert@Kirschenbaumesq.com Pending litigation: Caroline Wallet,Esq CWallett@Kirschenbaumesq.com 516 747 6700 x 305 and Maureen Biel,Esq 516 747 6700 x 303 MBeil@Kirschenbaumesq,com Bankruptcy and debt collection issues: Steve Sheinwald,Esq 516 747 6700 x 309 SSheinwald@Kirschenbaumesq.com or Scott Dillon,Esq 516 747 6700 x 318 **************** To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements, click here:www.alarmcontracts.com ************************* CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** NOTICE: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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