Please thank our 2006 CSAA Electronic Security Forum & Exposition Sponsors: ADI (Thursday Opening Social Event Beverages); Altronix (Thursday CSAA Board of Directors Luncheon); Bosch Security Systems (Thursday CSAA Board, Sponsors & Exhibitors Dinner); DICE Corporation (Saturday Continental Breakfast); Digital Security Controls (Sunday Continental Breakfast); DMP (Saturday Afternoon Coffee Break and hotel keycards); FireLite (Friday Spouses/Guests Hospitality); GE Security (Happy Hour at the Exhibit Hall); HID Corp. (Luncheon at the Exhibit Hall); Honeywell Security (Sunday CSAA Excellence Awards luncheon); Innovative Business Software (Saturday Morning Coffee Break); LaSalle Bank (Friday Afternoon Coffee Break); Micro Key Software (Opening Reception Food (partial)); NAPCO Security Group (Friday Continental Breakfast); Security Industry Association (Forum Sponsor); and System Sensor (Friday morning Coffee Break and Saturday Spouses/Guests Hospitality).
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CSAA Excellence Awards Winners Announced
The Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the first CSAA Central Station Excellence Awards. The awards winners were announced on May 21, 2006 at the 2006 CSAA Electronic Security Forum and Exposition in Savannah, Ga.
The winners of the three different awards were:
Central Station of the Year:
Vector Security, Eastern Monitoring Center,
Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Photo: (l.-r. David Merrick , Marketing Director, Vector Security; Lisa Laboda, West District Central Station Training Manager, Vector Security; and John A. Murphy, President, Vector Security
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Central Station Manager of the Year:
Rick Raper,
Alarm Detection Systems,
Aurora, Il.
Photo: (l.-r. Bob Bonifas, President, Alarm Detection Systems; Rick Raper, Central Station Manager, Alarm Detection Systems; and Ed Bonifas, Vice President, Alarm Detection Systems
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Central Station Operator of the Year:
Christine Mudrak,
ADS Security,
Nashville, Tenn.
Photo: Christine Mudrak
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The purpose of the awards are to establish and promote the inherent value of central station services in general; honor those who have made the most significant contributions to the service; and promote the distinct level of professionalism attained by UL-Listed Central Stations. Participation in the Awards is open to any UL-Listed Central Station, CSAA members and non-members.
CSAA would like to thank Laura Stepanek, Associate Publisher, SDM Magazine, for her work on developing the awards, as well as SDM Magazine for their sponsorship of these awards.
More details about the winners will appear in the summer issue of the CSAA Dispatch newsletter.
CSAA Releases Central Station Operator
Level II Online Course
The Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) is pleased to announce the release of the CSAA Advanced Operator
Online Training Course (CSAA-AOOT). Requests for a more advanced online course started arriving soon after the release of the ever popular CSAA Central Station Operator
Level I Online Training Course, which has had over 2,500 graduates. Level I has become the most successful online training course in our industry. Today the CSAA Operator Level I Course has been taken by operators and others from all over the world including Canada, the Caribbean and Asia.
The training information included in Level II is totally new and significantly more advanced than that in Level I. CSAA strongly recommends that operators and/or others taking the Level II course have already completed Level I or have at least five years of central station experience before taking the Level II course.
CSO Level II has six modules:
- Module 1. Dealing with Difficult Customer Situations--This module will include specific tactics for dealing with customers who are irate, scared, confused, or experiencing any type of extreme emotion. Additional skills will be taught for controlling a conversation without appearing abrupt.
- Module 2. Enhanced Customer Service Skills--This module will review how the customers experience with the central station leaves an impression that impacts the entire company. Operators can impact the company’s attrition and growth so they need to understand the implications of customer interactions. Listening is critical in all customer service situations so this module will focus on how to improve listening skills to enhance the customer’s experience.
- Module 3. Specialty Alarms--This module will review the various signal/event types that are responded to in the central station, other than burglary, fire and medical. Descriptions of various specialty activations will be provided as well as backgrounds on equipment used in these applications.
- Module 4. Receiver Formats--Understanding how to interpret a received printout is not only necessary in the event of a system failure, but can be equally of value in troubleshooting a field services problem. This module will discuss the various formats and how they report.
- Module 5. Communications Paths--Whether using T1, radio or POTS, all communications must have a path to follow in order to reach their final destination. Module 5 will discuss the various traditional communications paths as well as some basics on IP technology and new communications challenges/opportunities for the alarm industry.
- Module 6. Managing False Dispatches--The central station is the front line in the war against false dispatches. This module will help operators understand the false alarm problem and what they can do to assist the company in identifying problems and solutions.
The CSAA CSO Level II Course is available through the CSAA website, www.csaaul.org, with the same pricing ($162.50), membership discount (25%), and discount structure (5% or 10%) as CSO Level I.
In addition, upon completion of the Level II Course, the student will receive a printed Certificate of Satisfactory Completion, a certificate suitable for framing mailed from the CSAA headquarters and a “patch” for uniforms indicating the successful completion of the Level II Course.
Additionally, this course counts towards all requirements for the CSAA Five Diamond Central Station program.
If there are any questions, please call the CSAA headquarters and ask for CSAA Executive Director Steve Doyle (703-242-4670, x. 13) or Becky Lane, Director of Membership, at 703-242-4670, x. 18.
