Four months on, and influential industry voices are still questioning the policy … but we hope we've, at least, helped clear some of the confusion.
The last of our scheduled events, organised in partnership with BT RedCARE, took place in the plush surroundings of the Selsdon Park Hotel, Croydon … and ended on an optimistic note.
Our installer speaker was Anthony King, MD of Kings Security Systems. It was the second time he had been our installer panel member, having already addressed our Newcastle forum, but as Kings has a branch in Watford, we thought he qualified as "local"!
All our installer speakers around the country have shown varying degrees of support for the policy and were asked to give their honest opinions. The forums were not an 'advert' for ACPO 2000 and we didn't set out to gloss over the problems. But the aim was to help installers unravel the various strands of the policy and work profitably within it … and Anthony certainly seemed to have the determination to do just that.
His company was started by his father 30 years ago. It now has 130 staff at nine branches but he still regards it as a "family" business.
Bringing life back to industry
He told the forum delegates that the industry has gone through hard times in the last two years:
"Installers are disappearing, people are closing branches, rumours are running rife, connections to ARCs are dropping… but this policy can bring new life back into the industry like never before. We've had nothing new to talk about for ten to fifteen years. It's been a stagnating industry and we've reached saturation point.
"This policy is the most revolutionary thing since 999 diallers. Now we have something new to talk to people about. Now we can do a more professional job, as we've wanted to do.
"Confirmation systems must be the way forward. Professionals want to do it bigger and better."
He said that, as part of this change, installers would have to communicate with their clients and customers much more. They should consult now with clients in a review of their security:
"We should upgrade before it becomes an issue."
A better relationship with the police - rather than dictatorship by them – was vital. "We've got to know what each force is doing with this policy"
Start with the 'Rolls Royce'
Running through confirmation options, he told the audience: "Visual is the Rolls Royce. The technology has been there for years, now we can use it. We needed this change to push the industry forward.
"Audio is cheap and cheerful, but ARCs cannot make judgments in a busy environment. It's not the way to go … Sequential is the most economical and the preferred route."
He predicted the way companies sold alarm systems would "completely change" within the next year.
"At the moment the surveyor goes in, says: You need a PIR here, a keypad there, you need this, you need that … A copy of the quote goes in the post and the price is kept keen. Now we have to sit down with clients and ask them: 'Do you understand what you're buying?' It'll be £,3,000 more expensive but we have to design the system with the client … if we don't it will come back and bury us!"
Allegations could fly
He touched on the worrying issue of installer liability:
"What if the ARC receives a Code 3 (first activation) and it doesn't receive a Code 7 (confirmation)? What if there's no Code 7 given and there's a major loss? It has serious implications for installers. Allegations of 'wrongful advice' and 'not fit for the purpose' could be flying around.
Survey will take longer, he said:
"The days of the twenty minute survey have gone. You'll have to spend an hour or an hour and a half on a survey.
"You'll have to start at the 'Rolls Royce' and work down to where the customer is willing to sign.
"The negatives are that we are going to have angry customers if we don't start talking to them now. After three months we'll have to be going back to upgrade. There's no point in fitting to the old standards anymore. If the customer wants the cheapest that conforms to the insurance requirements, fine.
"Reduced sales? That's not an issue. There should be a huge increase. You'll spend more time on the job, you'll need more people but you should see an increase in sales.
"We're all in the same boat. We can't absorb all these costs, we have to pass them back to the client. We need to get much closer to clients. We need to retrain engineers. We need to retrain ARC operators."
Admitting there was "nervousness" over ADT Fire and Security, he dismissed fears that there would shortly be only a few big companies left.
"ADT are dictating what's going on … Are there going to be only one or two companies left in five years time? Not if you treat your customers in a professional way. You'll be around for a long time.
It's the most professional companies that will survive, not the biggest."
He concluded:"This is a fantastic opportunity for installers. Embrace it. We can fit the systems we've always wanted to fit not just walk in, do a quick spec and walk out.
"Soon you will all be making more money than you are now."
Audience has a turn
The Croydon audience also heard from our regular panel of speakers: Inspector Kevin Mann, Secretary of the ACPO Security Systems Group; Alex Carmichael, Deputy Technical Manager of the BSIA and Scott Elder, Technical Sales Manager, BT RedCARE. Then installers had a chance to air their views in a question-and-answer session.
Barry Weller of Security Direct, Purley asked: "Come October, in a new system without RedCARE GSM, does a line cut render the system useless?"
ACPO spokesman Kevin Mann replied: "It would need a secondary confirmation, otherwise no response."
John Pownell of Secom asked whether it had been decided by ACPO that all systems should, in time, be confirmation systems.
Inspector Mann replied that ACPO would look to reduce the five false alarms figure for withdrawal of response, but nothing would be imposed retrospectively.
In answer to a question about personal attack alarms, Insp Mann said: "We always want the address of premises. Some people want PA on mobile phones, but we would be chasing our tails trying to find where the person is."
Chris Bridgwood of BT stressed that the RedCARE SMS system uses separate text message centres, not those used by mobile phone networks.
'Hands-on' demos
Delegates had a chance to question individual members of the panel over lunch and also a chance to examine BT RedCARE confirmation equipment in a "hands-on" area.
All delegates received a takeaway information pack.
Source
Security Installer
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