Atronic Alarms, Lenexa, Kan. has been committed to reducing false alarms since it was founded by Perry Atha in 1982. This year, in conjunction with ISC West, Atronic received the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) award from the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) and the False Alarm Reduction Association (FARA) as a result of the company’s efforts.
The PDQ Award annually recognizes the security company that best demonstrates a proactive, cooperative and successful effort in alarm reduction strategies. This award recognizes companies that exemplify an outstanding effort to reduce false alarms from implementing enhanced call verification (ECV) and utilizing ANSI CP-01 compliant control panels, to training customers and working closely with law enforcement.
The PDQ application process consisted of detailed documentation on false alarm prevention strategies, including quality security equipment and installation, a quality assurance training program, led by Rob Kemp, detailed account supervision and Atronic Alarms' relationship with law enforcement officials in the Kansas City area.
"Atronic Alarms is very excited to be recognized for our dedication to reducing false alarms," said Perry Atha, president of Atronic Alarms. "We have always made false alarm prevention a priority by using only the best technologies in quality installations. We also believe that on-going education is a great way to continue reducing alarms."
Atronic’s commitment to educating its customers is one of the reasons it claimed the award. Atha understood early on that customer satisfaction was related not only to quality installation, high-end equipment and a great monitoring service, but also to how well customers understood and operated their own systems.
Atronic’s quality assurance program was designed with that in mind. This section of the company is dedicated to providing ongoing training to clients, which has greatly assisted in reducing false alarms. Rob Kemp leads the team in monitoring new online clients for three months after he has put their system online (they are not placed online until they have had an onsite demonstration and have gone over false alarm prevention in detail). He scans reports from Alarm Central LLC, (Atronic's monitoring service) and makes daily phone calls to people who have had false alarms. If someone has more than one false alarm, steps are immediately taken to solve the problem.
"Atronic Alarms fully integrates alarm dispatch management practices throughout all company departments, and achieved a nearly perfect score in every area that the PDQ Award measures," stated Stan Martin, executive director of SIAC. "They have clearly demonstrated a strong alarm management program that we believe should be emulated by others."
Jim Cogswell, alarm coordinator for the Leawood Police Department, said "Atronic Alarms has always been a pleasure for me to work with because of their commitment to providing quality installations to their customers and to continue that quality in identifying and solving problems that arise. The cooperation of Atronic's personnel, both office staff and field techs is always great. I know that I can call about a problem customer and the problems will be looked into and fixed. Similarly, it's not unusual for Nell or someone else to call me and let me know that they identified a problem and what they are doing to remedy it. The cooperation is fantastic. Their attitude saves time and money from being wasted and brings more reliable security for their customers. This is a well-deserved award."
“In looking through all of the qualified applicants, Atronic Alarms stood out due to their utilization of all SIAC and FARA-recommended best practices for alarm reductions,” added Brad Shipp, executive director of FARA. “While implementing reduction processes such as ECV and installing only CP-01 Control Panels, Atronic Alarms also demonstrated outstanding customer training and follow-up on all alarm dispatches.”
