Custom Alarm, Rochester, Minn., was named the 2011 Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award winner at ESX in Charlotte, N.C., June 7.  Announced by the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) and the False Alarm Reduction Association (FARA), the PDQ Award recognizes the security company that best demonstrates a proactive and cooperative effort to reduce unnecessary alarm dispatches.

“We’ve worked hard year after year to improve our alarm management practices,” saidLeigh J. Johnson, chief executive officer of Custom Alarm. “Each year we add something new to our portfolio, building on our successes. Our goal is to continuously reduce unnecessary calls to the police for dispatch, and build an ongoing, successful relationship with local law enforcement.”

Norma C. Beaubien, president of FARA, commented, “Annually we find new alarm management practices that stand out based on the winner’s performance. Even the nominees that weren’t selected showed us that more and more good alarm management techniques are being employed across the country.”

Custom Alarm was chosen as the winner due to their well-balanced alarm management program and an extremely low dispatch rate of 0.19 per customer per year in Rochester, Minn. “The national average has gone below one dispatch per customer per year, so this figure demonstrates that Custom Alarm is performing almost 80 percent better than the average company providing home and business security services,” said SIAC executive director, Stan Martin. 

“Each successive year Custom Alarm applied for the PDQ Award we saw their program improve.  It's a sign of strong leadership coupled with determination to be the best. Previous winners have ranked very high in all fifteen categories of scoring, setting an elevated bar of excellence.  Custom Alarm now joins that elite club of security professionals,” concluded Martin.

The official award ceremony for the 2011 PDQ Award took place at ESX in Charlotte, N.C.  Previous winners include Brink’s Home Security, Vector Security, Alarm Detection Systems, Inc. (ADS), and Broadview Security (now ADT Security Services).