On May 21 at the Electronic Security Forum and Exposition in Savannah, Ga., I had the great honor of co-presenting three awards that were not only well-deserved by the individuals who received them, but illustrated a purpose that went beyond the awards themselves.

The Central Station Excellence Awards – created and sponsored by the Central Station Alarm Association – are designed to recognize any UL-listed central station (either a CSAA member company or a non-member) and outstanding personnel who perform in the highest professional manner, thereby having made a significant contribution to the betterment of the alarm industry and the alarm profession, while demonstrating exceptional service to their customers and community.

There were three awards given:

• Central Station of the Year,
• Central Station Manager of the Year, and
• Central Station Operator of the Year.

Because SDM co-sponsors these awards, I was given the privilege of announcing the winners’ names. I will definitely remember, for a very long time, the look on Christine Mudrak’s face when I read her name as the Central Station Operator of the Year – it was an expression of sheer joy as she stood to accept her award!

Christine is a quality control supervisor at ADS Security in Nashville, Tenn. She has been employed with ADS since 1992, and her co-workers had this to say about her:

• “Christine Mudrak is the most consistent person that I have ever worked with in this company.”
• “Definitely a leader – exceptional.”
• “Christine is one of a kind.”

Christine has a story to tell and SDM plans to tell it in the August 2006 issue – along with those of the other winners: Central Station Manager of the Year, Rick Raper of Alarm Detection Systems, Aurora, Ill., and Central Station of the Year, Vector Security’s eastern monitoring center.

It’s extremely gratifying to see the security industry institute an award that recognizes the exceptional performance of people on the front line of alarm response – kudos to the Central Station Alarm Association for creating this award and congratulations to the winners!

Sidebar: IN THIS ISSUE

This month, SDM presents the second part of a three-part series on Integration. “The Integrators’ Perspective,” written by SDM’s senior editor, Russ Gager, begins on page 56.

Sidebar: ONLINE

Now there is a tool available to help you educate your subscribers about the risks of using VoIP telephone service with an alarm system at the same premises. SDM has created educational literature, which may be ordered in bulk and distributed to subscribers. A sample of the literature and an order form are available online at www.sdmmag.com.

In the far right-hand column, look for the link titled, “Educate Subscribers about the Risks of VoIP.”