Support Person of the Year

Beth Bailey always puts herself in both operators’ and customers’ shoes.

Winner: Beth Bailey

Company: ADT, Boca Raton, Fla.

Title: Process Excellence Senior Manager

Tenure at the company: 20 years

Since ADT and Protection 1 merged in 2016, there has been the daunting task of policy and process harmonization for the combined company. Beth Bailey, process excellence senior manager at ADT, plays a significant role in this process and her dedication is one of the reasons this 20-year ADT veteran was named TMA’s 2018 Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year. 

“This harmonization couldn’t have been done without Beth’s diligence, her knowledge of all of our policies and her thought leadership,” says Michael Picciola, vice president customer care operations at ADT. 

With the merger of these two large security companies, the integration process has taken two years. Under Bailey’s leadership, the process excellence team has dedicated hundreds of hours of meeting time toward process and policy harmonization — indeed 616 processes and policies have had to be blended, according to Picciola. 

Perhaps one of Bailey’s biggest strengths is her deep understanding that her job impacts ADT customer care employees on the front lines, and ultimately, the customers and their lives.

“I really enjoy finding ways of taking the customer experience to the next level and I can focus on that by taking the experience to our employees. Success to me is when I can make it easier and remove any barriers for team members so they can focus on their priorities and what they do best for our customers,” Bailey tells SDM. 

Another example of Bailey’s impact at ADT is the development of an internal central station knowledge base tool called MyHC or My Help Center. What began as an idea three years ago is now a fully functional system for customer care processes, policies and product information used every day on every call by monitoring staff, says Picciola.

But that is not the only change Bailey has ushered in to her company. During her tenure, Bailey has mentored, led, supported and even invented. In 2016, Bailey and a co-worker earned ADT U.S. Patent #9424737 for their work on an interface that would allow customers to respond to an alarm using a cell phone or tablet. Customers can be notified of alarm condition through their mobile interface, and respond back, sending authorization and status directly to the central station — allowing for quicker response time and potentially reducing false alarm dispatches and potential fines to ADT and its customers. 

“For me, it is another example of Beth looking at a customer pain point and business performance issue and combining those things to solve a problem,” Picciola says. “Beth never loses sight of taking care of our customers and putting herself in agents’ shoes. She has a special blend of unique skills, high energy and compassion that make her so valuable. Beth knows her decisions are not just impacting our agents, but also our entire customer base, their premises and network.”