When it comes to running a top-tier monitoring center, the people component is perhaps the biggest factor that can make the difference — in some cases in life or death; but also the overall customer experience. In “Best Practices for a Well-Run Monitoring Center,” beginning on page 10, author Maggie M. Shein examines three key challenges beginning with hiring, following with training, and finally, scheduling of employees.
Best practices for technology today are increasingly moving towards the ASAP-to-PSAP program created in 2011. SDM Associate Editor Courtney Wolfe looks at the progress of this game-changing protocol in “The New Gold Standard for Alarm Monitoring” beginning on page 16. “As the most efficient way to process information from alarm monitoring stations needing emergency dispatch, it won’t be long before it becomes the standard for the industry, according to those already using it,” she writes.