I was thinking about my recent trip to Diebold's headquarters this morning. Of course, they position themselves as a full-service integrator with a focus on customer service, but I was really most impressed by their monitoring station. It was very interesting to stand in front of a room and being able to look at the dashboard that listed calls coming in labeled "robbery" and "hold-up."
Jacqueline Grimm, director of security services for the event monitoring center with Diebold's global security division,
said the center handles two million signals per month (yes, per month) and 60 to 90 percent of those are categorized as real events.
But how the company responds to certain alarms is in the hands of the customer.
"We built our business plan on being flexible," she said. 'We'll do anything the customer wants us to do."
Want to hear a number that is really impressive? The monitoring business has a 98 percent employee retention rate — that's nearly unheard of in the monitoring world. Why? Well, Diebold has a focus on its employees being happy. It was said over and over again during my tour — everyone was enthusiastic (again something having to do with that Ohio water, perhaps?) and ready to please. Even one of the operators answering service calls for 1-800-DIEBOLD was happy to show me how she prioritizes calls.
But back to the monitoring center — The "people element" in this business is critical, Jackie said. And the job is stressful — imagine picking up a call where a burglary is happening. I surely wouldn't want to hear the voice on the other end.
If an operator is affected by a call, Diebold pulls them off the floor and sends them home, with pay. And they refer them to a psychiatrist for counseling if need be.
I don't know if that is common in this business, but it certainly sounds like a good path to follow.
Jacqueline Grimm, director of security services for the event monitoring center with Diebold's global security division,
said the center handles two million signals per month (yes, per month) and 60 to 90 percent of those are categorized as real events.But how the company responds to certain alarms is in the hands of the customer.
"We built our business plan on being flexible," she said. 'We'll do anything the customer wants us to do."
Want to hear a number that is really impressive? The monitoring business has a 98 percent employee retention rate — that's nearly unheard of in the monitoring world. Why? Well, Diebold has a focus on its employees being happy. It was said over and over again during my tour — everyone was enthusiastic (again something having to do with that Ohio water, perhaps?) and ready to please. Even one of the operators answering service calls for 1-800-DIEBOLD was happy to show me how she prioritizes calls.
But back to the monitoring center — The "people element" in this business is critical, Jackie said. And the job is stressful — imagine picking up a call where a burglary is happening. I surely wouldn't want to hear the voice on the other end.
If an operator is affected by a call, Diebold pulls them off the floor and sends them home, with pay. And they refer them to a psychiatrist for counseling if need be.
I don't know if that is common in this business, but it certainly sounds like a good path to follow.
