Don't be scared of change

The biggest concern for installerse is change. By nature most people are resistant to change and the unfamiliar: it makes them feel uncomfortable – and it can cost money! Yet a quick glance back in history reveals how all markets evolve and go through a series of changes – because change is inevitable.

Those installers who can embrace the changes now happening in markets such as IP will be the most successful in their businesses. What manufacturers have to do is make the transitions as simple and painless as possible.

As we (as a manufacturer) encourage the industry to embrace new technology, we recognise the difficulty for many within the industry to change and take a different approach. Our method of introducing new technology is through an evolutionary – as opposed to revolutionary – product development and release to market.

By evolution we mean systemic steps in the development of products, instead of the "big bang" approach. We recognise that while there could be a justification for a leap in technology advancement, in reality the intruder market is not prepared for that giant step. In order to meet our customers' needs, while at the same time moving the industry forward with technology, we must take a structured step-by-step approach.

Enhancements include IP
At Ademco Microtech we are upgrading the pro-cessor in our control panels to give it much greater "horsepower" to be able to integrate techno-logical advancements and enhancements such as communications via TECP/IP, ISDN and SMS.

It will also mean that product capabilities can expand in terms of group settings, access control, enhanced door control and other facilities to make the products more compatible with other devices.

While we are making these changes, our aim is to retain as much of the familiarity of the products' functionality and operation as possible. We achieve this by keeping the same menu structure to provide a familiar footing for installers. From the outside the product looks the same, has the same programming and operation controls, but is capable of much more than before.

This is a significantly more complex undertaking than it might appear. It is much easier to develop products in isolation than it is to manage a systemic development, which involves keeping what you've already got and moving it forward to where you want it to be. It's easier sometimes to draw a line through what you've already done and start again.

Installers need to recognise how markets are changing. Iinstead of resisting change, they should look at how they can embrace it

While there can be a business case for doing just that, at Ademco Microtech we don't believe that this is the right solution for our customers. By maintaining the familiar functionality and operation of the products for the installer, it eases their transition to accepting and dealing with the product changes, because although a product now has a significantly higher specification, it retains the touch and feel of a product that the installer knows well.

A major benefit to the installers is that the product knowledge and experience that they have developed is still relevant, they don't have to learn a completely new methodology of programming and installation. They will just have to slightly expand their knowledge to encompass the new capabilities of the products.

Conversely, if a manufacturer develops a product and gives it a completely new menu structure, then the engineers will all have to re-learn a completely new programming sequence. While that isn't beyond the realms of possibility, it just creates a greater number of barriers for installers to move from the old to the new. After all the idea behind technology is to make life easier for our customers (isn't it?).

The security industry claims to be "state of the art", but in reality there are certain areas where we don't embrace new technology. Like it or not, the intruder business is going to have to move towards technology advances in communications, especially remote communications specifications.

One of the triggers of key benefits of the EN 50131 standards is the ability to undertake an electronic maintenance of the product and for the NSI to accept that as being one of the maintenance visits in every two.

Installers need to recognise how markets are changing, and instead of resisting change they should look at how they can embrace it. In real terms, the EN 50131 standards gives the installation company a significantly better utilisation of their engineering resource (if implemented correctly). Installers will improve service and win more business as a result of the new European communications standards.

Further changes ahead …
It is creating an opportunity for greater efficiency in terms of their installation and maintenance engineering resources. It will improve the level of service they provide their customers with, by pre-empting potential failures. Also it will assist them in providing quicker responses for less critical failures by allowing customers to choose whether they want an immediate response, or whether they are prepared to wait.

We are upgrading the processor in our control panels to give it much greater ‘horsepower’ to integrate technological advancements and enhancements such as communications via TECP/IP, ISDN and SMS

The potential threat of the Standard to the installer's business is that part of their revenue comes from remedial visits and recurring mainten-ance income. If viewed in a negative light, some installers may be reluctant to accept new techno-logical advancements if it means fewer visits.

However if viewed in a positive light what installers could do is – instead of the mandatory two visits per annum to their customers – they could undertake a quarterly remote diagnostic visit of the system electronically. Then they can contact their customer and let them know that they have undertaken this maintenance and are pleased to advise them that the system is healthy, and that they will keep them advised on a regular basis and take the relevant action where required.

These standards from the EN (50131) actually present an opportunity to keep in more regular contact with customers and enhance the levels of service provided.

The cost issues should be resolved fairly easily as installers remind their customers about why they are continuing to make regular payments. The installer can now easily make more regular checks on the functionality of the system, ensuring it is in full performance.

I would recommend to all installers when reviewing their product selection and product purchase it may be wise to consider not just the initial purchase cost but also the lifetime value of the system both to the installer and their customer, particularly for all encompassing maintenance, when reliability is a key driver to the profitability of the system.

At what point do they measure their profitability? Is it at the time of installation, or is it measured over the lifetime use of the system?

DD243:2002 set out to reduce the industry's false alarm rates and if its criteria of measurement of success is this key performance indicator then, in my view, it has achieved its targets, but not without difficulties and challenges for installers.

Many would agree it has made system installation more complex, and in certain applications a little more costly. Yet manufacturers are providing solutions that are simple and straightforward and meet the installer and end user requirements.