SentryNet dealers converged on Pensacola on Sept. 8 for a training seminar on video monitoring. Over 100 dealers met with vendors and SentryNet trainers to learn how to increase video monitoring sales.
During a special lunch break, attendees enjoyed a leisurely ride in vintage trolleys to SentryNet's UL Central Station in Pensacola for a live demonstration of SentryNet's Hot Redundancy program.
Dealers watched in amazement as SentryNet personnel started a routine that sent all Pensacola signals to their sister UL Central Station in Greenville, Mississippi. A hush came over the normally busy room as signal and phone traffic was rerouted to Greenville. Attendees and employees watched the Greenville signal scroll monitor as Pensacola signals appeared within moments of the switch without dropping a single call.
Central Station Manager Mark McCall answered dealer questions for over 15 minutes before reversing the process and returning the signals to Pensacola. Ten minutes later Mark brought all the Greenville, Mississippi signals to Pensacola as an encore and had Pensacola operators processing both station alarms for a period of time before returning Greenville signals to Mississippi. Dealers made the round trip, witnessed the demonstration, ate lunch, and were back at the training seminar - all in less than 90 minutes.
This sneak peek kicked off SentryNet's new marketing campaign asking the question "Is Your Security Monitoring Center Disaster Ready? We are and we will prove it!"
The program is designed to highlight SentryNet's unique ability with two "hot redundant" central stations. Years of planning and sizeable investments in equipment and technology were first tested when Hurricane Ivan rolled on shore in Pensacola in 2004. The program was an absolute success rolling all traffic to Greenville, Miss., for several days while the city dug out. Dealers and end users alike marveled that there was absolutely no disruption of their services and that the transition was virtually seamless.
Mike Ash, President of Garden State Fire and Security Alarm Company wrote:
"Dear David, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for a job well done during the most recent hurricane that hit the Pensacola area. Your Central station has exceeded my expectations. Somehow you managed to keep our lines open and monitor all of our accounts during a monster hurricane, which caused massive damage in your area. …your people worked flawlessly to maintain all systems. You and your people have out done themselves. Not one complaint from any of my customers during that time period. We were switched over to your Greenville, Mississippi facility and didn't skip a beat. This could have been an absolute nightmare for us but instead we received excellent service from your other facility".
"SentryNet believes that the future of central stations demand these capabilities," said David Avritt, President of SentryNet. "Disasters are not confined to the Gulf Coast. Earthquakes in the west, tornadoes in the south central, blizzards and white outs in the North and Northeast, ice storms in the Midwest, hazardous material evacuations, refinery explosions, bomb threats, etc. We are all susceptible from one disaster or another. Central Station Hot Redundancy is not a luxury, it is a necessity."
