How James Ward Wired His Way to the Top

‘I felt like I belonged’

Ward’s first step into the industry came at Security Central, a small, family-run central station in Little Rock that had placed the ad he answered.

“I had no idea what a security system was let alone what a central station was,” Ward recalled. “But I was willing to give it a shot.”

He didn’t expect to stay long, but the work resonated. “My first impression was that I felt like I belonged somewhere and I felt accomplished for doing my job.”

It wasn’t long before he moved into fieldwork, where he began pulling wire and installing legacy systems. “Most of everything was hardwired back then,” Ward said. “I had to learn how to use a multimeter to check voltage, current, resistance and continuity. I also had to learn the different resistor values based on colored bands.”

That hands-on experience laid the groundwork for a deep technical understanding. “These valuable lessons allowed me to find and repair faulty devices like a keyswitch, pressure mat, window foil, window screens and peripheral alarm sensors. Window foil was the glass break detection when I first entered the industry, and it could have a hairline fracture that caused it to stay open or false alarm.”

The tech who sold systems 

After proving himself in the field, Ward felt confident he had earned a raise based on the quality of his work as a technician. “It wasn’t just a request; it was justified based on the work I was doing.”

The owner instead offered him a commission for anything he sold. Ward brought the same initiative to sales that he’d shown in operations. “I would go to construction sites after my scheduled service calls and look for a car that didn’t seem to be a construction worker’s truck,” he explained.

This often indicated the homeowner was visiting the site after hours to monitor construction progress.

“I would go in and introduce myself and let them know what trade I was in and explain that getting the wires in the wall now and having door sensors hidden in the jam is key to a better experience and overall look.”

Ward was regularly signing up multiple homeowners each day for prewiring jobs, which didn’t sit well with the sales team.

“The sales department hated that I was making a paycheck and commission at the same time,” he noted with amusement.

Riding the waves of change

Ward has witnessed firsthand how security system programming has evolved from a manual, time-consuming process to something much faster and more precise.

“We used to do the programming by listening to the beeps and looking at the LED’s,” he recalled, referring to the early days when configuring a panel required close attention and a lot of patience. Remote programming brought some improvements, but came with its own headaches. “I still remember having to use a low baud rate modem and downloader software to remotely connect to a panel in the field, which had challenges.”

Nowadays, the process is far more efficient. “Now it is just a click away from programming in real time,” Ward says, thanks to modern tools like touchscreen setup wizards and cloud-based platforms such as Alarm.com.

He recalls early attempts at wireless security devices, which were a far cry from the streamlined systems of today.

“I remember some of the original wireless sensor technology where you had to cut cones for programming the device,” he said. Later, this gave way to handheld programmers like the ITI SX-V. But even those had pitfalls: “The sensors held the device’s programmed memory, so when the small 3.6-volt lithium battery died… you had to roll a truck to reprogram the sensor.”

That changed when ITI introduced learn-mode technology. “The program was held at the main panel instead of the sensor and the panel would request handshakes with the peripheral devices for supervision,” Ward explained.

Ward also remembers the industry’s early — and clunky — forays into smart home automation. “We were trying to create a smart home using an ITI Interlogix panel and X-10 modules over a phone line back in the day,” he says. “Yes, this was during the line seizure days and battling phone companies over whether or not you installed gel-filled beanie wire caps at the demarc.”

More recently, the transition to cellular-based alarm communications has added both capabilities and complications. “With the invention of cellular primary monitoring, it brings a new challenge with the cellular providers’ sunsets,” he notes. “I have been through the analog cellular sunset, the 2G sunset and the 3G sunset. Analog wasn’t so bad since it still had a fairly low adoption rate with most customers just using cellular as a landline back-up for both commercial and high-end residential applications.”

As technology evolved, so did the role of the technician.

“Most of our equipment installs so much easier and quicker these days, and our techs are increasingly spending more and more time on a computer or tablet programming things,” Ward said. “Educating customers on their side of the platform takes more time than just showing a customer how to arm, disarm, and bypass.”

Modern techs, he said, need a hybrid skillset: “Troubleshooting, IT, networking and understanding how to tie in video, access, energy, water and other building systems. It’s not just alarms anymore.”

‘It becomes your hobby’

After selling his company in 2017 and spending a brief stint as a general manager with Guardian Protection, Ward returned to the industry as president of Symspire. He did so not out of necessity, but out of a genuine love for the work.

“I’ve always been a worker bee,” he said. “I love building something from nothing or helping companies grow. When you love what you do for a living it becomes your hobby.”

So what advice does he offer to someone just entering the field?

“Work hard, learn as much as you can from every side of the industry, and the rest will come in due time,” Ward said.

Ward advises those entering the industry not to overlook the value of starting at the bottom. In his view, steady growth often comes from sticking with one company long enough to build trust and prove your capabilities.

“Loyalty is lost a bit today,” he said, “but I still think it is important for people to remain as loyal as possible until it is absolutely time for a change.”

Moving from one company to another too quickly, he cautions, can feel like resetting your reputation every time. “It is like starting over and proving yourself to a new audience in order to move up.”