When everything is going well, any old ARC can provide a great remote CCTV monitoring service. But what about when things don't quite go according to plan?
Even the UK's leading CCTV monitoring companies have times when things go wrong. It can happen to us all. It can put your business premises at risk...
How does your Alarm Receiving Centre handle things… when they make a mistake?
This blog post uses a real-life example of what the Fenix Experience is like when remote CCTV monitoring goes wrong. And how we make things right!
It's easy to provide a fantastic CCTV monitoring service...
When everything is ticking over and your CCTV services are all working as they should. We're happy. You're happy. And your remote monitoring service is golden.
For example, when we add new sites for you - and your CCTV monitoring services are connected smoothly and without fuss. We get comments like these:
"Adding or transferring new sites is so simple... friendly and very professional... I would highly recommend using their services"
Tony Britner
CBES
But when we transfer whole estates without fuss. Even when your CCTV system has lots of cameras. That's when people get really pleased. And we get feedback like this:
"...how quickly they were able to transfer our estate remotely. The time taken to put connections onboard is almost immediate, an engineer attends a site and the connection goes straight on inside the hour"
"I have worked with several monitoring stations... our current move to Fenix Monitoring has been the easiest transfer I ever done in the industry... I honestly don't believe I could ask for more"
Craig Grundy
City of Liverpool Security
Like I said, life is easy for your CCTV monitoring company when things go well. Your business security is just humming along.
But. When things go wrong…
When things go wrong, does your remote monitoring station behave like this?
Next, I'm going to tell you about when the Fenix team got something wrong. And what we did to restore our client's faith in the CCTV monitoring services we were providing.
First of all, let's make something clear. Mistakes are an occupational hazard for any Alarm Receiving Centre. Remotely monitored CCTV is a minefield. There are false alarms here, a missed visual verification over there and broken CCTV cameras... It goes on and on. I'm not complaining. It's part of the job.
But it means that, no matter how stringent you are as an ARC, mistakes will always be an occupational hazard of CCTV monitoring work.
Problems happen with monitored CCTV systems
We've been on the receiving end of these occupational hazards - mistakes. And when it happens, we don't ever want it to happen again. I'll get to what we did to fix things but before that, here's what happened.
We missed a theft on a construction site. Not good. It was a combination of things going wrong.
One of our monitoring team saw someone on-site in a high-viz jacket. And assumed this bloke was a member of staff. And that's the mistake on our end.
The theft occurred. And there were no further activations. That was due to a camera failing. So the emergency services were not called. And the criminal activity went ahead without an audio challenge from our side.
And that's when our clients love the Fenix Experience even more
We put our hands up. Admitted our mistake - assuming the high-viz bloke was a member of staff without issuing an audio challenge. And then provided a solution to combat it from ever happening again.
Extra training for our monitoring staff to make sure everyone errs on the side of caution. More audio warnings rather than assuming anything about unknown site visitors
Informed the client that both the CCTV camera and the installer system had failed.
That was not passing the security system’s buck. No. This was merely passing information so the installer knew what happened.
Passing information. Passing advice is all part of the Fenix experience. It's an important piece of what we call the Monitoring Triangle...
The Fenix Experience and the Monitoring Triangle
Efficient security solutions need to have all three points of the Monitoring Triangle working together. Harmoniously.
How the Monitoring Triangle works in practice...
As the ARC, we're at the top of the triangle because the buck stops with us. If criminals get past your CCTV surveillance system... most people will point fingers at the ARC.
To limit mistakes to the bare minimum we build a solid relationship with you, the installer. But it also requires you to work well with your end-user. And that's when the Monitoring Triangle works in harmony.
It makes sure the essential housekeeping is done. Things like:
cobwebs removed from zoom cameras
sales flags on forecourts kept out of the way
fences up to speed
bushes cut back from the sightline of your CCTV cameras
So we can do our job effectively.
And it works both ways. We encourage you to talk to us. Tell us about any security risks. So we can look out for those and alleviate them.
That's why the Monitoring Triangle has arrows pointing to and from each point!
Another crucial element of our CCTV monitoring services and the Fenix Experience
It's called Kaizen. Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning "continuous improvement". And that's what we're all about. Constantly striving to be better. To improve our remote monitoring service and ourselves internally. It's a hugely important part of the Fenix Experience.
And it's why our clients love us. They know we're always working to be better. So we're not JUST interested in BEATING British Standards. We keep chipping away at the self-imposed targets we set ourselves.
Why?
If you aim to meet that target, you’ll never exceed it.
The 98.5% CCTV response time is the British Standard. And that is our starting point. But it's the 1.5% that we’re interested in.
So what happened with your client after you fixed the monitoring and hardware issues?
The client appreciated our honesty. He loved the feedback we provided for the installer. Who in turn implemented the necessary repairs to the installed security system and the broken camera.
And now he's as keen as mustard to receive our advice. That's the Monitoring Triangle working effectively. ARC, installer and end-user working together. Harmoniously.
Another of his clients was cross because he got a call at 1 am. We are obliged to call the Keyholders, after all. But this guy was cross - despite being on the list.
So we suggested a Keyholder service we trust so there needn't be any 1am calls. The installer had not considered this as a solution. So we suggested they TRY it. We're not pushing anything onto anyone. We just provide suggestions.
Keeping the communication going.
The Monitoring Triangle and BIG decisions
Sometimes there are larger decisions to make with your remote CCTV monitoring services. Decisions that have bigger implications. Here's an example.
One of our larger customers was approached to switch to a different security software platform. They were asked:
"Why not switch to our platform. We can do X and Y. That'll make your life easier..."
Our client's reply:
"Fenix will decide which platform we'll have our connections on. Because they are the people with the monitoring knowledge."
We were CC'd in! Later he told us:
"We'll do whatever you say. You're the experts! You guys have helped us grow. You've always been honest with us and told us exactly what was necessary."
How's that for a fantastic business security partnership! And the Monitoring Triangle in full effect!
And that's why our clients think we're the best CCTV monitoring service, even when we make a mistake...
Fenix Experience - a superior CCTV monitoring service, even when it isn't!
Clients love our remote CCTV monitoring services and the Fenix Experience
We keep saying it. But they do. And the proof is in the pudding...
At the beginning of this article, I included a few snippets from some of our client testimonials. I'd just like to add the full version of what Craig Grundy said:
"I just thought I would send an email to say how easy the transfer to Fenix Monitoring has been, over the course of my career I have worked with several monitoring stations, a lot of them the "best monitoring stations in the UK" however I think it worth mentioning that our current move to Fenix Monitoring has been the easiest transfer I ever done in the industry...
the team has been nothing but accommodating and helpful, they have gone above and beyond where possible and I honestly don't believe I could ask for more, in particular I just would like to point out Aaron, Dave and Frankie have gone the extra mile to help us feel like our sites are secure and listen to any concerns we may have had, on the end of this I feel we have more of a peace of mind than with our previous monitoring stations.
I would appreciate it if you let the team know my thoughts on all of this as I believe they deserve to be praised for the outstanding work provided for us thus far."
Doesn't that sound like the kind of remote CCTV monitoring station you deserve to partner with?
One last thing about the best CCTV monitoring service...
Fenix is an ARC that embraces continuous improvement. Especially when something goes wrong.
We work with our clients to constantly improve our remote monitoring service. Our clients appreciate our honesty and our commitment to providing the best possible service.
Everyone at Fenix buys into the Fenix Experience. Our people are well trained and understand our product inside out. Everyone at Fenix will give you everything you need to improve the security services you offer and delight your end-users.
To find out more about our remote CCTV monitoring services and how Fenix is changing the monitoring industry, please get in touch. We'll pick up the phone in a few rings and our staff will be delighted to answer any of your questions.
