Some would answer all alarm ordinances go too far and they restrict trade. However, I personally wouldn’t go that far.
I can remember serving on the board and then as president of a state alarm association as the subject of alarm ordinances first came up. At first it was the City Council that proposed what we believed to be an onerous ordinance that would have fined alarm companies for each and every false alarm. The original proposal was $150 each. Of course that got our attention and we sprang into action.
We quickly formed a committee and hired an attorney to fight the outrageous proposed legislation. Of course the City Council didn’t believe for a minute their proposal would pass, they just wanted to get our attention, and they did.
From that beginning entered the protectionism actions. Our membership saw what they believed to be an opportunity to keep “Fly-by-nights,” “Trunk Slammers,” out of the business. So a proposal was added to check the background of each applicant, making sure they didn’t have a criminal record. That, I believe was a good requirement, but what came next, proof of so many years of experience, was designed to keep competition out. The members insisting on the rule obviously forgot that when they started their business they didn’t have the same experience they were requiring of new entrants. And like so many other actions enacted by organizations then managed by State or City Government, the rules got out of control.
If you checked around the United States you’ll find ordinances in more than half of the States, and they are all different. Some just require a criminal background check and the registration of the Alarm Company, while others require all employees be registered. Some States make it near impossible for companies to start a business or expand to their state. Others make it more and more difficult to hire and train new employees.
My State, in my opinion, is among the worst. Louisiana’s Alarm Ordinances are managed by the State Fire Marshalls office. Today in Louisiana every employee has to be licensed, $120 fee each. Every Technician, besides the employee license, has to be an ESA/NBFAA level 1 technician to work alone. In order to qualify as a Level 1 Tech, one must take the Level 1 class, $550 for non-alarm association members or $300 for members, and then pass the test. So before you hire and train a new technician you have to consider the cost in total $420 to as high as $670. Next you have to time the hiring of a new technician based on when the next training class is offered near you, or pay the cost to ship the new hire out of town, put him or her up in a hotel, pay expenses etc., and then hope the background check, which hasn’t been completed fully yet doesn’t reveal a no-hire problem. So, the way around all of that is to hire someone working for another company. Maybe even offer a signing bonus to steal the technician away. Not good!
However, the State wasn’t finished imposing rules. Last year the State decided that all salespeople had to take an Understanding Alarm Systems course. Once again the cost is $120 for the license and then $350 for the course. And once again the UAS course is only offered a few times each year and in different cities around the state. Last year alarm companies were given a twelve month time frame in which to have the new salesperson complete and pass the course. Costly still, but a reasonable time frame to wait for the course to be offered nearby.
But then new change! That’s right, effective November of 2010 the State decided 12 months was too long and changed the requirement to 90 days. Ugh!
Not to leave bad enough alone, the State now says that effective March 1, 2011 alarm salespeople must take the $350 Understanding Alarm Systems course before they ever step foot in a home or business as a security sales rep. Immediately! No 90 day grace period.
Wow! So now if you think you wanted to grow your company in Louisiana you have to spend $470 on every salesperson you hire before they step foot in a home or business. And you have to time hiring that salesperson around the sparse training schedule offered, approximately 3 – 4 times per year somewhere in Louisiana.
So going back to what I witnessed firsthand, members trying to limit and/or make it impossible for competition, has grown into a monster. The problem is, like what always happens, the monster is now in control and is biting everyone in sight. Well established, long term, companies in Louisiana will be punished by the ruling. Anyone trying to grow a company that has to hire salespeople to do so will be punished by this rule.
In this tough economy, when people are trying to get work, the legislation in Louisiana makes it difficult at best to enter the security alarm business. And that my friend is a shame.
In case you think this rant is a case of “sour grapes,” please be aware that I don’t have a dog in this race. I no longer own an alarm company. I don’t manage a company in Louisiana. I’m not affected by this ordinance at all. I’m just sad that something like this has happened in an industry I love. Had the present rule been in place the day I answered an Ad in Louisiana for employment 36 years ago, I may not have had the opportunity to be part of an industry that has fed and housed my family, educated my children, and made me proud of who and what I became.
Am I wrong?
Would you like to weigh in?
Send me your comments, pro or con, and I’ll post them.
R. Smith of Englad replies
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting from my point of view, being the other side of the pond, in England. We don't have anything quite like this and that makes it slightly difficult for professional companies to compete with the "fly by night" ones you talk of. On a personal level, as a sales person I worked up through the industry so I consider myself to have a fairly good understanding of the trade having fulfilled many roles, so it is certainly disheartening to come up against a generic salesman who's just entered the trade and had little to no training. It sounds like usual it started with good intentions, then gradually more and more liberties were taken until you end up in the state Louisiana is!
Thanks
R. Smith
England
Lou answers,
Roo, thanks for your reply.
I agree with you that we don't want Fly by night companies or salespeople. And if we could legislate that it would be great. In the past, companies like the one I owned and managed took on the responsibility of training their own salespeople. We taught system design and how to work within the living environment of a family's home. Over time, new hires became more and more professional or they left the business.
The Understanding Alarms Course is a one day class and cannot begin to teach a salesperson all they need to know to adequately design a working functional system that a family can live with. That takes time and on-going training. And most companies provide on-going training in weekly, monthly sales meetings; I know we did.
The problem with Louisiana's newest rules is not so much the cost, but the time frame allowed coupled with the frequency of the course offering. As I said in my Blog, Louisiana requires salespeople go through the class before they can set foot in a home or business, but the class at present is only offered 3 to 4 times each year and not in the same city or region. Louisiana isn't the biggest state in the US, however, if the course is offered one quarter in New Orleans and the next quarter in Shreveport, that's 6 hours away, necessitating an overnight stay in a hotel and two days of driving. That is the biggest part of the problem at hand.
Lou Sepulveda
Dear Lou;
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating your blogspot. I have somewhat of a unique perspective on the creation of alarm ordinances, and the progression to where they are now. I'm a retired police officer from New Jersey, and was installing electronic security systems the whole time I was a cop. I have had the view of the alarm industry progression from both sides of the fence, so to speak.
Back in the late 1970's to early 1980's, there were very few if any towns in New Jersey that had alarm ordinances. What brought about the inception of the alarm ordinance in my town, was one business who had a faulty alarm system. That system would false almost nightly, and sometimes two and three times per night. The police would contact the business owner and tell him the alarm was sounding, and his patent response was "you cops have nothing better to do, go check my building and call me back if there is a problem." He never once made an effort to have the system repaired, and if he did, he never notified the PD. I suspect he really just didn't care. Then came the alarm ordinance. He got several warnings and was notified that the fines were progressive. Back then, I think the first fine was $25.00. It progressed to a maximum of $150.00 per occurrence. He started to receive summonses, and by the time he went to court, he owed over $1,600.00 in fines and court costs. After that, he just stopped using his alarm system. Since I was already in the alarm business, one of the town council members came to me when they were drafting the ordinance. He asked what I thought would be fair. I told him that I had nothing to say about the amount of fines, but the spirit of the law should be to encourage business and home owners to maintain their security systems. The wording that I suggested never made it into the ordinance, because the town attorney felt that it would give people "an out" and fines would never be imposed. My thoughts are this: no ordinance should punish someone who is having trouble with their alarm system, especially if they can show evidence that they are trying to correct a problem.
John McClellan
Blue Knight Security Systems
Verona, NJ
This part one of John's response. Part two will follow behind this.
John part two
ReplyDeleteFast forward to 1998. In New Jersey, then Governor Christie Todd Whitman signed Alarm Licensing into law. Of course it took several years before they could implement it, but it has been far from perfect. It really did nothing to get rid of the "trunk slammers." If anything, many of them went to work for those companies that install "free alarm systems." I am horrified at some of the free systems that I have seen that were installed by "licensed, professional" alarm installers. Those installers get paid by the job, not by the hour. If the install takes 3 hours or 3 days, they make the same money. You tell me what the standard is: speed or neat professional work? Licensing in New Jersey has become nothing short of a big power grab by state government. I don't want or expect anything for free, but is just seems that everything done by the state is aimed at squeezing all of the little guys out of business. Towns like Montclair, NJ contracted a company called ATB (Alarm Tracking and Billing) to handle tracking and the issuing of fines for false alarms. Thankfully, I only have a handful of customers in Montclair. ATB charges $50.00 per year to keep the alarm system registered. You only get one false alarm per calendar year before you get into the fine schedule. I have a real problem with that. I don't run out to every account of mine, every time the alarm is tripped. I have done that in the past, and how many times do you want to chase down an errant Mylar helium balloon or some other foolishness? I don't even try to contact a customer until they have had two alarms from the same zone in a relative short amount of time. But using their standard in Montclair, the customer is already into the fine schedule before you realize there is a problem. Call me crazy, but what is the sense of having an alarm system if you are afraid to use it?
John McClellan
Blue Knight Security Systems
Verona, NJ
John Part three
ReplyDeleteNow look at the number of licenses we have to have in New Jersey. When the licensing first came into effect, no one could tell you definitively, if a fire alarm license would allow you to do commercial fire alarm work. The Division of Fire Safety issued licenses for commercial work, commonly called "P" numbers since there was a P at the start of every license number. So my company got a Burglar Alarm License, a Fire Alarm License and then a Commercial Fire Alarm License. This last round of renewals, I was going to let my "P" number expire, since I came to find out that with a regular Fire Alarm License, you can indeed do commercial fire alarm work. BUT I spoke to several fire marshals, and they all maintained a "P" number was required. I kept it, just to avoid the aggravation. But it didn't end there. Then the state of New Jersey decided that everyone also needed a "Business License." I called a man from the division of taxation and asked "I have three licenses already, what do you think I'm doing, collecting licenses?" His response, was that they wanted to make sure that I'm paying the correct amount of taxes. Then, last year came RRP. How in the hell Renovation, Repair and Painting should encompass alarm installations is beyond me. I have been in this business for over 30 years, and can honestly say that I have never opened even one square foot of wallboard in any installation that I have EVER done. I wrote letters to my senators and congressmen, but they all apparently fell on deaf ears. So now I have five licenses to do the same job that I have always done. Does this make sense to anyone, anywhere? I wish that my company was so large and that I had so many crews of technicians out in the field, that all these fees were a mere pittance to my bottom line every year. But I am a sole proprietor, and all of this eats a large hole in my profits. My advice to anyone in a state that does not have licensing, would be to fight against licensing at all costs. It doesn't raise the professionalism of the industry, it doesn't get rid of trunk slammers, it only allows government to intrude further into your life and allows them to make your life miserable because they can.
John McClellan
Blue Knight Security Systems
Verona, NJ
Lou replies to parts One, two and three of John McClellan's reply to my post "When do Alarm Ordinances go to far?"
ReplyDeleteLou replies,
As President Clinton formerly said, I feel your pain.
The initial goal of the Louisiana Ordinances was to reduce un-warranted false alarms. When we worked with the local police departments together we established a starting point called the “Five or More.” Basically that list consisted of locations where the police responded to an alarm five or more times in a given month. All member companies were given their locations that fell in that category. We were asked to visit the locations and to work with the business owner or residence to resolve the problem. Next we took the “Five or More” to “Four or More,” Then Three or more etc. That initiative worked. Methodically we were able to almost eliminate the recurring issues.
However, as with your example, once State and City Government got involved the licensing became a nightmare.
Thanks John for your very honest and insightful response. Once again, I feel your pain!
Lou
I am a sales manager in Louisiana and I am running into these same problems. Because of these rules, it is making it nearly impossible to hire a sales team and expand my company. One thing I would like to add though is this.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the State Fire Marshal, after turning in the sales application along with the class certificate and payment to the Fire Marshal, it will take up to 14 days to process and perform a background check. After that, we are able to hire the new sales rep. This sounds acceptable however, I have lost two sales reps because the Louiaiana State Fire Marshal is taking between 1-2 months to process the paperwork! When I call them to ask why it is taking so long, the Fire Marshal says to me "We are sorry, we have been busy". This is not an acceptable answer.
Regards,
Kris Sepulveda
Louisiana District Manager
Gaylord Security
Local ADT Authorized ADT Dealer
Kris is right and I empathize with his challenge trying to manage and grow a security company in Louisiana.
ReplyDeleteHow much time is reasonable to complete the application process? If an agency knows it is bogged down by the slow wheels of government shouldn't it allow for a process like Raleigh NC has?
I was in Raleigh the week before last. In North Carolina alarm companies have to follow similar rules concerning the licensing of Alarm company employees, however, recognizing that it takes too long, they allow a company to send in an application on a new salesperson and a copy of the application serves as a temporary license until the official one arrives.
Last week I was in Texas and their ordinance, long considered one of the toughest in the nation, allows the same as North Carolina. A texas alarm company can hire a salesperson, send the license application in and the salesperson is free to work until the official document arrives.
How can any company justify employing a salesperson when it is required to wait a month or more, having the salesperson sit around the office unproductive, while the state processes an alarm license. Even major companies with huge resources would be hard pressed to justify hiring under those conditions?
Adding insult to injury, from my viewpoint, it appears the state agency also slows its wheels of progress even more if the company applying isn't one of the "good ole boys" club.
Lou
I agree with the "Good ole Boys" statement. Prior to my employment with my current company, I was a Manufacturer Technical Training Rep for Both NAPCO and DSC. I provided much needed CEU Credit training for the State of Louisiana. for the years that I trained in Louisiana, I began to notice a problem. The sales managers for DSC and Napco also noticed the same problem. There was no NEW BLOOD! Every training I conducted consisted of the same "Good Ole Boys". When I questioned the Manufacturer Sales reps about this, their response was "We are finding it diffilcult to find any new dealers. It has become stagnant."
ReplyDeleteYou see, Louisiana is making it harder and harder to open a new Security business.
When I try to hire an experienced rep with a current license, I still have to wait for processing before I can bring them on. This should not be this way. When you move from one state to another, you are not required to transfer your vehicle registration or driver's license before moving! You are given a reasonable time period to do this. In the mean time, you can drive your vehicle until you make the changes.
This is how it should be regarding sales reps or technicians who were already licensed with a previous company. Louisiana should allow them to work in their field with the new company from the beginning and just require the hiring company to submit the application for a license change within a month of the hiring date.
Regards,
Kris Sepulveda
Louisiana District Manager
Gaylord Security
Local ADT Authorized ADT Dealer
Another thing I find rediculas about the sales licensing requirement is this. According to the Louisiana State Fire Marshal, Every sales rep has to take a course called "Understanding Alarm Systems" or UAS. This class teaches the "basic" to the student about security. I agree that the sales reps have to have the basics taught to them however, there is a point when that rule goes too far.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I have been in the Security Industry for 26 years (most of my time out of state). During that time, I have been an installer, sales representative, and Monitoring station Dispatcher. I have also been employed as a technical trainer and regional sales representative for DSC, NAPCO and HAI where I provided and designed CEU credit approved classes. I was also fortunate to be employed for The U.S. Department of Homeland Security where I was in charge of the monitoring and maintenance of all Government Security Systems.
However, when I applied for the sales license in Louisiana, none of my previous experience counted and I still had to tkae the class. I even submitted my resume to the Fire Marshal to ask if it was necessary to take the class because of my extensive knowledge. They still required me to take the class.
This is an example when they go too far.
Regards,
Kris Sepulveda
Louisiana District Manager
Gaylord Security
Local ADT Authorized ADT Dealer
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article.
ReplyDeletei hope each and every one adopt this superb information in our business...
thanks.....
Gaylord Security Systems