Re: Generic Central Station Horror Tales

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

Just Looking said:

>Due to some recent events, I have pondered central station operations a
>little more than usual. Therefore I am asking myself some questions others
>here may have asked and answered for him or her self already. How many
>generic central station horror tales does it take to begin to discredit a
>central station operation? If a central station pays money to a dealer for a
>central station screw up, should that be viewed as a positive or a negative
>for that central station in a dealer's eyes? How much money has to change
>hands before the event is to be considered a big deal? Are damages in the
>hundreds of dollars significant or are the thousands of dollars the real
>starting point where one should start taking notice? Does a one off failure
>event count more than a policy screw up that results in a loss?

I have always found that public floggings are bad for employee morale.

There's no way to quantify errors like you suggest, because each error is
different, and has different consequences.  Given that mistakes will
happen, I think the thing to look for is how management approaches them.
If their response is limited to attempts to make you feel better, then it's
time to look for alternatives.  If the problem is equipment or software
related, and they seem unwilling to spend the money required to fix the
problem, time to start looking.  If it's a training issue, you largely have
to trust your gut on whether they are doing anything about it.

Sometimes, it's the dealer's fault for insisting on oddball procedures and
special instructions for handling certain accounts.  Sure, some amount of
customizing is necessary and expected, but the weirder and more complicated
the instructions for a certain account, the more likely some operator is
going to screw it up.  Dealers need to remember that the instructions they
provide today have to be simple and clear enough that they make sense to
the guy who gets hired for third shift two years from now.  It is better to
tell a customer now that you can't do something, than to have him find out
for himself a year from now.

It goes without saying that it's smart to have your own receiver phone
lines, so you can change quickly and easily if needed.

I am a bit mystified as to your comments about central stations paying
money to dealers for their screwups.  I expect a central to pay false alarm
charges if they mishandle a signal, like dispatching to the wrong address.
Other than that, I can't think of a situation where they would pay a dealer
money, certainly not thousands of dollars.  Alarm dealers don't pay off
when their customers get hit and the alarm doesn't work; central stations
sure don't, either.

- badenov