Don’t miss TMA’s Mid-year Meeting – April 20-22, 2021

The Monitoring Association’s Mid-year Meeting will open in just a couple days on Tuesday, April 20^th!

Learn more and register at: https://tma.us/virtual-mid-year-meeting/

Join us for the three-day program featuring a combination of thought-provoking education sessions, powerful networking, and a virtual exhibit floor! Sessions will focus on these three core areas:

1. Leadership
2. Operations
3. Technology

Day 1 – Leadership sessions inspire:

Featured Keynote: Leadership Lessons from an Old Jarhead, General James T. Conway (Ret.)

Leadership Session #1: COVID, Biden and the Vaccine: Employment During and After the Pandemic
Speakers: Jaime Tuite, Judy Katafiaz

Leadership Session #2: An Update on the Realities of the 3G/4G Migration
Speaker: John Brady
View Top Take-away Minute with John Brady

Leadership Session #3: Financing 101 in 2021
Speakers: Megan Thompson, Esq., Gregory Buscone, Mark Grudzien, John Robuck

Leadership Session #4: Value of Monitoring – Expanding Beyond the Traditional Use Cases
Speaker: Elizabeth Parks
View Top Take-away Minute with Elizabeth Parks

Day 2 – Operations sessions look at:

Featured Opening Session: On De-escalation During a Pandemic, Bill Powers, CPP and David Lesure      
View Top Take-away Minute with Bill Powers, CPP, and David Lesure

Operations Session #1: Monitoring Centers: Communicate with Customers in the Year We Actually Live In
Speaker: Daniel Oppenheim

Operations Session #2: Success in the New Normal: Top Marketing Strategies for Monitoring Centers
Speaker: David Morgan
View Top Take-away Minute with David Morgan

Operations Session #3: Leadership Succession Planning: How’s Your Bench Strength?
Speakers: Pam Petrow, Ralph W. Sevinor, Brandon Freedman, Brandon Niles
View Top Take-away Minute with Brandon Niles

Operations Session #4: Alarm Industry Call Blocking Challenges
Speakers: Sascha Kylau, Morgan Hertel

Day 3 – Technology sessions explore:

Featured Opening Session: FirstNet Primer, Morgan Hertel, Mark Hillenburg, Chief (Ret) Harlin McEwen, Duane Warehime

Technology Session #1: Working from Home Standard Updates
Speakers: Sascha Kylau, Joshua Greko

Technology Session #2: Work Form Home Practical Applications
Speakers: Steve Butkovich, JoeAllen Gentry, Rich Watts

Technology Session #3: Factoring in the Future— Is video monitoring part of your business model?
Speakers: Greg Eusden, Grant Graham, Wes Usie, Avi Lupo

Technology Session #4: Three Key Best Practices for Video Monitoring Success
Speakers: Chris Brown, Robert Baxter, John Romanowich, Steve Walker

There are several registration options (1, 2, and 3-day) available. Registration includes access to session recordings for up to six months. In the event that you are unable to attend sessions of interest, you will have the opportunity to view recordings on-demand, 24/7.

Learn more and register at: https://tma.us/virtual-mid-year-meeting/

We look forward to seeing you there!

New Dialing Procedure for Texas Customers

Shared by AICC

Ten-digit dialing instituted to facilitate access to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Source: Texas Public Utility Commission)

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) – Starting on April 24, 2021, Texans with phone numbers in the 254, 361, 409, 806, 830, 915 and 940 area codes should get in the habit of dialing 10-digits (area code + telephone number) for all local calls.

On July 16, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission  issued an Order (FCC 20-100) approving 988 as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Order requires all telecommunications providers (including telecommunications carriers, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP] providers, and one-way VoIP providers [covered providers]) to make any network changes necessary to ensure 988 access by July 16, 2022.

Several Texas area codes (254, 361, 409, 806, 830, 915 and 940) have numbers with a 988 prefix.  Therefore, those areas must transition from seven-digit to 10-digit local dialing. (Areas shown in yellow on this map are not affected by this change.)

April 24, 2021 marks the beginning of a “permissive dialing period” in which callers in those area codes can still complete a call with seven-digit dialing. When that period expires on October 24, 2021, only calls dialed with ten digits will be connected.

After the permissive dialing period, local calls dialed with only seven digits will reach a recording prompting them to hang up and dial again using both the area code with the seven-digit telephone number.

What other changes need to be made?

Important safety and security equipment, such as medical alert devices, and alarm and security systems must be programmed to use 10-digit dialing.  Many systems operate on 10-digit dialing by default, but some older equipment may still use seven-digits.  Please contact your medical alert or security provider if you are not sure whether your equipment needs to be reprogrammed to accommodate the upcoming change to 10-digit local dialing.  Any needed reprogramming of alarm and home security equipment must be done during the permissive dialing period from April 24, 2021 to October 24, 2021 to avoid interruption of those services.

Some other examples of services that may need to be re-programmed are:

• life safety systems or medical monitoring devices
• PBXs
• fax machines
• Internet dial-up numbers
• fire or burglar alarm and security systems or gates
• speed dialers
• mobile or other wireless phone contact lists
• call forwarding settings
• voicemail services and other similar functions

Customers should also ensure the area code is included in all other places where a telephone number is displayed like their websites, personal and business stationery, advertising materials, personal and business checks, and even personal or pet ID tags.

What will remain the same?

• Telephone numbers, including current area code, will not change
• The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the dialing change
• What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed
• Customers will continue to dial 1+ the area code + telephone number for all long-distance calls
• Customers will continue to dial a prefix (such as “9”) when dialing from a multi-line telephone system (e.g., in a hotel, office building, etc.) as required
• Customers can still dial just three digits to reach 711 (relay services) and 911 (emergency services)
• If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, or 811 are currently available in one’s community, they can still be dialed with just three digits
• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can still be reached by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) even after the 988 code is in effect.

Beginning July 16, 2022, dialing “988” will route calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Customers must continue to dial 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) to reach the Lifeline until July 16, 2022.

To learn more, visit the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) website at https://www.nationalnanpa.com/transition_to_10_digit_dialing_for_988/index.html, email NANPA at 988@somos.com with questions about the dialing procedure change, or visit the FCC website at https://www.fcc.gov/suicide-prevention-hotline.

Georgia Joins List of States Banning Fines for Alarm Companies When Customers Generate a False Alarm

Atlanta, Georgia (April 1, 2021) – The Georgia General Assembly has approved a bill that would ban counties or municipal corporations from fining alarm companies for false alarms generated by a customer and through no fault of the alarm system’s contractor.

“This bill has wider implications than for just our industry,” said John Loud, Vice President of Electronic Security Association (ESA) and President of LOUD Security Systems. “The concept of fining a company for a problem caused by its customers is the equivalent of sending someone’s speeding ticket to Ford and sets a precedent that could be a threat to many industries.”

“These policies do little to change user behavior, deny the user the right to confront their accuser and access to due process, and fines an innocent party for the actions of another,” said Stan Martin, Executive Director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC).

The introduction of the legislation follows a bitter three-year fight after the City of Sandy Springs passed a punitive ordinance that fined alarm companies. The city’s success in defending the legislation in court caused the legislature to act. Only one other Georgia city, Brookhaven, followed Sandy Springs’ lead.

A number of other states have passed bills similar to the Georgia bill in recent years including California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee and Iowa.

“There has never been any evidence that fining alarm companies was any more effective than the model alarm ordinance that is widely utilized nationally and endorsed by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police,” said Martin.

“The model ordinance, which fines alarm users, obtains an average 60% reduction in false dispatches and impacts those causing most of the problems. In fact, 85% of alarm systems generate no calls to the police in any given year.”

Under the law companies are responsible for false alarms they cause due to faulty equipment or installation or failure to use a mandated system requiring two calls to an alarm site before notifying police.

“Common sense prevailed,” said Loud. “Our industry stands ready to work with any community that wishes to reduce unnecessary dispatches with a proven model and experts ready to assist.”

Governor Kemp is expected to sign the bill later this month.

Shared by: David Margulies, PRExperts