Business Managers - Louise, Shelley and Stephen's stories
Stephen Murray
Stephen is the Director of TronSec Security, which specialises in electronic security - from systems design to installation, service and maintenance. The company was established in 2003 and now employs 10 staff.
Stephen says that security systems used to be pretty standard but these days clients have far more choice. So, one of the company's main challenges is keeping up to date with new technology and different products and determining how they can be tailored to meet their clients' immediate and future needs.
Integration is now an important aspect of electronic security. Tronsec's clients want to integrate every aspect of their security system - from access control to alarm detection, to CCTV and visitor management. A number of Tronsec's clients have multi sites across Australia and they want a fully integrated system that works on a multisite platform.
Many security systems are IP based - with a dedicated headend server which allows clients to connect to localised control panels through their wide area network. Staff access cards can be programmed for one or more sites, while third parties can be connected to CCTV and visitor managed systems. Clients can run security reports from dedicated security or multi-purpose workstations or download CCTV footage.
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Every person working for TronSec Security must have a technical background. Stephen himself is an electrician by trade and came into the electronic security industry about 15 years ago. Before starting up his own company, he worked across a range of areas - from domestic alarm installation to more complex installation, project management, service management to sales and product management. He particularly enjoys project management, design and sales work.
Every area of the electronic security industry pays well - people who are good at their work are well rewarded. Anyone interested in working in electronic security needs to understand the basics of electronics and computers. When new people join the company, they are exposed to all areas of technical work and soon find what they are good at and make it their niche.
Some technicians enjoy installation more than service, while others prefer sales. Service technicians must be very savvy, have a knack for fault finding and be good at problem solving. When it comes to installation and project work, teamwork is essential, as well as an understanding of the basic rules for installing cables and meeting Australian standards and manufacturers’ guidelines. For sales, you need a well developed understanding of how products are put together and how they are going to operate.
The security industry is here to stay and electronic security in particular offers great career opportunities. The industry is modern with no gender discrimination. TronSec Security with its workforce of men and women is a typical of employers in the industry.
Louise Christie
Louise Christie is the Owner/Director of ART Security Pty Ltd. Her company recently merged with Ron Tec Security Industry. She and her husband have worked in Electronic Security for 27 years.
Electronic security is distinct from manpower security in that it deals with monitoring, installation and servicing of electronic products.
ART Security is a family business, providing a service to the public – developed from grassroots and now employing 42 people. It is a serious contender in electronic monitoring, servicing a very large number of clients, with a relatively small staff. Here is her story:
I have worked in every aspect of the family business including monitoring work. My work now involves marketing, regulations, staff matters and business development. I am very heavily involved in the regulatory and legislative side of the industry. I sit on committees advising government and industry associations and as a consequence I’m also heavily involved in advising on training.
There are currently a number of challenges facing the security industry. But these are to do with licensing and regulation of security guards. Currently, because monitoring centre operators are captured as a subdivision of security guard in the Security Act, their training is also regulated in some states and territories.
There are no licensing requirements in the electronic security area other than a probity check and registration with the police.
The main difference between the work carried out by a monitoring centre operator and a control room operator is that a monitoring centre operator needs to follow instructions; these are standard operating procedures relating to the signals received from an alarm. Essentially they convey and receive situation reports from guards in the field. Whereas a control room operator manages guards in the field and may also respond in person.
Monitoring centre operators need to be able to follow instructions – as set on the screen. The most successful people who have worked for us as monitoring centre operators were former police officers.
When we hire people at ART Security – whether it's working in the office, sales, technical or in the monitoring centre, we look for people who are honest and ethical, can work intelligently, have an eye for detail and are interested in growing professionally within the company. In the technical area, people require a high degree of skill especially in information technology as the electronic security industry is moving across to internet networks.
Our security systems consultants have different levels of knowledge and skills about security systems – from simple home security systems to more advanced complex systems for commercial environments. We also have staff trained in Certificate IV in Security Risk Assessment. These consultants assess the risk that would occur to any organisation both from an occupational health and safety perspective and from a security point of view.
The future career prospects in this industry are quite vast. A security technician could make a good living installing and servicing home security alarms, but they could also advance to high level security installation. Most of their managers are security installers who have worked their way to management. To hold a business license in the security industry, you need to have a Certificate IV in Security and Risk Management. High level technicians are being paid very well. There are shortages in both electronics and manpower areas.
Women can easily take up jobs in both consultancy and technical areas - I've enjoyed it immensely. There are very few women in the industry. Women would do very well as consultants as there's a degree of trust that seems to exist when a woman advises an organisation about security which is a very personal product. Women are also doing very well in the manpower area. In the technical area, it is a very clean industry, not like plumbing - you very rarely have to crawl through small spaces or carry heavy equipment.
We need people to come into the industry. We are going to be facing a very serious skills shortage in a couple of years. There are likely to be secure employment and opportunities for advancement in the industry. Most of the people who join the industry seem to stay. It is an interesting industry offering a wide range of job opportunities. Outside of manpower and electronic security, there are areas such as investigation and data protection that people move across to.
Shelley Elder
Shelley Elder is the Managing Director of Axeze Pty Ltd, based in Adelaide. Axeze was a finalist in the 2008 Telstra Business Awards for Innovation. Shelley started the company on her own by providing electronic security solutions for elderly and disabled clients. Axeze now has seven employees and exports their products around the world. One example is their radio frequency identification (RFID) security systems, which are designed to allow the elderly and people with disabilities to open and manage doors without keys. Another product, point of sale wristbands, are used by casinos and hotels.
Axeze’s products are researched, designed and developed in Australia. By combining their RFID systems with biometrics and Bluetooth, Axeze have moved into the identity management field, that is, managing what a company’s employees are allowed to see or access. They also import products and embed their own software. Exporting internationally is new for Axeze and they are in the process of expanding their overseas distribution channels.
The first business partnership Axeze developed was with Clipsal, which helped promote the RFID product to the target market. They are now having discussions with Clipsal about biometrics systems, some of which can be used for multiple purposes. Sustainability of the environment is a concern, so many of their products are designed for minimal environmental impact, for example, sensing devices in the security systems which turn off services not in use, such as lighting and air conditioning, as well as manufacturing products with replacement components.
Axeze is in partnership with a manufacturer in South Australia. Shelly firmly believes that quality control is very important and makes sure all their products meet electro-magnetic compliance standards.
Currently, Shelley does not need to increase her staff numbers as she feels that her partnership with distributors and manufacturers is a good solution for her business. For example, marketing is done by their distributor. Her employees include a hardware engineer, software engineer, personal assistant with an electrician trade background, sales person and business development manager. There is one vacant sales position. The two female staff work part-time and have young children. Shelley is very happy to work around her staff’s family commitments, such as arrangements for school holidays and school pick-ups and drop offs.
The skills and attributes Shelley looks for when employing staff include flexibility, adaptability, a good work ethic, people who are not prejudiced and are interested in mixing with people from other cultures, and lastly, people who are prepared to take responsibility for their work and deadlines.
Working with, and keeping up with, changes in technology are what Shelley finds exciting in her business. At the moment, Axeze is releasing new products every two weeks. One way she keeps track of technology is to purchase components off the shelf; Axeze now buys components for their security systems from partners in China and Hong Kong. Shelley loves what technology can achieve, and despite her lack of an electronics or engineering background, finds she is never bored!
Career prospects in the electronic security industry are exciting and varied. They include specialising in hardware or software engineering; marketing and sales; business development; installing and servicing of security systems and networks or working in operations and surveillance.
Related Links
Louise Christie
(3:10mins - 34.7MB)
Stephen Murray
(1:27mins - 15.7MB)
Shelley Elder
(2:36mins - 11.5MB)