President’s Message
By Robert Few
With all of the uncertainty, doom, and gloom we have endured in 2020 thus far, I would like to focus on something positive and in particular, recognize some incredible employee milestones in the month of July at GMS! Hopefully, you have noticed that we have a renewed focus on our people. Without our people, we have zero ability to take care of you and your customers. Below, we are recognizing team members that have been with us for 18, 16, 14, and 4 years! Their longevity with GMS speaks volumes and we are incredibly fortunate to work with these dedicated professionals every day. In addition, we are celebrating the great work that our team members do and sharing some feedback that we have recently heard from you.
We have also bolstered our executive team over the last few months with incredibly talented individuals that are already making a positive impact and dramatically improving our operations in the areas of Human Resources and IT. Cultivating a team-oriented culture that fuels driven team members is very important to me. Achieving this goal is not easy because it often involves making some people available to the industry if they aren’t committed to raising the bar and excelling in their roles. However, on the flip side, we are rewarding our team members that embody our mission and our energy. These actions have translated into higher morale, increased service, and productivity levels. We have now created a healthier environment where each team member contributes to making GMS a great place to work on a daily basis. I’m proud of the work we do and I’m excited to join forces with my colleagues at GMS while we serve you and your customers.
In speaking with many of you about your businesses over the last few months and all of the changes you are experiencing, I continually hear about how hard it is to find great people to work on your teams. Workforce development challenges within our industry are not new and will not be going away anytime soon. I have some solutions and resources I would like to share with those of you that are interested. If this is something you feel your business could leverage please give me a call or shoot me an email so we can schedule some time to work on your business together.
It has been fantastic getting to know more and more of you! We continue to set higher standards for GMS and strive to provide you with the best service in our industry. Please call or email me anytime to discuss ways we may be able to better support your business or how we can help with any specific challenges you are facing.
Sincerely,
Robert Few
CEO & President
General Monitoring Services, Inc
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GMS Staff Achievements and Appreciation
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At GMS, we take immense pride in our skilled and dedicated staff members.
Without them, we wouldn’t be the longstanding and successful company we are today. This month, we are celebrating a handful of our employees for their outstanding service to the company and our partner dealers.
Please join us in congratulating them:
We are excited to share that Four GMS employees are celebrating work anniversaries in the month of July!
One of our
Dealer Support Leads
,
Victor Guillen
is celebrating his
18th year
with GMS!
We also celebrate
two
of our
Central Station Supervisors
,
Lyaisha Ellison,
celebrating
16 Years
and
Eryn Healy
is celebrating her
14th year!
In addition, one of our
Central Station Assistant Supervisors
,
Nathan Andrews
has reached his
4th year
anniversary!
We are so honored that these 4 valued employees have remained dedicated to providing GMS and all of our partner dealers and their clients such excellent service for so many years and the great example of dedication they are to all of us here at GMS.
Also this month, we are very excited to recognize and express appreciation for one of our valued 2nd Shift Operators, for a great job!
We received a call from one of our longtime partner dealers letting us know one of their customers was so very happy with the assistance he received from this Operator.
The customer’s pharmacy was broken into during one of the recent protests and he said that the Operator he spoke with calmly and professionally assisted him during every step of the way to make sure he was taken care and had the comfort of knowing his Alarm System was being monitored promptly and professionally with proper concern for his property and safe well-being.
GMS is proud to have such a terrific team of Operators and Dealer Support Staff members that are dedicated and caring.
Thank you, Team!
This month, we would also like to introduce and welcome aboard Jack Olivar
. Jack has accepted the
position of IT Director
for GMS.
Jack has over 25 years of Central Station experience.
Jack’s experience runs the gamut from hands-on Operator Alarm Processing to Full Network Management and all Communications and Receiver Management functions. Jack’s long time commitment within the Industry is a great plus for GMS and more importantly our valued partner dealers.
Welcome Jack!
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Workplace Wellness
By: Sarah DeLuca, GMS Human Resources Manager
Workplace Wellness has become a topic of focus for many companies especially with the sudden increase in employees working remotely amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. Chevron, PG&E, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson are just a few of the companies that have become strong advocates for mental and physical health and have incorporated it into their business strategy.
What is workplace wellness?
Simply put, workplace wellness is a supportive company culture designed to promote healthy behaviors in the workplace. These programs can range from stress prevention programs, fitness memberships, offering healthy snacks to employees, ergonomics, live meditation, health education, and smoking cessation programs. The work-life balance has been a hot topic for employees for many years now as employees felt they were never given the ability to disconnect from work (i.e failing to cut the “electronic leash”).
France and Germany have both implemented laws to protect employee’s rights from remaining connected to work 24/7. Studies have shown that companies have seen a dramatic VOI (Value on Investment) after implementing wellness programs. Job satisfaction has increased and employee morale has gone up. Most companies shy away from wellness programs because they assume the costs can be high, but the opposite is true. You can launch a Meatless Monday program (giving employees healthy meal alternatives), start a lunchtime walking group with your coworkers, or give your employee awards for things like biking to work, logging 10,000 steps, or volunteering their time to a charitable cause. Creating a stress circle where employees can discuss what their stress triggers are and create a safe place for employees to talk through the use of “community circles”. Rewarding employees for their efforts in itself will create an all-around positive employee experience once we are all able to get back to work.
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ISC West Virtual
As large-scale, live, indoor events are being shut down nationwide amid COVID-19, we are delighted to know that this year’s ISC West event is still happening - just virtually instead of in-person. While the event in-person operations have allowed GMS and our many partners and affiliations to come together for educational programming, high-profile keynote speakers, virtual vendor solution training sessions, and other virtual opportunities to connect with other security & public safety industry professionals, these programs are still made possible by the
ISC West 2020 Virtual Event
. We are looking forward to seeing everyone virtually during this three-day event set to kick off from October 5 - 7, 2020.
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Central Station 2020 Webinar Series
GMS will be discussing who we are and our offerings. We at GMS are honored to take part in this webinar where you can learn more about who we are and what we can do for you.
The webinar will be presented by Robert Few, President of General Monitoring Services, and Ken Gresty, Business Development of General Monitoring Services, and hosted by Ken Kirschenbaum, Esq. We’re looking forward to seeing you then!
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Increase your RMR with Video Monitoring
GMS and SureView Systems
As one of GMS’s main Integrated Video platforms,
SureView Systems
utilizes advanced features and options providing unsurpassed tools and services to assist you in increasing your recurring monthly revenue, offering you next-generation video monitoring services.
Video Verification
Verify traditional alarm events with associated video to ensure a speedy response while reducing costly false dispatches
Guard Tours
Provide scheduled virtual guard tours that step operators through each of the relevant onsite cameras. Like all Video events, everything the operator saw, said and did on the tour is audited in the automations multimedia audit trail
Interactive Video Monitoring
Using intelligent onsite video to proactively detect threats providing operators with the situational awareness to respond appropriately
Remote Access
Provide remote access for employees and authorized personnel to the customer facilities, verified with video, and audited in the multimedia audit trail.
to find out more about this value-added service from GMS.
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Industry News and Tips Links
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Biometrics in the COVID-19 Era
Access control is undergoing significant changes in the COVID-19 era. It’s no longer enough for public and private organizations to provide access to buildings, critical infrastructure, and more based solely on the possession of a plastic access control card. Biometrics, however, offers a convenient, quick, and accurate solution.
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Balancing Privacy Concerns With Video Monitoring Capabilities
As the technology of video monitoring grows in capabilities and use cases, another concern begins raising its head: privacy. Facial recognition technology could be used in a variety of new ways in the post-COVID-19 world, such as health monitoring and ensuring compliance with social distancing guidelines.
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How Video Analytics Boost Value
With advancements in the reliability of video analytics, video security cameras are now empowered with analytics that can help users to manage and improve the value of the vast quantities of video data.
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Why COVID-19 Is Accelerating Adoption of Cloud-Based Unified Communications
Opportunities are arising for integrators to help end-users accelerate migration to a cloud-based unified communications and collaboration (UCC) model.
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Silly Criminal Video of the Month
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Current and Active Dealer Partners will receive up to $1,000.00 in the form of an invoice credit for referring a new dealer to GMS for Monitoring Service Solutions.
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