The Monitoring Association (TMA) named Steve Butkovich, chief product officer for CPI Security Systems, as its new president. Butkovich officially began his two-year term on Nov. 8th, 2023 at the conclusion of TMA’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Maui. He recently served a two-year term as TMA vice president serving on the TMA board leading up to his presidency. He succeeds Morgan Hertel of Rapid Response Monitoring. Hertel will serve an additional two-year term as immediate past president.

“It is a great honor to serve as TMA’s president, most especially during such a critical time for the monitoring industry. As rapid technological advancements in sectors such as telecommunications, video, and AI/machine learning introduce many new challenges and opportunities, it is imperative that TMA is on the front line to support, protect, and defend its members’ interests,” stated Butkovich. “Federal and state regulations governing customer communication, data harvesting, and privacy are also areas of great concern to our member companies. With the recent establishment of our Government Relations and Compliance Committees, TMA is closely monitoring related initiatives.”

As TMA’s president, Butkovich is also focused on strengthening relationships with organizations within the security industry, as well as those in law enforcement and public safety. With the release of TMA’s ANSI/TMA-AVS-O1 – Alarm Validation Scoring Standard, these stakeholder relationships are key to the broad adoption of the standard.

“Steve brings a wealth of leadership experience and technical knowledge to this new role,” said TMA CEO Celia T. Besore. “He has demonstrated his commitment to TMA through his expansive volunteer activities, which have spanned chairmanship of the Technology Committee; membership on TMA’s Standard Committee; and engagement in the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC). He also initiated the creation of the TMA/SSN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award in 2022. There is no question that TMA and our member community will benefit greatly from the combination of his experience, expertise, and dedication over the course of his presidency.” //

The agent can visually assess the customer’s system and system components remotely and guide the customer in troubleshooting and can also assist the customer in self-installing a previously shipped part such as a replacement battery. The result is successful enablement of the security device or full restoration of the system itself, according to the announcement. Agents and customers can also use AR to draw on the screen in real-time and identify issue-related areas.

“Blitzz has been a great asset in supporting our goal to provide outstanding care to our customers. They need not take off work or bear the potential cost of an onsite service call,” said Jason Bradley, COO, Guardian Protection. “We simply schedule a 30-minute appointment that is convenient. Appointments are averaging 24 minutes in length and 93 percent of issues are successfully resolved.”

Bradley continued, “I’m also pleased to say that we are exceeding our goal in the number of customers who accept a Virtual Appointment option. When we selected Blitzz for this purpose, we liked that our agents and our customers could connect easily via their smartphone, without downloading and signing-in to an app.” //

“After 46 years in the business, I’m thrilled to join forces with Sciens Building Solutions, a well-respected leader in our industry,” said BASS President Brad Higdon, who will remain in his current role with the company. “Their reputation and ability to carefully select their acquisitions, while fostering growth and commitment to excellent customer service, aligns perfectly with our core values. This partnership opens new opportunities and allows us to pair our strengths to provide even more phenomenal service to our customers and I am excited about the future.”

Higdon established BASS in 1977 as a solo operation out of the back of his pickup truck. Since then, the company has provided complete fire alarm and life-safety solutions in South Florida and the Caribbean. The company supports all life-safety systems for service and installation, including fire alarm system retrofits, elevator recall systems required for modernization work, sprinkler systems, video surveillance and access control.

“We’re enhancing the fun Sciens journey in the Sunshine State, with an exciting addition to our many locations across the country,” said Sciens CEO Terry Heath. “BASS United is a true life-safety leader in the South Florida area with a team of industry experts whose experience positions them well for growth under the Sciens umbrella. Sciens is delighted to partner with Brad and the entire BASS team as we continue on our quest to build the largest independent fire and life safety integrator in the United States.” //

Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s ASAP service is designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm monitoring centers to ECCs.

The Brown County ECC is the third such facility in the Badger State to implement ASAP. The center went live on Oct. 31 with: Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Protection One, Brinks Home Security, Securitas, Vivint, Tyco (Johnson Controls), National Monitoring Center (NMC), Affiliated Monitoring, United Central Control and ADT.

To learn more about TMA’s ASAP service, go here. //