2009, year of opportunity, initiative and solidarity

In ALAS we started this 2009 with a new face in our site www.alas-la.org, with a renewed Board of Directors and, above all, with new and innovative projects. All with the aim of helping our partners and the students of the different academic programs in a clear support to the development of the electronic security industry in general.

First of all, we have created an exclusive space for WINGS associates, in which small businesses that do not yet have it can have their own website. We will also be providing an institutional email to our partners who do not wish to rely on a general public email such as Gmail, Yahoo, among others.

In this same section, a job bank will be generated so that our associates can request qualified personnel, and the great mass of security professionals in Latin America can offer their services.

In another order of things, we will have a section of technical tips and installation regulations, which will include both physical documents and educational videos, which can be downloaded.

We will be providing our students with access to a personalized identification of the courses they have taken with ALAS, as well as differentiated access in the acquisition and updating of study materials.

In April 2009 we will be presenting a wide selection updated of our study material, totally improved in its presentation and content. This material will be available before, during and after you have completed each of the courses in our portfolio.

When this edition of the Securum is in your hands, the online course for Monitoring Center Operators will now be available in Spanish for the thousands of men and women who work in this important activity throughout Latin America.

Likewise, during 2009 ALAS will be present and active in the main fairs and exhibitions of electronic security of the continent. We will also continue to support and promote the Chapters of our partners that day by day are organized territorially in the different countries and regions.

As I pointed out at the beginning, and as the experts in the different forums say, this will be a difficult year, during which the union of guild and associates will give us greater opportunities to share successful experiences and mistakes. But, without a doubt, we will be able to see the light of the new opportunities with optimism, work and collaboration.

Greetings.

Luis González Nogales.
President

The course for Central Monitoring Station (ECM) operators is the first of its kind in Latin America and marks ALAS's foray into online education.

By: Víctor Alarcón

In Latin America there is something very difficult to find: reliable statistics. There are none from the countries, much less from the region. The data that is usually presented are approximations made based on interviews, estimates, analysis of import and export data, or projections. And the electronic security industry is no exception.

I bring this up because there are no reliable statistics of the false alarm rate in our countries. This makes talking about the problem as difficult as the same situation of false intrusion alarms existing in our region. False alarms are a drag.

It is estimated in millions of dollars the losses due to the mobilization of reaction patrols of the monitoring centers themselves and the police departments of the many cities. And the specialists, interviewed by Security Sales, affirm that between 80 to 90% of the alarms that are presented are false.

The causes are diverse, although they mainly point to the lack of training for users on how to correctly use the systems installed on their premises. Incorrectly installed devices and inadequate attention by operators receiving alarm signals on ECMs are also cited.

For seven years, when it started teaching its level 1 alarm technician course (which level 2 was made available in 2006), ALAS has been educating technicians and engineers of integration companies and monitoring centers on how to do an impeccable job in the installation and thus reduce one of the foci of false alarm generation.

And now, in an effort that allows us the support of all our partners (especially our corporate partners, whose names can be on the front page of the Securum or on www.alas-la.org) and the collaborative relationship with the Association of Central Alarm Stations of the United States (CSAA www.csaaul.org) we have launched the Course for Operators of Central Monitoring Stations. With this course we hope to contribute to reducing another of the foci of false alarm generation.

The Course for Operators of Central Monitoring Stations has already been tested in the United States, as the CSAA has had it available for several years and hundreds of NDEs in the United States have used it to train their personnel. This is an immense point in favor of this new program that ALAS offers.

The course is the result of a CSAA project, which brought together professional experts with years of experience in the area of alarms to create eight interactive modules, including an assessment at the end, which accurately measure students' learning of the material and their mastery. The course modules are:

-Operational review
-The role of the operator of an alarm center
-Alarm verification
-Communication equipment
-Skills in the use of telephone and radio
-Approval by UL/FM
-Emergency procedures
-Final evaluation

The Central Monitoring Station Operators Course empowers employees with critical skills and understanding before taking a call. They are taught policies and procedures to handle a wide variety of situations they must face as monitoring central operators and are allowed to measure their learning at every level of course content. Student outcomes are measured and recorded using a modern learning management system that includes a comprehensive transcript for employer assessment.

And the use of online education has other tangible benefits for businesses. Employee travel is eliminated, downtime due to their absence and students learn at their own pace. They can even learn from home and on weekends. The online education format offers great flexibility for both students and businesses.

The Internet has changed the way business is done. Now it's changing the security industry and the way training is done. Whether it's training a new employee or upgrading old alarm operators, this new ONLINE course from ALAS (in conjunction with the CSAA) represents a quality teaching experience that can be trusted and whose measurable results can be used by companies.

Once the course has been successfully completed, the system generates a custom certificate. This document is the one that designates as a certified operator in the Course for Operators of Central Monitoring Stations level 1. To obtain the certificate in the final assessment, the student must obtain 70% of approved answers.

At ALAS we are very excited about this new phase in the association's training platform, we are confident that the course will be a great success and will bring great benefits to our partners and the industry in general. And last but not least, ALAS members will receive a discount on the purchase of the course. We will already let everyone know when the course is online and functional.

Víctor Alarcón is director of operations for ALAS. You can write to [email protected]