When it comes to securing your home, everyone naturally wants quality and reliability, but good value is an important factor too, especially because the cost of these systems can add up over time. There are a lot of home and business security companies out there, but A-COM is one of the largest family owned security and home and business automation companies in Georgia. With over 40 years of business experience, they are the leaders in the safety and fire protection industry in Columbus.

By ROBERTO CALIGARIS

Although purchasing a home security system doesn’t guarantee that determined burglars won’t try to break into your home, it can scare them off and offer you some protection. A home security system can alert and summon firefighters or police in case of an emergency, and save you between 8 and 15 percent on your home insurance premium. SVM had the chance to speak with ACOM's CEO, Wayne Beck, about how he got involved in the home and security business, how technology is affecting the business, and the services A-COM provides.

Can you provide some background on how A-COM got started in the Home Security industry? A-COM started in business in 1973 selling fire alarm systems. We started getting requests for security and installed the first system in May of 1973.

What do you feel has been the biggest change in the industry since your company was founded? The speed of communication between our customers' locations and our central station. Because we have our own central monitoring station and our average response time is 17 seconds, this gives our customers peace of mind .

What’s the best way to prevent break-ins? To install an alarm system and use it all the time. Even when you're just running to the grocery store.

Thinking of your consumers (current and prospective), what, if any, home security concerns keep you up at night? The do-it-yourself customers. They pay for an alarm system then install it themselves, and when something goes wrong, they don’t know how to fix it so they quit using the system. When you buy a gadget from a TV or radio ad. you normally get a gadget. A-COM spends thousands of dollars every year on technical training to make sure we can fix the problems that are always going to come up.

How have the increases in mobility and technology among homeowners changed the landscape of A-COM’s offering over the years?Most of the systems sold today use wireless technology, so the systems can be moved if needed, and because they are wireless, they can be installed quicker. With apps, you can control much of your home like door locks, arming and disarming your system, and many other benefits while you are away from your home or business.

What about A-COM’s offerings makes you stand out from your competitors? A-COM sells, installs, monitors, and services all of our customers. We do not use 3rd party monitoring companies or subcontractors. Plus, I think our employees make the biggest difference.

The home security industry has become a high-tech, dynamic world to operate in. What new and exciting things can we expect to see over the next decade from the industry and ACOM that can help consumers protect their homes? In my opinion, what we will see is more reliability, better integration with automation products, and cameras, and better communications between the customers location and our central station. For example A-COM will be introducing a new app later this year that when an alarm signal is received at our central station, we will be able to broadcast out a text message to everyone on the contact list that we have received a signal, and they will be able to communicate between each other on the text notification. This new app will help reduce false alarms and give better communications for our customers. I am very excited about the future of the Security Industry. SVM

A-COM 24/7 HOME AND BUSINESS SECURITY