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042: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Security Dispatch Center

On today’s episode, we kick off a four part series on how to launch a run a security dispatch center. We'll talk aboutwhen it's the right time to launch a call center rather than having supervisors in the field taking calls.

You can think of receiving calls like the front lines of customer service. As your business grows you'll want to considerhiring employees who are trained and skilled in customer service. Let's jump in and look at how to begin assessingyour current need.

Assessing Need

If you want to make an informed decision about whether or not you need a security dispatch center, you’ve got tohave the right data. That means tracking the number of calls you receive from customers or residents each night, theamount of time supervisors spend on the phone, and how reliably the requests from those calls are passed on to theright person and addressed.

Ensure that your current process is already optimal. If you don’t have a defined process, write one out as soon aspossible. Launching a dispatch center can be costly, so sometimes it’s easier to just increase efficiency by tweakingyour current process or utilizing new resources. Silvertrac’s dispatch system allows residents to report issues onlineand tracks phone calls to make sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle. This also helps deflect some of the calls beingplaced by receiving the requests online.

Sometimes, though, the volume of calls will simply become too much, especially for supervisors whose training is notfocused on handling customer phone calls.

“One apartment complex, that’s 500 units… times two people, that’s quite a few calls a month,” I tell Johnny.

Having an overworked supervisor trying to handle all these calls could end up with miscommunication on the phone,mistakes made in dispatching officers, and overall just an unprofessional image projected to the customer.

Can You Get The Right Quality With Outsourcing?

Customer service is extremely important. It’s one of the key differentiators for security companies and plays a big rolein how effective you are at winning new contracts and retaining existing customers. You need to know if you’re goingto outsource your customer service to a call center that they can deliver a high standard of service.

On the one hand, employees at a call center are trained to talk to customers on the phone, and they’re in anenvironment with the proper resources and equipment to effectively communicate. That can be a big advantage overofficers or supervisors, which might be taking calls in the car, with noise all around and no way to access crucialinformation.

On the other hand, your own employees understand the business and the customers’ needs. You have to ensure thatcall center employees understand your operation and can address caller needs. To figure that out, you’ll want toknow:

Can they use your software (scheduling and reporting)?

Are they going to be responsible for managing officers?

Are they going to handle incidents reported by officers? (Being the liaison to the customer)?

Can they handle call-offs, no-shows, and emergency scheduling?

Can they communicate with the officers in the field? Do they need to be bilingual?

Do they have video surveillance accounts they can monitor?

Related article: Four Things to Avoid When Dealing with Your Customers

Costs of Outsourcing vs. In-House

The other option is to create your own in-house call center, with your own dedicated employees answering phones.Comparing the cost of outsourcing to going in-house can be difficult, as many call centers will quote you prices on aper call basis.

The best way to evaluate costs is to convert everything to an hourly price. That means knowing how many calls onaverage you’ll have to take, as well as assessing the costs of hiring new employees, training them, dealing withturnover, etc.

“Most of the time it’s going to be cheaper to outsource it,” says Johnny, “but… there’s a number of advantages tohaving it in house because we can boost their job description and requirements, which will help take some stuff off ofyour plate.”

So much more...

There is a lot that goes into running a dispatch center so we are going to spend the next three article talking about:

Episode 43: The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing a Dispact CenterEpisode 44: How to Oursource Your Dispatch CenterEpisode 45: How to Launch an In-House Dispatch Center

Make sure you scroll to the top of this page and subscribe for updates so you don't miss out on this amazing series!Also, click below to download the Ultimate Guide to Running a Dispatch Center.

Topics: Customer Service, Dispatch Center

Written by Chris Anderson

Chris is the Founder of Silvertrac Software and has been working in the security industry for more than 25 years. Heenjoys working with our clients everyday to help them grow their businesses and really enjoy what they are doing.

Chris currently lives with his wife and three daughters in Huntington Beach, CA.