A little Wanganui company is taking over Auckland.
Wanganui's Alarm Watch, started in 1999 by farmers Neil and John Campbell with Peter O'Callaghan, monitors alarms at many Auckland schools and all large hospitals.
Business has trebled in the last three years, defying the recession.
"When I started here we had four operators plus
myself. We're now approaching 20," monitoring manager Wade Coneybeer said.
Something that helped is an application staff dreamed up with New Zealand Computing Solutions owner Greg Nixon. It allows clients to check the status of their alarm from a distance, using a cellphone or computer, and turn it on or off.
All the Alarm Watch monitoring is done in an upstairs room on Wanganui's Guyton St, by shifts of five people, each sitting at a big desk with a phone, headphones and two computer screens. The quiet in the room is constantly punctured by the sound of sirens in far-off places.
Staff have instructions about who to call when an alarm goes off.
Coneybeer makes sure they are comfortable in their jobs. They get Sky TV and free internet, and a couch in their smoko room.
He said it took three months to train each one, and most stayed for at least seven years.
Three of them install alarms across a region within three hours' drive of Wanganui. The rest monitor them nationwide, with a few taking care of administration.
Clients include the tobacco industry and the Ministry of Justice, as well as smaller businesses and individuals.
The alarms could be any of 50 different makes, installed by any company, and could be fitted to houses, cars, businesses or people. They guard against stealing, violence, intruders and medical emergencies.
Staff had to deal with some tragic situations when panic or medical alarms went off, Mr Coneybeer said. They had to be able to multitask and keep their cool in stressful situations.
But what he most looked for in staff was the ability to build rapport.
The best were "really nice people that will get along with anyone".
