How many service techs?

I know that service requests are on-demand, but if you were building a department, how accounts do you think one Service Tech could handle? Someone told me there was a "rule of thumb" one tech per _____ accounts. Never heard of a standard like this and wondered if any of you have? What do you think is feasible? The business has been around for decades and services lots of older equipment. Thanks for any insights.

Reply to
JW
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I guess it depends on how well you installed the system and taught the clients how to use the system (you know those people with the glazed over look standing by the keypad while you're trying to teach them).

One or two techs can handle 500+ accounts easy.

Reply to
Crash Gordon

2 techs. (plus owner on-call for things like thunderstorms) should be able to handle 1000-1500 well-installed accts.
Reply to
Stanley Barthfarkle

It does not work this way. There are just too many variables such as how far from the home base the locations are, how bright the techs are and so on. You usually grow it by hiring one tech and then after you get into situations where you'd want him to go to two places at the same time too often you hire the second one.

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Reply to
DA

I think it depends on what window or time frame your customers expect service to occur in. If it is residential that's one thing. Heavy commercial with 2 hour response you have to go 4 deep per 5 accounts (hospitals, high rise buildings etc.), and you'd better be charging them for that service, even if no one ever rolls. On call tech, back up tech, supervisor, ops manager. One way to assure a quailty installations is to make the install crew roll on service calls to accounts in service less than 90 days, especially the midnight, holiday and weekend calls. Service calls seem to get few and far between after that.

Reply to
Roland Moore

It depends on if you have at least one very bright service tech or not and your company's service policies.

If you have one very knowledgeable service technician who understands electronics like inductance (lightning, nearby radio stations to alarm, shielding of alarm wiring in some situations, etc.), and human nature (what people are doing which can trigger false alarms i.e. customers or customers of business accounts), etc. And one who also will go to all ends to investigate repeat false alarms and other problems. Then that service technician will *fix* repeat problem accounts. So no additional service calls are required. Need fewer service technicians with someone like this.

If however you have a bunch of ding dongs. They will go out and not fix the root problem of these systems. So you have repeat service calls again and again and again to the same accounts. Need more service technicians.

And if you have a company policy to fix repeat false alarm accounts no matter what the cost, even eat the cost of repair if necessary, and give full support and leeway to the bright service technician to fix the problem - take as much time and materials as is necessary. Then repeat problems will be solved once and for all and you will need fewer technicians over time.

Reply to
Bill

Yes, I agree. I know that with 1000 plus accounts, mostly all residential, 75% installed by us, a staff of two has absolutely no problem with same day (or next day or subsequent days with customer permission) response for service. And when the second "tech" is not servicing, he is installing ( we try to keep it down to two installs a week maximum), while the first "tech" (me) does the office work. And we both answer calls from clients as they come in to either of our cell phones.

Now if you're doing heavy commercial, or industrial, I would have no idea what ratio would be applicable. However, my guess would be many more techs would be necessary.

Also, my experience is that "takeovers" (done by either "tech") seem to dramatically increase service time required per account (a good reason to inspect any and all takeovers beforehand and reject the "rejects" so to speak...)....I turned away two today !!

Lately, I've come to sense another "rule of thumb". The work necessary to keep two "bad" accounts going is the same as the work to keep 100 "good" accounts happy.

Definition: Good account....pays bills, doesn't needlessly trip his alarm, keeps his account calling list current, reads his friggin manual before he calls, gives you enough notice of door and window changes necessary, doesn't bring animals into the home before he calls you, and who has a system that was installed properly at the beginning by a professional in the business

Bad account...the opposite of all of the above and likely a whole lot of other reasons I haven't thought of..

RHC

Stanley Barthfarkle wrote:

Reply to
tourman

Don't turn away the crappy takeovers if they are willing to: Submit to credit check Submit to IQ test And are willing to pay to remodel the system.

| >

| >

| > 2 techs. (plus owner on-call for things like thunderstorms) should be able | > to handle 1000-1500 well-installed accts. |

Reply to
Crash Gordon

You do credit checks??

Reply to
Frank Olson

Why would I need a credit check when I get all my money for the systems up front ? And why would I want to spend any time at all to "remodel" a crappy system, when I've got people virtually lined up for takeovers who have perfectly good systems as is ? My son's time is better spent installing new systems from scratch that I know will work properly.

No, frankly, I'd rather "cherry pick" the accounts I want to take over....

IQ test ? Now that's a novel approach....should be mandatory....at least to ensure they have the mental capacity to use the alarm responsibly...

RHC

Crash Gord> Don't turn away the crappy takeovers if they are willing to:

Reply to
tourman

nah.

Reply to
Crash Gordon

I don't do credit checks...that was just a funny.

I just did a 2750.00 "take-over"...why walk from money? Took me a couple of days to sort it all out, but was well worth it. The system is now topnotch...I made a few bucks and have a solid system and happy monitored client.

Reply to
Crash Gordon

Your post leads me to believe something that I have suspected all along. Full prices for systems in the US are considerably higher than we charge or can get in Canada. I know that is a generalization, but modifying a system for $2750 is about double what we can get for even a large system hereabouts even starting from scatch. I doubt that even ADT would charge those kinds of prices around here !

I'd take that one too because the work would be well worth it at that pricing level.

RHC

Crash Gord> I don't do credit checks...that was just a funny.

Reply to
tourman

I'm finding that in recent years that more jobs are falling into the $3000.00 and up range, just for security installs. Then, on top of security there's the possibility that one or all of of the following things will be added ..... like ..... telephone, Cat5 LAN wiring, CATV, intercom telephone, whole house audio, and/or surround sound and entertainment system layout, setup and programing. Right now I've got one house (I have no idea what the house will be worth when it's finished) with 73 windows and 10 doors. In addtion to security, I'm doing all of the above. Total job $13,000.00 and there will be some overruns. Customer buys all the enterainment and audio hardware himself. Only equipment I supply is for security and possibly the whole house audio speakers.

Another home that's in progress is a $3.5 million home ( pretty high price for around here, but it's not as big as the one above...... only

52 windows and 5 doors) where the builders alarm that came with the house, consisted of 5 door contacts, two PIR's, two keypads, one speaker on first floor in a 10,000 sq ft home. The homeowner told them not to install the panel and keypads. I'm adding detection on every window ( both wired and wireless) Doorbell intercom, various CATV and Cat5 LAN, telephone, whole house audio and surround sound and entertainment set up. I didn't have to break drywall up to this point but now they want the whole house audio speakers in the ceilings, so I've got no choice but to "notch" to get around the headers, to get to the ceiling bays. Security will total about $5000.00, the rest of the job I'm pricing as I go. I figure it will land in the same price area as the one above. It's a "smaller" house but since construction is completed, there's lots more labor.

I have to say, however, if it wasn't for the fact that I've got a sufficent number of accounts, at this stage, that these kind of jobs don't do much to add to the equity of my company. These people don't pay anymore per month for monitoring than someone with a $1000.00 system. But the challenge is super and the prestege of being chosen to do these high end jobs, because of good referrals, is a great feeling.

Reply to
Jim

I can definately see your point here. It's very satisfying to be good at what you do and just as important, to be known to be good at what you do. These days I get a lot of satisfaction when I hear clients say they've heard good things about my service quality etc. Most people only say the bad things and the good goes largely unsaid.

Early on, I did a number of the larger homes, but dollar for dollar, at our acceptable rate structures around here, I found that it simply wasn't worth the time to do them. A while ago, one of my customers came to me with the plans for a 8000 square foot mansion he's building, and asked me to quote the security system. To make a long story short, after all was said and done, I turned the job down simply because for what I would earn at the prices around here, the time and driving involved for a full weeks work was simply spent better elsewhere. The company that I recommended that did choose to do it, came in only slightly higher than my quote, but they have a large staff and are simply better able to do it than my company of two people. If I had messed this up, or not given the level of service the client expected, it would end up as a blight on my reputation.

Since that experience, I've learned to pick and choose the jobs carefully. You can't be everything to everybody. Super large homes are not in my market niche. Nor are commercial accounts.

There is also another side to this issue for me. Tax rates are such up here that beyond a certain point, you end up virtually working for the tax department rather than for yourself. I've backed off work because of it to such an extent that I only do enough work to keep the company running smoothly and pay my son's salary. With over 1000 accounts, the monitoring revenue is such that one of my greatest challenges is to keep Revenue Canada's greedy hands out of my pocket ! Once my son takes on the business full time, he can decide how he wants to take it. Me ? I'm going to take it easy and start to enjoy life more.....

RHC

Jim wrote:

Reply to
tourman

This was a pretty big house, with a pretty big casita "guest" house. 8 keypads, 8 pirs, 14 glassbreaks, 4 partitions, 5amp aux power, 4 backup batteries, driveway annunciator, I think it has 40 zones, AnyCell backup, the original install was 6200.00 and that was almost 10 years ago. Had the factory refurb the main board then replaced all 8 smokes, changed a few keypads, totally redid all the zoning and expanders...blah blah blah.

My custom homes are going in at about 3100-6000 price range right now. Custom specs are a tad lower. Then we got structured wiring, a/v, central vac, intercom, and bada bing we're at 18K.

I don't compete with the lick&sticks or the big guys anymore, and I take only jobs that are fun and I make money on...screw the rest.

| > I just did a 2750.00 "take-over"...why walk from money? Took me a couple of | > days to sort it all out, but was well worth it. The system is now | > topnotch...I made a few bucks and have a solid system and happy monitored | > client. | >

| >

| >

Reply to
Crash Gordon

Right on the money dood.

I will sell the a/v stuff too though, but only stuff I can get a fair markup on, otherwise I tell the buyer if they can get a better price go for it and we'll just install it on T&M. Sheesh, what I make on connection cables is more than I'd make on a DVD or A/V reciever!!

"Jim" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@c28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... | | tourman wrote: | > Your post leads me to believe something that I have suspected all | > along. Full prices for systems in the US are considerably higher than | > we charge or can get in Canada. I know that is a generalization, but | > modifying a system for $2750 is about double what we can get for even a | > large system hereabouts even starting from scatch. I doubt that even | > ADT would charge those kinds of prices around here ! | >

| > I'd take that one too because the work would be well worth it at that | > pricing level. | >

| > RHC | >

| | I'm finding that in recent years that more jobs are falling into the | $3000.00 and up range, just for security installs. Then, on top of | security there's the possibility that one or all of of the following | things will be added ..... like ..... telephone, Cat5 LAN wiring, CATV, | intercom telephone, whole house audio, and/or surround sound and | entertainment system layout, setup and programing. Right now I've got | one house (I have no idea what the house will be worth when it's | finished) with 73 windows and 10 doors. In addtion to security, I'm | doing all of the above. Total job $13,000.00 and there will be some | overruns. Customer buys all the enterainment and audio hardware | himself. Only equipment I supply is for security and possibly the whole | house audio speakers. | | Another home that's in progress is a $3.5 million home ( pretty high | price for around here, but it's not as big as the one above...... only | 52 windows and 5 doors) where the builders alarm that came with the | house, consisted of 5 door contacts, two PIR's, two keypads, one | speaker on first floor in a 10,000 sq ft home. The homeowner told them | not to install the panel and keypads. I'm adding detection on every | window ( both wired and wireless) Doorbell intercom, various CATV and | Cat5 LAN, telephone, whole house audio and surround sound and | entertainment set up. I didn't have to break drywall up to this point | but now they want the whole house audio speakers in the ceilings, so | I've got no choice but to "notch" to get around the headers, to get to | the ceiling bays. Security will total about $5000.00, the rest of the | job I'm pricing as I go. I figure it will land in the same price area | as the one above. It's a "smaller" house but since construction is | completed, there's lots more labor. | | I have to say, however, if it wasn't for the fact that I've got a | sufficent number of accounts, at this stage, that these kind of jobs | don't do much to add to the equity of my company. These people don't | pay anymore per month for monitoring than someone with a $1000.00 | system. But the challenge is super and the prestege of being chosen to | do these high end jobs, because of good referrals, is a great feeling. |

Reply to
Crash Gordon

Different strokes, but I've never understood this. Why the hell would an alarm company want to install a central vacuum system? Yeah, you can make a couple bucks, but you could also make a couple bucks installing their lawn sprinklers, changing burned-out light bulbs, and so on. The very last service call I would ever want to see is a complaint that their vacuum cleaner isn't working.

- badenov

Reply to
Nomen Nescio

Why? They're not that hard to install, they're a gimme since we're their low voltage contractor...why walk away from a gimme? You want someone else to get the vac...then they might get the other low voltage stuff too.

Service? I've got close to 400 central vacs out there and have had maybe

100(?) service calls over 20 years; far less in proportion to alarms. No biggie, and we get paid. Oh, by the way, while you're here you may want to have your alarm serviced or add that extra motion detector you've been wanting?
Reply to
Crash Gordon

That's part of the reason I don't do vacuums. ( service .... how the hell would you ever be able to fix a bad tube connection?) But mostly, I never wanted to deal with stocking, transporting and handling the tubing and the accessories. Which, by the way, is somewhat the same reason I don't supply the audio equipment for surround sound or whole house audio either.

ONE... it's too available on the Internet ... sometimes at a lower price than I can buy it for and TWO, ....... If something goes wrong with it or if they don't like the "sound" of it .... or their brother in law got one from Radio Shack for half the price and it sounds better ...... it's * their * problem. Last thing I want to be called back for is because Opra's face looks pink.

Reply to
Jim

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