Due to some recent events, I have pondered central station operations a little more than usual. Therefore I am asking myself some questions others here may have asked and answered for him or her self already. How many generic central station horror tales does it take to begin to discredit a central station operation? If a central station pays money to a dealer for a central station screw up, should that be viewed as a positive or a negative for that central station in a dealer's eyes? How much money has to change hands before the event is to be considered a big deal? Are damages in the hundreds of dollars significant or are the thousands of dollars the real starting point where one should start taking notice? Does a one off failure event count more than a policy screw up that results in a loss? Does a mechanical failure mean more or less than human error in rating a problem? Over time, how many screw ups should a dealer expect from a central station on an annual basis, monthly basis, etc? Is account volume more of a factor in expecting issues to arise, or is it all more a function of time? Given the costs involved in switching central stations, how many events should a dealer be willing to tolerate versus reasonably expect? When a central station screw up occurs, is it a good idea for the entire central station staff be made aware of it; and the incident used as a training opportunity? Conversely, should all screw ups of any kind be kept under wraps on a need to know basis? Which is the better policy? What role should dealer input play on these decision processes? If a central station employee doesn't know of a screw up, is that lack of knowledge merely reflecting on his lowly status within that organization, or is it indicative of a care less type employee attitude showing poor morale is becoming problematic, or is it pointing to an overly secretive operation with some really big problems to hide?
- posted
16 years ago