PSI recently took part in the NSI Installer Summit event in Birmingham and met a lot of readers and had some good feedback
Like any trade show the NSI Summit brought together a lot of people from the same industry who might not ordinarily meet up during the regular working week. There were over 40 exhibitors at the event plus a ‘Learning Zone’ and a conference. The delegates were those installers that had attained NSI Gold standard so the security/fire knowledge in the venue was high.
For us it was good to catch up with the delegates as most of them are readers of PSI magazine and have some forthright opinions on what we cover, what we should cover and how we should do it. Some people felt the editorial content was just what they wanted, however it was clear that there were some concerns as to the input of manufacturers and our relationship with them.
From my point of view I have never given anyone an easy ride just because they advertise with us. In fact for the most of it I don’t know who is advertising in the magazine until it comes out. As a few delegates pointed out, any magazine that does blur the lines between advertising and editorial (or has one person doing both duties) is not going to be worth reading – so we’re certainly not guilty of that.
Another area that readers felt could be blurred by favouritism is the product review feature, although given that our tests are carried out by a third-party (so not me) we have no control over how they score the technology and their opinion of the equipment. Rest assured these are independent reviews.
But I’ve never been one too proud to ignore concerns (compliments are always welcome though) so I have decided to enlist the help of a group of real experts who will give us honest comment and say it ‘how it is’ without any fear of recrimination. Get ready for a new force in opinionated editorial coming soon….
Encouraging stats
One of the most memorable statistics aired at the NSI Summit conference came from Ken Meanwell of ACPO who revealed the changes in alarm callout numbers over recent years. According to the data there were 1,052,538 false calls in 1996 and only 152,700 false call-outs in 2013 which is an indication of the strides taken in not only intruder alarm technology but also installer efficiency and quality. Hopefully with the continued developments that the manufacturers have in the pipeline along with the improvements in installer training and knowledge this number will be falling for the foreseeable future.
Another stat of interest from Ken was that there were 96,130 genuine call-outs in 1996 compared to 10,368 genuine calls in 2013. There are a number of reasons why this might be, but one strong possibility is that criminals are now aware, more than ever, of the risks involved with targeting an alarmed site rather than one without security in place. There’s a stat you can throw at a customer who is undecided as to the deterrent qualities of an intruder alarm.
