I am the alarm company contact

[hinesward]

When I took this job, it was a very open place. We didn't have an alarm system. Well, the inevitable happened--a break-in. Then we got an alarm system. It was put in around January or February.

A couple weeks later, I got my first call on a Sunday afternoon. I live only about ten minutes away. I went in and found out what I figured--someone was here who was supposed to be here. I called the alarm company and told them everything was fine.

In April, one of our European users set off the alarm. I called him from my place as I figured he was the one who had done it. It was a Saturday afternoon--I again told the alarm company that everything was fine.

The third time was the first time that I was truly annoyed. It was the night of the seventh game of the NBA finals. I was watching my beloved Lakers. This time, I told the alarm company to send in the cops. Again it turned out to be an employee who had stayed late.

The very next morning, I got another call. An employee who always goes in early had set it off. He said that he always disarms it. For some reason, he could not do it this time.

On Sunday, it happened yet again at about 3:00. This time, one of our employees simply walked in for a moment and then left. Nobody was there when I showed up.

Tonight I got a call simply because our power was out. Apparently the alarm company calls this for this as well.

I don't think I am the only contact for the alarm company. I also believe that other people are ahead of me on the list. The problem is that I am the first person who is dumb enough to answer his phone.

My fellow co-workers have been told what to do in the event that the alarm goes off. They all have been given the phone number for the alarm company. They have all been given the password. I am really getting sick and tired of dealing with this, as it was not in the job description when I took this job.

It would also be nice if the people who are ahead of me on this freaking list would actually answer their phones. I don't believe that I am first on the list. I might as well be, however.

This is starting to get really irritating. In about six months, I have now been called six times for this alarm system.
-

 

[edfair]

The alarm company is probably using the only number where they can find a body.

I understand the frustration from personal experience. In an earlier age, before answering machines and electronic phones, I adjusted the clapper spring so the phone wouldn't ring when the ringer volume was set to the lowest volume.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[Noway2]

When I was in school, I was second on the alarm contact list for the store I worked in. In addition to working my job, my GF had a paper route that I had to help with at 4am, so the few hours of sleep I got were precious.

One night, about 1am the phone rang and woke us up. It was the alarm company calling about the store, for the umpteenth time in however many weeks. I don't recall what I said to the guy, but I think it involved son-of-a-bitch with some other words mixed in, but whatever it was it was enough to send the guy into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

You have every right to be annoyed by this and you should not be the only one dealing with it, at least all of the time.

It sounds like at the very least a general training session is called for. Following the training, everyone needs to be held accountable in some way for their actions if they set the alarm off. The company could also consider a rotating scheme were you are only on the call list for a certain period of time or so many calls and then you are off of it.

 

[hinesward]

Keep in mind that I am already on-call because I am the only IT person in the company. I tried to take a three-day trip to Las Vegas and got probably four or five calls during that time.

Our HR/building person is the person who should be dealing with it. Unfortunately, I know from experience that she doesn't answer her phone.

It was actually easier to get a hold of people back in the 1970's. People didn't have cell phones, voice-mail, or caller ID. People always answered their phones though. Nowadays, nobody answers their phones. Nobody returns calls.

The guys at the alarm company are just doing their jobs. They know that they are supposed to call someone. Now they have found someone who makes their job easier.

 

[mattKnight]

Do you get an on-call payment for each call? or some other form of payment.

Make sure that you book each and every alarm call out on exactly the same basis!

Take Care

Matt
I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone.
My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone.

 

[Noway2]

Maybe you should just, "join the others." No, it is not the honorable thing to do, but it sounds like you are going to have to force this one to a confrontation.

If nobody answers the phones will the monitoring company send in the cops? If this happens too many times, I am sure that the company will get some serious charges, perhaps enough to make someone in authority take action?

Your right about answering phones in the 70's. Also back in the 70's when you got a call it was, if not important, at least of interest. And to get a "long distance" call, well, anyone over 30 probably remembers those. There was also little to no need to 'screen' your calls. In many ways I would love to go back to those days.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Perhaps you could convince the company to purchase a cell phone to be used as the primary contact number. Then rotate that phone among the authorized persons on a prearranged scheduled.


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[edfair]

Do you take time off as compensation? I probably would make the arrangements with my boss for a couple of hours off each time. Although it is just a short distance away it disrupts your life and you should be compensated.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[hinesward]

I keep my time in a spreadsheet. Yes, I do take the time back. However, this is still a pain in the ass. I plan my work time. Do you think I would have planned for a call during Game 7 of the NBA finals?

There is a big difference between planning to go into the office on a weekend and being called on the weekend when it's not planned.

 

[edfair]

I know how much a pain it is. I shut the phone up after 5 nights, 2 weekend days, and 5 more nights. I think one of the weekend days had 2 calls. This was in field service and every one required at least 1 1/2 hour of travel plus fix time. I was paid for it but the volume was a stressor.

The boss was upset on the Monday after I was unavailable for the weekend. He had needed me to pull another rabbit out of the hat. Left the company shortly after this stuff happened.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[Thadeus]

I think there is specific charge that each call would cost the company if you do not respond. That cost needs to be quantified and the response then compensated at a percent thereof. See if others begin to pick up the phone before you if there is a reward for responding... if not, there is at least a pre-determined amount of reward for you to balance the inconvenience against... In the case of the Playoffs, you can then more easily cost/benefit the situation.

If paying the percent value of the calls becomes an issue for the company, then the alarm system itself needs to be evaluated for cost/benefit.

~thadeus.

 

[lionelhill]

Edfair's got a good point that can be expanded.

Normally I'd suggest that you develop a hearing problem and a habit of going out in the evening, meaning that unfortunately you just don't seem to be around when the phone rings. But because you are already the on-call IT guy, that one isn't going to hold water. You can't be in for some calls and out for others.

But if you are taking time out of your normal working day in compensation for each call-out, can you make the point that all these extra call-outs are seriously affecting your availability to solve real problems during working hours, and you are concerned that it will affect the quality of support you can offer? Don't look like the bad guy who doesn't want to help; look like the good guy who is concerned about making sure he continues to do a top notch job. This might just make a motivating factor to get the IT guy restricted to IT call-outs, and use someone without your specific skills to do non-IT, alarm-related call-outs.

 

[FredWagner]

Answering the phone for company business = 15 minutes at your regular pay rate. Going into the office to investigate and clear the alarm should = 1 hour overtime or two hours regular pay. Notify HR, and get these on your timesheet. If other people learn that they can get paid for answering the alarm calls, perhaps they'll volunteer.
the other suggested solution, a dedicated cell phone, rotated among people who pull the duty, with no excuses for not answering it, might be cheaper for the company. But you should NOT get the calls all the time.

Fred Wagner

 

[gbaughma]

It's annoying.

Until you have another break-in.

And that might be the call you refuse to answer.

As well as my normal job, I have a 24-hour answering service. I can't just refuse to answer a call, because I've already had 20 calls that night.

If it's causing you issues, then a rotation of the duties or some other plan should be discussed with management/HR.

As an IT person, I used to get upset because if the maintenance people were on call, they got a bump in their pay for being on call. I was the lone IT person, and was essentially on call 24/7, and never got a "bump".

Then I realized, I also made twice what the maintenance guys did....



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Thadeus]

It's annoying.

Until you have another break-in.

And that might be the call you refuse to answer.

I would say that it doesn't matter whether there is ever a break in or he answers or doesn't; It's still annoying and still not his problem... Companies in need of round the clock security can pay for round the clock security. As I mentioned above it's a business expense that needs to be balanced to it's benefit. The business will not account for the expense so long as it remains a non-monetized event.

In your situation with your answering service you have obviously balanced what you get out of running this business to the expenses you incur. You've deduced that if you (as a business owner) refuse to answer calls you face a possible loss of income for that call, that customer's calls and maybe additional customer's business as well. You've also committed to answering the phone by the nature of the business. The OP's business is getting the benefit but expecting him to bear the expense. If they feel that he is already compensated for hours outside of the normal work week, then the duty should be added to his job description and he can evaluate the job in light of the duties expected.

Just my opinions of course.
~Thadeus







~thadeus

 

[SQLSister]

I had a job where "other duties as assigned" added the job of facility manager to my plate. I got these calls and was required to go in to investigate every time. If you've only had 6 in 6 months you are doing well, I had several a week as we had a motion sensor that would go off if the air conditioning kicked in and someone had a left a balloon or something else that would move as the air moved in their cube.

By no means should you refuse to answeer the phone. What you shoud do is go to your boss and talk to him about who should be answering the phone, rotating who has to answer it when, so that no one person is on call 24/7 and extra compensation for answering the calls. If they won't give you that then consider if it is time to move on. I know I personally will never take another job with facilty manager as an "extra" duty.

"NOTHING is more important in a database than integrity." ESquared

 

[Noway2]

Yes, the infamous "other duties as assigned". They use that statement where I work now to force office employees to do things like manufacturing inventory. Fortunately there are legal limits to what that statement can be used for. Holding an employer accountable to those limits is another story and often times is not worth the effort. For example, it is illegal for an employer to assign a duty to a salaried worker that would normally be performed by an hourly worker for the purpose of avoiding paying overtime. This is what happens during the inventories. The salaried workers are required to put in a couple of 12 hour days in addition to the remainder of the 'normal' work week. The process (early?) and the hourly employees are sent home so that they don't incur overtime expenses while some of the salaried employees are made to finalize everything.

In this instance, it sounds as if this is an extra-curricular duty that was thrust upon him after the fact. When the position was negotiated, it was not part of the original job description. As such, there should be no (reasonable) expectation to fulfill this extra duty, at least on a continual basis.

The evidence indicates that it was the intent that other individuals also partake in this responsibility and they are shirking it. It sounds to me like this really must be taken to company management, and / or HR. The OP should document how he has fulfilled this role and state as quantitatively as possible the disruption that it has caused and approach them from the standpoint that a more equitable solution needs to be found because the present arrangement is not working for him.

 

[Mountainbear]

It sounds like others need to take a turn answering, and you need to be fairly compensated. Unless you own the company you cannot be expected to be on call 24/7 all the time unless you are paid nicely for it OR you are trying to climb to the top of the organization.
I think you need to have a talk with your manager, and at least have a new training session with everyone to remind them of the importance of not setting off the alarm.

If none of this works you could try:
Call the boss at 3am on a Saturday "I can't get a hold of anyone and the alarm just went off, I'm out of town do you want to pay me the 5 hours drive to go in?"

I like telling them to call the cops, your boss will eventually get a bill for that.

As suggested you may need to find a hobby that involves "cell phone free areas" (theater, swimming,)

Depending how well you like the company be creative.

I would personally start with the most reasonable solution since you need to work with these people.

 

[kmcferrin]

It's annoying.

Until you have another break-in.

And that might be the call you refuse to answer.

It seems to me that if there actually is a break-in that you DON'T want to be there. Let the police sort it out.

At any rate, you used weasel words in your statements, i.e.,

I don't think I am the only contact for the alarm company. I also believe that other people are ahead of me on the list

Step one, find out if you are the only contact.
Step two, find out if you are further down the list than other people. If both of your beliefs are true then you need to document every instance that you get called in and ask for compensation. You should also submit that list to your boss and have the alarm monitoring company send him a list of all of the call-outs that they made so that he can see that other people who are ahead of you on the list are not responding.

If they are unable to get your coworkers to pick up the slack then I would recommend developing a hearing impairment. After the police have been dispatched a few times then management will get the message.

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[lionelhill]

Variation on the dedicated-mobile-and-rota scheme. How about the mobile is passed on to whoever set the alarm off, and they are obliged to answer the wretched thing until another miscreant sets the alarm off?