Security Journal Americas hears from top executives at Speco Technologies about the company’s recent growth and its plans for continued expansion.

Can you tell me a bit about yourselves and your roles at Speco?

Rhonda Mutterperl (RM): I’m one of the principal owners and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Speco Technologies. I oversee all the financial operations, strategies and analyses to ensure that we can support all our goals.

Corey Mutterperl (CM): I’m the Vice President of Operations at Speco and one of the principal owners along with Todd, Brett and Rhonda. My responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day at Speco, making sure we have all the correct processes and proper procedures in place to help us run as efficiently and effectively as possible. I also oversee several other departments and identify key performance indicators to make sure that every department is running optimally.

Brett Keller (BK): I work on the business development side of things, working with our sales reps and listening to feedback from the customers themselves to ensure that the products we deliver to market are the best they can be. I translate this into our product roadmap, so that we can continue to develop even better solutions.

Todd Keller (TK): I’m the President of Speco Technologies. As such, my role is deeply involved in both the strategic and operational aspects of running our business. In addition to setting the overall direction of the company, I am responsible for developing product strategy, guiding our executive team, fostering strategic relationships and ensuring Speco continues to build high-quality, innovative technology and deliver exceptional customer service. 

What are some of the core values driving Speco Technologies?

RM: Speco was my father’s business. He passed away last year, but this company will always be a part of our DNA. We don’t consider this just business, it’s how we were raised and my dad was all about family. He extended that to his employees and customers, and he always tried to be very accommodating. Our family has extended itself into this business and that’s how we try to run it.

CM: Another aspect that really defines Speco is doing the right thing; Brett and I are now third-generation family members in the business, and not only do we stand behind our products but we stand behind our employees and customers as well. We consider them like extended family members, and we’re proud to continue to build on my grandfather’s legacy.

BK: I would add that passion is really what motivates us. There are many challenges that the security industry is facing in the US at the moment, so we want to create solutions that make a real difference and impact to people’s lives. In today’s day and age, more so now than ever, we need innovation and technology for the greater good, and that’s what we aim to deliver.

TK: The values that we bring as a family business, we extend to our customers and that is such a crucial component to the successes of what we do. There are times when we innovate and create different solutions and when we pioneer things, sometimes the receptiveness of the audience is a little bit different. Our father really promoted the importance of all of us working together and we take a lot of pride in being one of the last of the family-owned businesses. If a customer has one of our solutions and it doesn’t meet or exceed their expectations, our responsibility as a business is to apologize for their issues and replace it as soon as possible.

Speco Technologies has recently entered a new era of expansion. What are the company’s plans to continue this growth?

RM: We want to prevent crime, so we are integrating with central stations for video verification, as well as moving forward with our cloud managed services and recurring monthly revenue ideas.

CM: Brett and I, being the third generation, bring a new perspective and fresh ideas to the table. We have invested heavily in software as a solution and it has been transforming the way we and our customers are doing business. We have a clear vision and path to get there.

BK: We are making a lot of investment into the personnel, technology and reputation of Speco. We are a 60 year-old company, so we need to make sure that we maintain our legacy of quality offerings, while also being seen as an innovator in the security industry. We are extremely optimistic and looking forward to working with our customers to form a very exciting future for the company. We are very optimistic about this new phase.

TK: The next wave we will see in the industry will be connected technologies. All of the things that we create, with what we refer to as our dashboard and notifications, will be integrated with every one of our devices. In the event that someone at a school, as an example of one of the verticals we service, decides to knock off a camera in order to back later in the day with a gun, then a notification would be sent to security teams as soon as the camera was disrupted, helping to prevent the security threat later down the line. Equally, if there was an unauthorized person walking around the schools after hours, this would also trigger a notification, allowing this person to be intercepted.

Is there anything our readers should look out for in terms of announcements from Speco?

TK: I would highlight audio analytics. The ability to have two-way communication, to understand exactly what’s happening from somewhere else is essential. The next step is to utilize AI and technologies like facial recognition to actually prevent security incidents from occurring in the first place.

CM: We don’t just want to be a witness to crime, but deter and prevent it. When advanced analytics can trigger an audio message to tell someone that they are under surveillance, this goes a long way in helping to prevent a crime from occurring.

BK: Right now, jurisdictions and municipalities are getting inundated with signals from their local precincts, prompting them for a response or reaction. The sheer number of incidents requiring a response highlights the need for a deterrent that removes the need for law enforcement to get involved, freeing up their time to head to other incidents.

RM: We work really hard on educating our customers and we have a whole team of trainers that will go to your place of business, to help train your customers and customers’ customers. People need to know about the solutions that are out there and how to properly utilize them, to make full use of what they have.

Thinking more broadly, what is a conversation that the security industry should be having right now?

TK: In my opinion, the industry should be talking about deterrent-based solutions. Having the ability to stop security threats in their tracks and taking advantage of all the advancements in technology can help businesses to actively prevent injury, losses and damage. The reality is the advancements are game-changing and people need to know about them.

BK: I think the central station business model is really being enhanced with the use of analytics, and we’re reinventing the way security cameras are used. We can use virtual guarding services in verticals that people would not typically assume this technology would be used in and reimagining the way cameras are being deployed. We’re minimizing false alarms, improving response times and giving the customer a better overall solution.

CM: We’re so excited to be at the forefront of this new wave of alarm verification with AVS-01, providing central stations with a way to prioritize incidents and reduce false alarms.

RM: I agree – integrating technologies like video verification into the wider central station is the most important thing to talk about going forward.