Employee Spotlight: Alicia Garcia

At Post Alarm, we’ve provided protection for local communities for more than 60 years. And with that experience comes the knowledge that a security system is only as good as the people our customers trust to monitor it. We take that trust very seriously.

 

We believe our people make Post Alarm special, and it’s our pleasure to shine a light on the motivated, intelligent, compassionate team members who make up the Post Alarm Family and provide the best possible protection to our clients.

 

Our June Employee Spotlight is Alicia Garcia, Central Station Manager. Alicia has been with Post Alarm for nearly 39 years. In her role, she oversees Post’s central monitoring station, trains operators, ensures all shifts are covered, and encourages her team to do their best work. Learn more about her story below!

How long have you worked for Post Alarm? 

It’ll be 39 years in November. I got hired when I was 21 years old. I started off at the Pasadena branch on Arroyo with the parents when they were running the business. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in security and public safety? 

I always wanted to be a police dispatcher. I wanted to get the experience working for the alarm company—dealing with customers, dispatching calls, getting the experience on the radio, phone calls, listening to the client, be their voice, be their security pillow, and be there to make them feel good and that we’re here for them. I was just interested in doing that. So I got all the experience when I was learning from the company, and I just liked what I did. I went to classes for dispatching, as well, and knew this is what I wanted to do.

What does your day-to-day look like as Central Station Manager?

I make sure that all the shifts are covered and the workload is being done correctly. I also train operators to come on board—spending time with them, explaining to them why we’re calling the client, why we’re receiving these types of signals, and so on. We get low batteries, power loss signals, and I explain how to handle the alarms, the panic alarms, medical alarms, fire alarms, low temperature alarms—everything that we deal with. 

 

I also make sure that their response time is very short and very efficient so they can handle the calls. Always act like it’s your family member’s alarm. How would you react? You would respond immediately. You’re not gonna sit there and just, oh, let that alarm sit up there, you know? You’re going to handle it right away because it’s a family member, so that’s always how we treat it. You see the alarm up there, grab it, pick it up, take care of it. Fast response, that’s my number one.

How does alarm monitoring compare to more basic security measures, like installing a security camera?

The difference is that when with our video monitoring, we look at the video. If we see something that is not right, we dispatch immediately. We’re on the phone with the police department, we’re letting them know the description, what’s going on, what’s happening, or even our patrol services. We dispatch them immediately to go out there. “Hey, there’s this guy out there dressed all in black, um, looking through the windows.” And we notify the agency that’s in that city also to let them know, “Hey, we have this person possibly trying to break into the home.” 

 

After we dispatch, we’ll give the client a call and let them know what’s happening to stay inside the home for their safety and that if they feel good, we can stay on the line with them until the police arrive or patrol arrives for help. And then we try to make them feel comfortable that we’re there. Without monitoring, the homeowners can see the activity on their phone, look at it, and then by the time they call the police, they have to wait on hold. Sometimes they don’t pick up immediately. We have that interaction that we have it right then and there live and that we’re on the phone with the police letting them know what’s happening. I always say monitoring the videos, the cameras, you get a faster reaction and faster response to get someone out there to help.

What’s something people don’t realize about home security services? 

I think a lot of customers sometimes feel like, “Oh, I don’t need an alarm system.” Sometimes we get some sales leads as well, and I’ll give them additional information: what we do, how we have a live operator here, we’re 24/7. It’s not a recording that you get; it’s a live person that you speak with. And we try our best to help you as fast as we can. 

 

Besides having a local system where it only rings at the property, no one’s gonna respond to it unless they or a neighbor calls the police and tells them that there’s a ringing alarm at this property. The police dispatchers are gonna probably say, “Okay, we’ll send somebody out there when we can.” But here, it’s monitored… they’ll respond quicker because we’ll let them know, “Hey, we have a front door going off, a motion detector, a front door going, a back door alarm going off.” So we have different detections that we let the police know, and it causes a faster response for them to go out there because that could be somebody breaking in or something’s going on that needs attention. So it’s a quicker response. 

 

The same thing as our patrol. We give them all the details, and they’re on their way out there to the property. And the difference is, between the patrol, we have communication that once they arrive, we have their arrival time, we have the better outcome of what’s going on, what they see, what’s the outcome, and we report that to the client, which they like because we tell them, “Hey, they found the open door. This is what’s going on. There was a dog on property,” et cetera. Compared to the police, who you have to call, and they just give you vague information. “Oh, the officer cleared it as a false alarm,” and that’s it. 

 

That’s why sometimes I suggest, “Hey, if our patrol does do the area, it’s better for you to get the armed response because you’ll get more detailed information from the operator compared to the police response.” 

 

So they think about that, and they go, “You know what? I never thought of it that way.” Then they can trial it, as well. Try our armed response and see if they like it. 

What’s been your most rewarding moment on the job?

I feel great doing the job, getting the job done, and making sure that my staff is good. The morale is high in there. When it’s dispatching day or some other event we always have little treats for our staff in our department. We’ll have luncheons. So I always try to appreciate them because they do a good job, we’re the heartbeat of the company. We do everything. I send out that appreciation to my staff and tell them we got this. We can do this, you guys, even when there are days that we have power outages or if it’s raining, the weather is hot, you know. But we get through it, and we handle it, and we take care of it. We take care of business. 

What do you enjoy most about working at Post Alarm?

They’re like my second family. I enjoy working, and I enjoy being here. I started here when Lois and Bill Post were running the company, and now it’s the kids, Rob and Gina. I really enjoy what I’m doing. 

What do you enjoy doing when you’re off duty?

I like hanging out with my family and my kids. We’re a close family, and I enjoy being with them. I like going out and dancing. I’m a Lakers fan and like going to basketball games and watching them on TV.