Employee Spotlight: Maria Chicas & Jeffrey Dickey

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

 

Peninsula Security is part of the Post Alarm family, combining a trusted local name with the experience, resources, and advanced technology of Post Alarm. This month, we have two employees to spotlight: Maria Chicas, Office Manager, and Jeffrey Dickey, Customer Service Representative. Both support operations across departments at Peninsula Security. 

 

Read on to learn about each of their roles, how they work together, the most rewarding parts of their jobs, and more.

How long have you each worked for Peninsula Security? 

Maria: I came on board November 2020. So it’s been almost six years.

 

Jeffrey: And I started in March 2021, so just over five years. 

What does a day in your work life look like? 

Maria: My main focus is making sure that the technicians and anyone who has something to do in the morning gets ready, gets their things, and gets going, just to keep things efficient. Throughout the day, I mostly handle closing out our installation paperwork, getting things ready on that end. Anything in relation to parts ordering or the warehouse, that’s something I would handle. That’s my day-to-day for the most part. Once in a while I’ll have client conversations, whether that’s a follow-up or they’ve requested some sort of management, then that’s where I would step in. But it’s mostly just making sure that everyone is on track for the day and is efficiently doing the things they need to be doing. 

 

Jeffrey: And I’m more on the customer service side of things. On the day-to-day basis, like Maria said, it can vary a lot because we wear a lot of hats here. I’m more of a jack of all trades. Because clients have requests about billing, or they need service, technical support, I kinda do it all. Help Maria fill in gaps where she needs assistance, and vice versa. We both kind of do all of the things. 

What led you to a career in security and public safety?

Maria: It’s actually kind of funny, because I think our starts are pretty similar. We both have had customer service-facing roles, I think, for the majority of our time working, but we both came from a central monitoring facility. So previously, with Peninsula, we used to do all of our accounts through the national monitoring center, and so we worked there as alarm agents, where we would be kind of on the other end of a situation. We’d be dispatching as needed. For me, that led to kind of having the insight to be able to move to Peninsula once I saw it was local and closer to me. It was kind of right in the same vein of everything, but it was more convenient. 

I did take on the role at a time where the company was transitioning a lot of the internal staff, and so I brought Jeffrey on board kind of with the same idea. He came from that same background, and it was easy to get everything going for him. 

 

Jeffrey: No, pretty similar. Like she said, we worked in the security field before we came here, and she brought me on because I had experience, so it was an easy to transition.

What is one thing that you think most people don’t realize about home security services?

Maria: There’s a lot of moving parts that go into the system. It’s not a one-for-all sort of situation where one system is gonna be compatible with everyone’s needs. And so there is a lot of background I think they maybe don’t realize. You know, the good thing here at Post is that a lot of those moving parts, our locally owned and operated monitoring facility, the installation team, the sales team that goes to kind of make that custom work—it’s all here. We’re able to keep it all in-house, and that’s super convenient. 

 

I don’t think that a lot of times, especially with alarms in general, people realize there are a lot of things that go into it. It’s not gonna be as simple as, “let me just put in this one system that I know is gonna work for everyone.” It’s a very custom situation, and I think that’s something that we do very well and that we like to focus on for clients. 

 

Jeffrey: What I would say is, ideally, you get an alarm system and never have to use it. But just having an alarm system, even just statistically speaking, makes the likelihood of somebody breaking into your home a lot smaller. Having something visible protecting your home is a very large deterrent for burglars. So I think even just going as far as to get something installed that you never have to use is a great step to protecting your property and your family.

What’s been your most rewarding moment on the job? What do you enjoy most about working at Peninsula Security? 

Maria: In terms of rewarding, I think that there have been situations where I feel like we’ve made a substantial difference, and I appreciate that. We’ve had situations where people call us because they’ve been burglarized. Being able to give the reassurance, whether that’s with a quick installation… We do a lot of the ins and outs to get them to that point. So we take the sales leads, we do the preparation for the walk-through, the appointment. We see it through all the way so that the client we know is now protected. To me, that’s rewarding. 

 

In terms of working here, we’ve gotten to know each other, and this stands for Peninsula, as well as once we joined the Post Alarm family. We’ve gotten to know the staff very well. It’s a very family-oriented business, and so being able to know everyone on a personal level and coming to work and not only seeing it as my job. There’s a personal connection with everyone, where I can feel comfortable calling everyone. I do think that the support that I’m getting from all the different departments is something that I appreciate from Peninsula with [Jeff], and then Post as a whole with everyone as well. 

 

Jeffrey: To add to what she said, having been able to get to know the Post family and other people that work at Post Alarm over the last few years, they’re all very kind people. They treat not only us and other employees specifically like family; I know that that extends out to the customers as well. So they protect everyone else’s lives and homes as if they were their own family members, and I take a lot of pride in knowing that I’m a part of something like that, and I’m able to protect people with even just a security system and help protect all these people on a day-to-day basis.

What do you enjoy when you’re not working? 

Maria: I just started recently trying to run a little bit more. My journey is not where I need it to be, but it’s something that I’m hoping to slowly enjoy more. So adding activity to my day-to-day life. I don’t necessarily like to just not do anything. I do like just going out to dinners here and there, concerts here and there. I like having things to do all the time.

 

Jeffrey: I’m more of a gamer myself, so I like playing games in my off time. And when I’m not playing games, I love cuddling with my kitties. They’re like my children.