BAY ALARM COMPANY
BY: MIMI WESTPHAL
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Each year Bay Alarm Company holds an annual awards ceremony called The Global Awards that recognizes the year's top performers. Ever since I can remember, I have started these ceremonies with the pledge of allegiance or by talking about the company's philanthropic efforts. I have since considered this family business a part of my cultural identity. My great-grandfather, Everett Westphal started Bay Alarm in 1946. It has been handed down to my grandfather, Roger Westphal, and now to my dad, Tim Westphal. My siblings and I are part of the fourth generation. Growing up around it, I have familiarized myself with the company very well. But, I first learned about it while attending board meetings and retreats in various locations. There, I learned about the values, goals, history, and missions of the company. I got to do beach cleanups and teamwork activities that helped build strong relationships with my extended family early on. I can't wait to see Bay Alarm continue to grow, hopefully under the leadership of the fourth generation.
Bayalarm.com
Everett Westphal and his wife. Bayalarm.com
THE NARRIATIVE
THE NARRIATIVE
Everett Westphal learned about the security business when he was an accountant for U.S. Burglar Alarm. When WWII ended, people all over the US were starting businesses. Everett took it upon himself to start what is now known as Bay Alarm in his garage in Oakland.
Alarm systems used to operate with sensors that when the circuit was broken, an electrical charge would signal a bell to ring. You were supposed to rely on your neighbors to call law enforcement when they heard the bell. In those early days of alarm technology, Bay Alarm partnered with the top alarm manufacturers in the country to provide the highest quality products for their customers. The new and upcoming company then pioneered central station technology where the alarms were monitored through computer systems. This provided great value to the customers and sparked major growth in the alarm industry. Bay Alarm soon grew throughout the Bay Area under Roger Westphal’s leadership and later, grew throughout the West when my dad, Tim Westphal, became the CEO. As technology developed, central stations monitored the accounts from greater distances, and computer systems were able to hold more and more accounts.
COMPARING TECHNOLOGY OVER THE YEARS
COMPARING TECHNOLOGY OVER THE YEARS
Bay Alarm tells a story of pride, commitment, passion, devotion, and more for almost eighty years. Spanning decades, the company has been at the forefront of technology. From Everett Westphal’s garage solely working with a typewriter to type all of the invoices, all of the way to the first computerized central monitoring system with cloud-based video review. Starting in the 1950’s the family-run business was small and had one goal, to protect the city of Oakland. Marj Westphal, Everett’s wife, explains how the company worked initially: “‘...The office equipment consisted of one rented typewriter…Everett and I walked to the corner mailbox feeling really good; we were now in business.’” Fast forward forty years and the company is now an established and booming company taking over the West Coast. In the 1960s Bay Alarm built the first fully computerized central monitoring system. CCTV cameras in the 1960s could only record footage. Therefore, they needed to be monitored around the clock. However, the Bay Alarm Company website reads, “With the advent of video cassettes in 1969 and VCRs in 1971, users could finally record remote surveillance for the first time for later viewing, and video surveillance went mainstream.” As technology advanced, so did Bay Alarm. By the early 2010s, 40 years later, not only have Bay Alarm allowed customers access to view video footage 24/7 out of the palm of their hands using cloud-based video monitoring, but they also proactively prevent crime before it even begins. By sending footage to the cloud and having surveillance monitoring agents review the footage. In the corporate monitoring headquarters, certain areas or places that are triggered can be seen and whether to dispatch the police or not is determined. Leadership and technology have changed immensely over the years and product development has always been a key part of competition in the marketplace. Video monitoring is the latest product improvement and the future of the business involves video monitoring.
Bayalarm.com
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