As Summit celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding, the company is also hailing the launch of its brand new, state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC).
The SOC’s primary purpose is to keep communication open among Summit security officers, operational locations and clients. SOC operators make sure that every post is covered with a security officer who has the right training, right equipment and right uniform to meet the client’s specific needs.
The new SOC is located at Summit’s corporate headquarters in Uniondale, New York, in a secure facility with complete power and data backup capabilities. All client data that passes through the SOC is stored securely off site and backed up in the Cloud. Its opening completes a transition that began last year when the company relocated the SOC from Manhattan to its Long Island Regional Office in Melville as construction on the new Uniondale site was completed. The updated SOC commenced operation in August.
Moving the SOC to Summit’s corporate office was part of the company’s on-going commitment to improving customer service. “By locating the SOC at our corporate headquarters, we give SOC operators immediate access to every department that would need to be consulted in an emergency and direct access to executive management, if and as needed,” explains Co-President Robert L. Auletta.
“We believe that a company is only as good as its local operation,” adds Co-President Nicholas M. Auletta. “Many large contract security services providers have SOCs located hundreds of miles away or in a different state. Summit’s SOC is staffed with local people who know the Tristate area, know our actual client sites and have the local resources at their fingertips to respond to any request or emergency.” That means that if a client calls Summit at 2 a.m. with an urgent request for more security officers, the SOC can line up the personnel and send them right away.
Incorporating a range of new technologies, the upgraded SOC provides the means for real-time scheduling, deployment, and management of Summit security personnel operating across the New York City metro area, New York Capital District, New Jersey, and Connecticut regions. SOC operators are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, available to both Summit employees and Summit clients, answering questions, arranging personnel schedules and responding to requests. Even on holidays and after normal work hours, there is always a full team working at the SOC to ensure that all security posts are staffed, that emergencies are handled quickly and appropriately, and that all needed notifications are made.
SOC operators can view—in real time—when security officers sign-in at all posts, using software that tracks every post and security officer assigned. By automating the sign-in process through Summit’s online scheduling system, on-post monitoring system and telephonic/biometric post clock-in systems, the new SOC eliminates the redundancy that existed as a result of the use of paper sign-in sheets, while improving efficiency, eliminating response time lag, and improving accuracy. The SOC’s responsiveness is further boosted by Summit’s innovative SummitFAST mobile force management and incident reporting technology.
Every day, SOC operators communicate with security officers in the field, providing operational support when needed. Summit’s commitment to treating employees with respect and courtesy—one of the company’s founding philosophies—is underscored by Summit’s inclusion in the 2016 Forbes list of America’s Best Midsized Employers. The Forbes list was compiled from an independent survey of 30,000 U.S. based workers who were asked to rate their employers. Summit was ranked #164 on a list of 250 companies that includes such prominent names as Yelp, The Container Store, Boston College, ESPN, Princeton University, Marathon Oil, the CIT Group, LL Bean and Aflac.
As Summit celebrates its 40th anniversary, the company continues to explore new and innovative ways to improve the level of service it provides to clients. Summit’s continuing focus on client service and employee responsiveness remain central elements of its strategic plan resulting in more satisfied clients and a decisive competitive edge.
