Case Study
Company: Safe Side Security Industry: Security and Investigations Website: https://safeside.com/
Established in Davis, California in 1983. For over 35 years, we have provided design, installation, monitoring, and servicing of security systems. We are the “local” company serving Yolo, Sacramento, Placer, Solano Counties, and the surrounding areas. As active members in the Sacramento Area Alarm Association and the California Alarm Association, we continue to work with our fire departments and law enforcement agencies on local and national industry issues.
We take pride in providing each customer with a professionally installed, user-friendly system tailored to fit their needs. Service is a high priority, with technicians on call 24 hours a day. Our systems are monitored by our U.L. central station located in Sacramento, California.
Safe Side Security recently adopted FieldHub, an innovative cloud-based software uniquely designed for the security industry, to automate and streamline operations and accounting.
Their migration process included a scripted data import of 10+ years of accounting, customer, and resourcing data from their legacy software, bolstered by excellent support and responsiveness from the FieldHub staff.
The new platform offers seamless integrations and has significantly improved Safe Side’s day-to-day workflow and efficiency.
Safe Side Security, a California-based company that offers design, installation, monitoring, and servicing of security systems, with 40 years of experience, needed something new.
Safe Side was using outdated legacy operations and accounting software that had not been significantly updated in many years, which led to ongoing issues and gaps in service. It also required a major investment in IT infrastructure to support the requirements of the software. Before making the investment, Safe Side decided to explore their options.
Safe Side’s requirements for new software included:
After an extensive review of available products and on recommendation of trusted partners, FieldHub was identified as the solution to best meet their needs. The cloud-based, modern software is feature-rich and designed for security integrators by people who know the industry. It offers excellent workflow and automation, including field service management, recurring billing automation and recognition, and reporting. FieldHub’s import scripts streamlined the move from their legacy software, seamlessly bringing over customer and systems history.
Introducing all-in-one operations software to an existing business means changes to processes and workflows for teams throughout the business. The process needs to be managed effectively and delicately for both a smooth migration and to get the most out of the software, without impact on any customers or vendors.
The team at FieldHub supported Safe Side throughout the procurement, pilot, training, data migration and go-live processes. It was a smooth transition from legacy software, keeping the integrity of 10+ years of accounting, customer, and resourcing data.
FieldHub used a scripted import process to bring the data across efficiently. This involved:
Laura and the FieldHub implementation team are fantastic. They have been responsive to our needs throughout the process. Any issues or challenges we had were addressed with a quick Zoom call and they were patient in supporting us through the transition" –Jon Klosinski, General Manager
FieldHub’s API offers seamless integrations, and support for add-on products with the ability to link invoices to payment tools.
Benefit: faster sales proposals with customer details mapped to jobs
This meant that Safe Side could keep their existing configure, price, quote (CPQ) software using a streamlined integration with FieldHub. Sales proposals are built effortlessly, saving time and removing duplicate data entry.
For each proposal, relevant customer information flows back to be available in FieldHub and into the automated workflows that the software offers.
My day-to-day workflow has improved. Some daily processes used to take five or ten minutes and are now nearly instant. — Klosinski
Benefit: Opportunity to get competitive pricing on credit card and ACH payment processors
Safe Side had the option to retain their existing credit card and ACH payment processor but chose to move to a new processor for better pricing and service. FieldHub offers a number of merchant service options available to Customers.
Enabling significant cost savings
Safe Side estimates their savings were around $10,000 from day one, and another $10,000 in savings per year, by moving to FieldHub. Jon Klosinski (General Manager, Safe Side) noted that, “switching to FieldHub saved us significantly from day one because we did not need to maintain servers and software licenses."
Improving remote functionality
FieldHub also enabled Safe Side’s field team to do more of their tasks remotely, as the system is designed for all devices with a web browser. This was a big leap forward from their previous client server software, as their field and back office teams were previously required to use cumbersome 3rd party VPN applications and remote desktop in some field locations.
The remote functionality also allowed for real-time tracking of the movement and installation of job material, which is reflected in the installation and service records of each customer or business.
Automating and Streamlining Invoicing & Accounting
Billing automation was an important requirement that Safe Side had specified, and FieldHub is pleased to offer it. “This is an automated feature of FieldHub that is always invoicing, always collecting” - Miles Fawcett, FieldHub CEO
Closing the gaps in functionality
Safe Side’s team acknowledges they no longer need to perform work-arounds due to the gaps in the legacy software they were using. “[FieldHub] fixed many of the issues we have with our legacy software. It is really impressive” - Klosinski.
The software is highly supported and FieldHub listens to their customers. This results in frequent releases (at least monthly) to improve features and continually provide value. “Feature updates are driven by customer feedback, so we’re very responsive to the requests from our customers” - Fawcett
Safe Side was looking for a comprehensive solution to enhance their operations. FieldHub was integrated smoothly into their business with a scripted migration and full support, and delivered over and above expectations. It improved Safe Side’s day-to-day workflow and efficiency, along with cost savings.
FieldHub’s modern and comprehensive software for accounting and operations has helped us to streamline. The team has supported us at every step, and our operations are already benefiting.", Jessica Saar Klosinski, Vice President Safe Side Security Inc.
Built by experts in security installation systems who were looking for a better way to do business, FieldHub is specifically designed for businesses like Safe Side Security.
FieldHub is an all-in-one cloud accounting and ERP system, uniquely designed for business operations of field service and security system installers. It provides a single system to manage leads and proposals; manage projects and field service operations; track inventory; and automate recurring and deferred revenue management.
A case study in how Controllor Security Systems streamlined operational efficiency using FieldHub
