FIDELITY ADT
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FIDELITY ADT
Global Player With Local Knowledge PRODUCTION: David Napier
Fidelity ADT is using all the assets at its disposal to ensure that its customers realise that they are dealing with the biggest and best in the business. Since completing the deal which bought Fidelity and ADT together in 2017, this specialist security provider has been planning its future strategy to secure the lives and property of our valued customers. “Fidelity ADT is better placed than ever to do this,” says Fidelity Security Group’s CEO, Wahl Bartmann. www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
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“As South Africa’s largest security provider, we proudly shoulder the responsibility of keeping more people safe than any other company in the country,” says Fidelity ADT. The company, formed just last year following the R2bn acquisition of ADT by the Fidelity Group, is now responsible for more than 350,000 residential and commercial customers. To explain how the company has grown to achieve such success, National Sales and Marketing Executive, Rob Dale, talks to Enterprise Africa and says that people development is a big focus. We ask whether this sizeable company (with more than 56,000 employees) has genuine opportunities for staff to
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further themselves. “Fidelity ADT has numerous examples of employees who have
started their careers on the front-line (as armed response officers) and after their studies and hard work, they now
INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
// THE NEW ENTITY, FIDELITY ADT, IS 54.62 % BLACK-OWNED AND 100% SOUTH AFRICAN // work as line managers or heads of departments,” he says. “The Fidelity Security Group has an extensive learnership and development program. Whenever vacancies occur, the Group prefers to look for possible in-house candidates before looking for external candidates. “We continue to grow headcount
in line with additional contracts. The company has a number of long-standing technical learnership programs which has proven very successful.” Fidelity ADT’s recruitment process is rigorous. The company looks to bring the best of the best as it is conscious that its people
are the ones that deliver for clients. Psychoanalysis testing and background security checking are all part of the process for the Fidelity ADT HR team, and after gaining employment, the company’s people remain part of a training programme that continues indefinitely. It is this focus on people that makes Fidelity ADT a ‘global player with local knowledge’. Following the completion of the deal between Fidelity and ADT, Wahl
// Fidelity ADT integrates voice and contact center services with Unify In 2017 Fidelity ADT initiated a moved from the Marlboro campus which they had occupied for many years to the current campus located in Midrand. This provided Fidelity ADT with the opportunity to build and voice and Contact Centre solution which placed focus on delivering a world class system ensuring that ADT customers receive the level of customer satisfaction which would cement Fidelity ADT as the leading armed response company in South Africa. As the current service provider to ADT, Nashua Communications (Pty) Ltd was tasked with building a world Class High Availability solution ensuring that the customer and monitoring call centre’s remained available 24hours a day and 7 days a week. The Task • Migrate the telecommunications infrastructure of the Fidelity ADT Gauteng environment to a highly redundant voice with contact centre solution in Midrand that can be expanded and evolve to meet new operational or business requirements. • Modernize the Contact Center platform to support enhanced efficiency, operational flexibility and improved customer service. The Solution • Duplex OpenScape 4000’s with 990 users and back up routing for the Contact Centre. • OpenScape Contact Center Enterprise for 231 agents plus OpenScape Contact Center Voice Portal (IVR) with 32 channels. • Mediant 2600 redundant SBC’s (Session Border Controller) • Redundant Libra SIP Voice Recorder systems for 390 channels each. • The Libra Voice Recorder solution includes a Nexus and Qnique quality assurance solution. • Professional Services and Project Management. • 790 IP OpenScape Desk Phone 35G telephones, 200 OpenStage 40 G HFA telephones for the operators’ desks. • 2 OpenScape Biz X8’s as redundant interface’s to customer alarm panels. • Proteus Telephone Management System • Nashua Communications Integration service. The Benefits • Integrated networked communications services and business applications have transformed working life for Fidelity staff and enabled truly flexible working. • Migration to a single and highly resilient communications platform has delivered annualized savings. • Utilizing OpenScape Contact Centre, Fidelity ADT has introduced innovative new response and assistance services for consumers. • The new unified IP telephony, communication and collaboration environment can be centrally managed and is fully extensible.
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FIDELITY ADT
// WHERE MANY SECURITY COMPANIES ONLY RESPOND TO CRIME INCIDENTS, FIDELITY WORKS TO PROACTIVELY MITIGATE CRIME IN THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH IT OPERATES, AND THAT IS A VERY STRONG PROPOSITION FOR CUSTOMERS // Bartmann, Fidelity Security Group’s CEO said that the company was now perfectly positioned to offer worldclass services to its customers. “Where many security companies only respond to crime incidents, Fidelity works to proactively mitigate crime in the communities in which it operates, and that is a very strong proposition for customers. Fidelity’s airborne helicopter support unit, as well as its canine unit, will provide extra levels of support to our teams while in the field, and allow for the provision of services in higher risk areas.”
ACQUISITION The move which sparked previous ADT owner, NYSE-listed Tyco, to sell off its South African operation began in 2014 when the South African government backed a law that would see all private security firms at least 51% locally owned. While the law is still awaiting approval, some major firms have claimed it sends the wrong message to international investors. However, Fidelity ADT is now a fully-fledged South African organisation and has its sights set on further growth.
“Fidelity Security Group finalised the acquisition of ADT from Tyco (now Johnson Controls) in March 2017 after receiving regulatory approval for the transaction from the Competition Tribunal. The new entity, Fidelity ADT, is 54.62 % blackowned and 100% South African,” says Dale. “The acquisition covers all of ADT’s residential and commercial services as well as its Kusela guarding business. The Fidelity Security Group is celebrating its 61st anniversary this year and the company, which began as a Cash Solutions Service, has
Nashua Communications manages, operates and installs next generation collaboration solution to deliver a host of voice, video, data and hosted services to its customers
www.nashua-communications.com www.enterprise-africa.net / 7
INDUSTRY FOCUS: SECURITY
// IT IS A GIVEN THAT OUR VISIBILITY, RESPONSE TIMES AND TECHNOLOGY NEED TO BE IN PLACE BUT IT IS THE VALUE ADDS AND THE HUMAN CONNECTIONS THAT ACT AS DIFFERENTIATORS // evolved over the years to become a front-runner in the market. Coupled with ADT’s armed response expertise and security technology solutions in residential and commercial markets, the acquisition has perfectly positioned the business for growth in the local market.” And its success and dominance has been documented following positivity with regional accolades. At the end of 2017, Fidelity ADT was named as the winner in the Security and Armed Response category at
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the 2017/18 Ask Afrika Orange Index Awards. Rob Dale puts this success down to the company’s people. “In our security category, connections and trust are key and that comes from the various touch points customers have with our business. It is a given that our visibility, response times and technology need to be in place but it is the value adds and the human connections that act as differentiators. It is the daily connections our reaction officers have with customers or the
interactions our customers have with our monitoring centres and call centres that impact significantly on customer service ratings,” he says. “In our business our product is defined by the quality of our people, so a lot of attention is centred around both theoretical and practical training. We work in a highly regulated industry with stringent control mechanisms. “This is the second successive time Fidelity ADT has come out tops in the security category. We are definitely not resting on our laurels though and will continue to look at ways to continually enhance our survey offering. With crime patterns shifting constantly, operating in isolation is not an option. Information sharing has become a necessity between residents, the SAPS, community
FIDELITY ADT
associations and other relevant parties enhancing the need for more robust personal connections and a highly proactive approach to crime.” FUTURE PROOFING Currently, South Africa’s employment figures paint a bleak picture. Almost 27% of the country’s 55.7 million people remain unemployed. Of course, this holds back economic development, but it also deepens the threat of individuals turning to crime. But since January, positivity has been injected in the nation following the appointment of Cyril Ramaphosa as South Africa’s President. “The change in leadership in the highest office of the land has the potential to ignite economic growth, spur investor confidence and create much-needed jobs in the country. Fidelity ADT is hopeful that our politicians and leaders in government will act decisively against corruption, mismanagement at state-owned enterprises and do what is needed to get South Africa back on track,” says Dale.
CEO Fidelity Security Group - Wahl Bartmann
Proud suppliers to Fidelity Security Group
Providing technology solutions for just about any security communication. Tel: +27 11 452 1471/2 www.radiodata.co.za
As well as looking to the government to help revitalise economic growth, Fidelity ADT is also taking matters into its own hands, investing in various expansion strategies. Of course, it continues to effectively grow and nurture its large staff base, but it is also looking at further acquisitive activity, more geographic expansion in South Africa, and more work in the digital/ tech space. “The new entity aims to position itself as a leader in providing customers with an end-to-end solution from the individual in the residential space all the way to corporate asset protection. There are exciting new developments in the pipeline,” details Dale. “The Fidelity Security Group has been successful with the National
tender for FNB, and the addition of a substantial national footprint of armed response and technical service support have been instrumental in the Group’s ability to offer end-to-end security solutions to partners.” He concludes by saying that the company is certainly on a growth path and will continue to invest in its future, and in the future of South Africa. This is business that is committed to delivering on its promise: ‘With ADT protecting your home or business, you can rest assured that your security is taken care of’.
WWW.ADT.CO.ZA
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