ADT CEO: My Daughters Better At Installs Than Most 20 Year Techs

Do women cook better than men? Can an apple be an orange? Whall is correct and incorrect depending on your perspective versus Whall's minds eye. If we lived to be 1000 years old why not say; "My 20 year old daughter installs a lot better than a 500 year tech". I would love the hear what that Babel fish in Whall's ear is not telling him. Another note is that the correct terminology is Technician, Specialist, Engineer with a preceding identifier such as Systems, Project and Applications. Show some humility Whall, I am quite sure your daughter is emotionally intelligent, we all are; however which method are you using to measure it?

One day she is an apple, the other day she is an orange but never both.

Now, back to those wireless residential installations with plug n play hardware. Is ADT actively training new "Emo Intellect-nicians" to do the future trade off in your residential sector and if they are how are you taking care of that 20 year veteran?

It is true that, thanks to wireless everything being far more reliable today, that you can lick-and-stick a small resi job and have it come out looking and working fine. 

It is also true that installers are the alarm company employees who the subscriber probably sees the most, and is in a lot of cases the person who teaches the subscriber how to use the alarm. It follows, then, that 'soft skills' and being a people person probably leaves the subscriber in a better position to use the alarm correctly with fewer false alarms due to user error. It also follows that friendly and communicative installers probably leads to more upsells and service contract agreements. 

But I feel that artistry is and always will be required for everything but the lowest end of the market. High security jobs, larger residential, and high end residential all require the installer to hide the wires and make the devices look good. Alarm companies charge real money for those jobs- they have to, if only to pay the techs. 

We're seeing the same trend in technology. The lowest end keeps getting better, affording access to security to those who previously couldn't afford it. But those with more complicated needs still have to get high end product, and that includes technicians with the skills to install it properly. 

I don't think he was insulting anybody. I think most are missing the point he is making by getting sucked into the PC rabbit hole of gender. ADT is facing the same problem many tech-sector companies face: the technical/physical install person is generally not suited to do customer service, and those suited for customer service are generally not particularly willing to climb ladders, drill holes and crawl through attics ( yes I stipulate there are exceptions). But now that the actual physical portion of the install is greatly diminished, that creates a problem - they are in effect sending the wrong person to the house.

So what he is really getting at is that the next generation of "installer" in the residential market will be more of a customer service/ PR rep than a technical/physical installation person. Whether that person is male or female is immaterial. 

He is conflating salesmanship with technical acumen. His argument is that homeowners are more demanding of their techs nowadays and want to feel empowered during and after the installation. In his opinion they need someone more into the "app" culture of it.  I get that but at the end of the day, you need to be a craftsman to do a proper security installation (unless you want the house to look like hell when you leave and you want to revisit the property every three months because one of you wireless sensors has lost connectivity.  Anyone can slap up large wireless sensors like ADT and leave the house in 3 hrs. We beat those guys every time by presenting this to our clients. Security needs to be in the background. Not a huge insecure ridiculous looking device like simplisafe or a battery hogging toy cam like Arlo or three inch door and window sensors everywhere. 

I recently met up with a friend of mine who just bought a new house and was having her cable & internet installed.

The tech set up the cable box, gateway/wireless router easily enough, but we couldn't get signal upstairs in her Master Bedroom.

The tech went on and on about how the gateway should be relocated upstairs. When I suggested a Powerline solution so she could get Internet upstairs, he just stared at me blankly. He'd literally never heard of it before. He then stammered and said powerline was a gimmick and he'd never seen it work right (I've installed Powerline in half a dozen homes and it's worked flawlessly every time.)

He then installed some no-name dropcam type wireless camera which looked like hell, but which I guess did the job. He attached to the wall with a sheet metal screw into the drywall with no anchor. When I challenged him on that he stared at me blankly again and commented "that's how we do it."

I asked him for the camera manual so I could access the camera web page to tune it and again he had no idea what I was talking about.

Granted, I know more about security cameras than the average cable company tech, but the guy was almost literally useless.

It is very difficult to find technicians who have the full gamut of the skills necessary to install, configure and service an IP-based integration project, particularly when that install includes mechanical gates, automation, and server-based recording, let alone being able to correctly install, terminate and test a Cat6 direct-connect cable.

Mr. Whall's comments dovetail perfectly with the ADT notion that home security installations are now nothing more than 'Lick 'em and Stick 'em'.  If you can't do it with double-sided sticky tape the job simply can't be done! What he doesn't say is that quality employees cost money. If you want a technically competent employee that also has a personality that makes the customer 'feel' good about the installation - well then you're going to have to pay more to find them and to keep them. Personally, If I hire a professional to work in my home my FIRST expectation is that he/she has the knowledge and experience to complete the job to my satisfaction. As long as they are not outwardly rude, I could give a damn about their personality! I also feel Mr. Whall could be called on the carpet for the sexist nature of his comments. Women are much better at emotional skills, where as the traditional installer is just a bunch of guys in trucks. What? 

Politicization has penetrated social media, the news, every aspect of life. Now this cancer has entered business. This thread is a perfect illustration of how politicization spurs people to find their bottom.