SSI Industry Hall of Fame Introduces 2023 Inductees
Join us in welcoming a diverse lineup of remarkable individuals to our HoF roster.
Morgan Hertel | Vice President of Technology and Innovation, Rapid Response Monitoring
Bio
- Born in Glendora, Calif. (year N/A)
- One of five siblings, father was a college art teacher and mother a commercial artist
- Has three children and six grandchildren
- Majored in mechanical engineering with a minor in agricultural engineering at Cal Poly Pomona (Calif.).
- Other honors include TMA’s Stanley Lott Award
- Says he was shot at a number of times and dropped to the ground by law enforcement showing up to alarms
- Other interests include exploring with his jeep and side by side, hunting and fishing, camping, ham radio, and raising French bulldogs
Why He’s on the List
- More than 40 years striving for excellence and growth across alarm, security and monitoring businesses; longtime dedication to serving the industry through trade association work; and advocating for new technologies
- Prior to joining Rapid Response in 2012, held leadership or managerial roles at Came Security Alarms, Datacom Security Services, The Command Center and Mace CSSS
- 35+ years serving on standards bodies includes being current TMA president, helping shape today’s industry with adoptions like the new AVS-01 alarm priority scoring system and ASAP to PSAP
- Two-time president of Inland Empire Alarm Association and continues to participate on dozens of committees and UL standards groups including UL 827
- Well known throughout industry for being aware of, knowledgeable about and evangelizing leading-edge technologies that have often transitioned from perceived as fringe to mainstream
- Credentials include: NICET Level III, California Alarm Company Qualified Manager, Oregon Certified Trainer, TMA Level I and II Central Station Operator, SIAA Certified Operator, ESA Certified Alarm Installer
- Contributes “Monitoring Matters” column for Security Sales & Integration and is a frequent speaker at industry events sharing perspective on tech and monitoring trends
Keys to Success 
“I have always invested in myself. This has taken the form of education, reading and immersing myself in as much of the business as I possibly could. For example, I would take vacation time and personally pay my way to TMA events so I could learn from others. I put myself though NICET certification, I read three to four hours a week of technology material and take classes and attend seminars to keep up. The other thing is embracing the idea of servant leadership. I have been able to lead groups of people and gain their trust and dedication, as a result of this way of managing people. It also garners trust and respect, and both of those go a long way. Learning how to step on a person’s toes without ruining the shine on their shoes is something I am really good at.
“I also always approach things with an open mind, never say never. I have always been a fixer, a person who looks at a problem and then comes up with ideas to fix it. Often, it’s something new that’s never been done before. Part of moving forward is always looking for new ideas.”
Falling Into the Security Game
“It was a bit of an accident. I was at a friend’s house while a guy was there installing a burglar alarm. In talking with him it turned out he was the company owner’s son. I didn’t have anything else going on at the time, so I took a summer job there, got hooked and never looked back. That job was with Came Security in Covina, Calif., which did a lot of work in the Beverly Hills market. I was fortunate enough to put systems in for many celebrities and prominent people. Eventually, that company was purchased by Bay Alarm, but the owner’s daughter retained the mid-California operations, which I work with to this day.”
Raising the Performance Bar
“During the past 40 years, we have moved from a prescriptive model of how security was done to more of a performance-based approach predicated on the needs and lifestyle of the individual. I call it ‘security as a lifestyle.’ This means security needs to be designed and implemented based on many different scenarios. When we move from a prescriptive to more of a performance model, there is also a need to be incredibly flexible and use a lot of different technologies in the monitoring center to address consumer needs. The organization has to be very customer-experience centric and able to flex with the consumer. The organization with the best user experience wins the race.”
Sailing Security’s Shifting Seas
“AVS-01 is the biggest change since the digital dialer. This will change the way everything is done moving forward. This standard will accelerate the need to more technology, more offerings for the consumer to pick from, and a whole host of new products and services. There are always disruptive things on the horizon. You would be a fool not to believe that. So, you need to pay attention and have technology stacks that allow you to pivot to support those without a lot of work or cost. I appreciate the disruptive things and Rapid Response is uniquely qualified to support those that are coming.”
Biggest Wish for Industry Change
“I would like to change people’s attitude toward change itself. It’s a human trait to push back against change because it can be scary. But it’s necessary in our industry.”
Continue to the next page for a profile of Jim Wooster…
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine
Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].
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