Have you faced this problem?

Last week I recruited 3 "technicians" for my CCTV installation business. During the interview and selection process, all 3 of them gave very glowing accounts of their "achievements". I was elated that my dream team was taking shape. Given the acute shortage of trained manpower, I did not waste time in recruiting them.

Soon I realised that most of the advanced skills professed by them were tall claims. The statement "I have setup DVRs" actually meant he had observed closely (and many times) how a DVR is setup. It is different matter that when asked to do so, he failed miserably.

Coming back to the question in the title - has this happened to me only? Or have others also faced a similar predictment?  I have heard many friends share similiar stories of not getting trained manpower or people with inadequate skills. Most of the time we enterpreneurs end up training the recuits- if for nothing else then to maintain our reputation as quality service providers. This in itself is not so bad. But the sad part is that just as we get someone to do things right, he decides since he has upgrade his skill sets , he deserves a better organization and a bigger pay cheque - never mind that  these very skills very taught by us.

How I wish I could get some really well trained people who could be sent out to clients from day 1 ! 

Technoloy as an enabler of Better Human Interaction

Most of us blame technology for our decrease in interaction with other people. We claim that Social Media has made phone calls passe. I am a user of Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, WAYN and what have you. However, I am uncomfortable in wishing someone by writing on their wall or through status updates. I prefer to personally call up friends and relatives on special occasions. But I have seen people post very personal communication on open forums, probably forgetting that many others would also have access to the message.  In fact I use social media and its features to enhance my interaction and relationship with people.

Let me illustrate this with an example. I have configured my Facebook account such that it reminds me at the beginning of very week about all the special events in my friends' lives in the coming week. This makes it very easy for me to call them up. Many a times my friends are not expecting any wishes from me and are pleasantly surprised to receive my call. You can even set up facebook to automatically post a standard greeting message on your behalf, but I personally feel that is too mechanical and impersonal.

You can use Outlook calendar to setup reminders about event. In fact, a good use of calendar is to set up recurring events - once a year, every year on fixed date. I get reminders every year about friends birthdays and anniversaries - sometimes about friend with whom I have lost touch. When I can them up and wish them, thanks to the reminders, they are surprised that I still remember their birthdays and anniversaries.

Instead of blaming technology for loss of personal touch, we can use it to help us improve our relationships. .

What are our priorities?

 Past couple of weeks I have come across a very disturbing observation - organizations are spending more on irrelevant and sometimes unnecessary renovations running into lakhs, but are reluctant to spend a few thousand Rupees on Security issues.

In the first instance, a trust running a hostel for men has deferred their plans for CCTV system as they have spend over 20 Lakhs on renovating the bathrooms. Cost of CCTV system - 2 lakhs - just 10% of the amount spend on bathrooms.

In the second incident, a huge residential complex which is again spending lakhs on beautification has approved a meager 3 lakhs for CCTV vis-a-vis lowest quotation of 3.5 lakhs. This has effectively killed the project as no vendor wants to work at that price and once the beautification is done, they would not want to re dig the road.

In spite of heightened awareness about the importance of CCTV system and the constant pressure from Police to install CCTV systems., there is a reluctance to spend money. This mind set has to change. In one Society, they are saving about Rs 40,000 per month by using Biometric access control on basement doors and removing a total of 8 guards. Cost of setup - Rs 60,000. So the investment has paid for itself within 2 months! with an additional bonus of enhanced bonus.

Me Anna Hazara

The latest buzz word is Anna Hazare. Everyone is professing support to his fight for the Jan Lokpal bill. I  admire his bold initiative and the way he has brought the govt to heel. Unlike Baba Ram Dev, the govt is on a backfoot here. The huge groundswell in his favour is truly amazing. In all this euphoria about the new Gandhi, two things keep bothering me:

1> We already have very strong laws and it has been proved without doubt that it is not sufficient to have strong laws - the law enforcers must have the determination to enforce them. Heavy penalties, fines and jail terms merely mean that you have to fork out bigger bribes to escape. Sometimes people get away even without bribing as the laws are not enforced. How many of us are aware that Mumbai's laws on cleanliness are stronger than much-admired Singapore's laws? The difference is in the implementation.   

2> Everyone wants the "system" to be cleaned. But what is the system? It is made up of us. Remember, under existing Indian law, the briber giver is eaqually guilty as the bribe taker.Instead of pointing a finger at the system, we the people have to change and when that happens, we will not need the Lokpal bill. Look at the state of Mumbai's roads which are an epitome of corruption. The same cartel has been cornering tenders for nearly 3 decades and getting away with it. To hell with DLP, penalties and blacklisting clauses. Now what if this same cartel used the same collective bargaining and after winning the tender, come to a common understanding that they would build the best roads with the money and not pay a penney to the corrupt politicians / officials ? Revolutionary thought isn't it? But that would be a very difficult path to tread. Better to blame it on the system, part with the officials' share of the loot and continue with the game. As an aside, I wonder what the wives and children of these contractors must be thinking when they travel on such shoddy roads?

Certification for Security solution providers

The police probing into the Rs 15.22 lakh burglary at the Union Bank of India’s Dadar branch on Friday have been unable to get a clear photograph of the culprit despite going through the CCTV footage. The CCTV cameras did not have night vision. The staff learnt about the burglary after they came to work around 7.30 am on Saturday. The door and the strong room were found open. From the footage, the police have learnt that the burglary took place between 8 pm and 9 pm on Friday.


Was the Bank being pennywise and pound foolish by not using night vision cameras? Were the Bank officials unaware of features like e-mail alert and alarm based on motion detect? Was the vendor not competent enough to recommend a better surveillance solution which would have cost just a few thousand Rupees more?

While novice players are the bane of every industry, such untrained system integrators in the Security business are harmful not only for the clients but for Society at large. There has to be some sort of certification for solution providers and only qualified vendors must be permitted to operate. Will the various associations like FSAI,  ESAI etc. take a note of this lacunae?

Cause for Concern

It is heartening to know that people are becoming security conscious and have started installing CCTV systems for safety. In the UK, CCTV operators must be licensed by the SIA (Security Industry Authority), and to obtain a license they must show they have been appropriately trained. In India, most of the vendors (myself included) do not have any formal qualification or certification and whatever knowledge we have is based on experience. There is no certifying or monitoring authority like in the case of Financial Investments or Insurance. This leaves the field wide open for everyone to become an “Expert” and sell solutions. Unfortunately, very few vendors are equipped with necessary skills to provide an effective solution. These so called experts sometimes implement a solution which is not at all effective.


Moreover, as this involves creating infrastructure, such mistakes are not easy to reverse in a cost-conscious Society. This also leads to a general perception that such solutions are not effective. While some of us have taken the pains to understand the technical aspects, many of the vendors just put together a solution designed to fit the clients’ budget. No effort is made to access the requirement and to educate the client about the best possible solution.

For example, most camera systems are designed to observe human activity. The application, however, can range from crowd control / public safety (where the movement of large numbers of people needs to be monitored over a wide area) to access control (where close-up, high quality imagery is required to enable individuals to be identified). The choice of CCTV camera in particular will depend on the nature of the activity to be observed.

You may wish to:
Monitor a large area
Detect individuals approaching a building
Observe the actions of a group
Recognise known individuals at an entrance
Obtain images that would enable you (or the police) to identify an unfamiliar individual

The above example illustrates the need to select a vendor who has the indepth knowledge of the subject and the patience to evaluate and propose an appropriate solution. Merely selecting the one with the lowest quote or handing over the project to an existing IT vendor can lead to a disaster.

The Networked David V/s the Standalone Goliath

The Dhaval Valia v/s Vodafone episode has a lot to teach us about the power of Social Media. Off course most of the credit has to go to Dhaval for the level-headed way he fought the war. He also maintained a record of all his correspondence with Vodafone.

There is learning in this for Vodafone also - it is not sufficient to monitor tweets and follow tweeps mentioning them ( I had also tweeted about them and was followed instantly). The people entrusted with this task have to be sensible enough to handle the issues raised. And for a service oriented company in a highly competitive market, it was sheer stupidity to sue a vocal consumer, more so when his claims of poor infrastructure can easily be verified.

This incident also proved that the virtual and real world are enmeshed - the story was picked up by Mumbai Mirror and NDTV. Let's hope other corporates monitoring social media use media for positive interaction with customers and use the feedback and comments to improve their products and services.