WEBVTT
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Welcome to BOMA's Building Excellence, a CRE podcast series.
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This episode is brought to you by Kings III Emergency Communications.
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I’m your host, Alan Stein. Our guest today is Tom Weldon,
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Director of Strategic Accounts at Kings
III and a BOMA Cornerstone partner.
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Tom, thank you for joining us today.
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I'm excited to have you on the podcast.
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Thanks, Alan. I'm excited to be here.
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Great.
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So now Tom, before we dive into today's
topic,
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I like to warm things up around here a
little.
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I've got a quick game of rapid fire to
help our audience get to know
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you a little better. Ready to jump in?
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I'm ready.
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All right. What's the best way
to start the day?
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So I know the right answer is prayer and
exercise,
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but I grab my phone way too fast in the
morning.
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Yeah. That is one of the things that I
that I regret as well was sleeping with
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it right next to me on the nightstand.
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Do you prefer summer or winter?
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So it's always been winter given those
two options,
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but it's gotten a little soft and it's
been summer lately.
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Okay. What game show do you think you
could win?
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I don't know about win, but I would love
to be on Family Feud with my family.
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I think that that would be a lot of fun.
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I would agree with that, but it would
have to be Richard Dawson as the host,
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because he was the all-time greatest in
original.
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He's the GOAT for sure.
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Yeah.
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Which emoji do you use most?
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So probably two. One is the fist bump
for a job well done,
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and the other one is the light bulb for a
great idea.
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Good. And what's the strangest fact you
know?
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So one that I just heard recently
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was that most modern elevators,
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the
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close button doesn't actually do anything.
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It's not programmed to work. It's a
placebo effect to give the passenger
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the sense of control.
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And I'm not saying that that's the case on all elevators,
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but it's a recent fun fact.
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That is. I can tell you that that brings
back a distant memory
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of graduating college and moving to New
York City.
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And that was one of the first things I
noticed about New Yorkers
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is everyone that gets on the elevator,
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as soon as they get on, no matter how many
people are on the elevator,
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they're just pushing that
close button nonstop.
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Like, get this thing out of here,
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don't let anybody else on. So Yeah.
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Yeah. It makes you rethink the crosswalk
buttons as well, doesn’t it?
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Absolutely. Absolutely. Well Tom,
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before we jump into the technical details
of today,
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can you give our listeners a quick
snapshot of your background?
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Tell us a little bit about what you do at
Kings III and how you work
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day to day with commercial real estate
teams.
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Yeah, so-
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So professionally, I've been in sales and
business development
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and working with strategic accounts for
most of my career
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and working with companies like,
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Expedia and Starbucks, and then a bit of
time in the senior care space.
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And a former colleague brought me over to
Kings III as a consultant
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and fell in love with the company and the
people and the mission around life safety
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and was fortunate enough that they brought
me on full time.
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And then today,
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I'm the Director of Strategic Accounts for
our commercial division
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and working with absolutely some of the
coolest property management organizations
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and their clients and consultants and
helping to provide education
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on code compliance and industry updates
and showing them how easy
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and seamless and cost-effective life
safety can be.
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And the other thing that I've been
fortunate to be able to do is be a part
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of [BOMA’s] Cornerstone Partners, which has been incredibly insightful.
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And also rewarding.
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Yeah, that's great.
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I just realized, you know, some of our
audience might not know some
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of the great work that Kings III does.
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Can you give us, really your elevator
pitch, on what it is that Kings III does
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and brings to the table for the
property command?
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Well really all commercial real estate.
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Yeah, so we've been around for
37 years doing one thing
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and one thing only, and that's emergency
communications for commercial buildings.
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And
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Today we have about 450 sales and support
folks, through the US and Canada.
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Most of those folks reside in our
corporate office or corporate offices just
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outside of Dallas, Texas. And there we
also have 77 emergency dispatch operators
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who are more highly trained than most 911 facilities.
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We support about 160,000 help phones,
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and we take about 2.4 million calls per year.
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And a lot of those calls are emergency dispatch calls,
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but we also have, you know, folks who are
just not feeling safe
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in their environment or needing help
exiting an elevator and
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then also, we take a tremendous amount of
test calls on the elevators that
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we service. And so we're always wanting to
make sure that those elevators
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are being tested.
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But the statistic that we're most proud about
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is 98% plus customer retention rate.
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We do a very good job of making sure
that our--
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Our value proposition is incredibly high
and our costs are stabilized
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so that there's no surprises as folks
come and join us.
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That's great. Well thank you for that.
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That helps really set the stage
as to the power of
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of the organization that you work for and
and the expertise that you bring to the table.
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So let's dive into today's conversation regarding emergency preparedness
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When building owners and
property managers sit down to
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lay out their overall life safety plan,
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where does emergency communication usually land in that conversation
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and where are the common blind spots you
see teams falling into?
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Yeah, it typically lands in--
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People asking if, you know,
if they need to really focus
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on that emergency communications or
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questioning whether that's that important.
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And
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emergency communications is a huge
part of their life safety plan. So,
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people are often of the mindset that
everyone carries a cell phone
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and so maybe they, you know, it's not
that big of a deal.
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But what they don't realize is that,
that passenger might not have a signal
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or that person standing by a help phone on
the property
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might not have their cell phone with them.
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For elevators, they might not know the address of the building if they're a visitor,
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or they may not know the cab number.
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They may also need medical attention
themselves or may need
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to administer medical attention and need
the assistance of somebody on the other line.
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And as far as the blind spots go,
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the devices are out of sight, out of mind.
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And so you're not constantly thinking about the use of those until you need them.
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And so we urge property managers to test
their phones on a regular basis,
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making sure that, they're always working
and this applies to all emergency phones.
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So that's your elevators and your pool
phones,
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your parking areas, your
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campus interiors and exteriors,
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the blue lights that you see across
corporate campuses and school campuses,
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stairwells, areas of refuge and things
like that.
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Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
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So on that note
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there's actually a bit of
regulatory clock ticking
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on emergency communications right now
across the United States.
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What are major industry or infrastructure shifts are happening behind
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the scenes that property managers might
not even realize are coming,
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or are, in some cases, already in place?
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Yeah, so in 2019, we knew that the FCC
no longer required
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carriers to maintain their POTS lines and
that's, Plain Old Telephone Service.
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We're not super clever with our acronyms.
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But we knew that that was already taking
place.
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And then fast forward to just March of
this year,
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the new rule notes that the carriers can
eliminate those POTS lines
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in as little as 31 days, giving the
properties no time to react
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and certainly no time to pivot to a new solution.
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And so--
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You see three things happening with the
properties.
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One, you have degrading lines that are
providing less than optimal service.
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You have a connection that you're paying
for that doesn't actually exist any longer.
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They just haven't tested that elevator.
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And then in a lot of cases,
and this is not unique,
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where they used to have a $50 phone line
for those POTS lines or a
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$50 charge per cab, for those POTS lines,
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and it’s now $2,000 per line, per month.
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I think it's somewhere around
$153 on average across the US,
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but as high as $2,000 or
higher than $2,000
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per line, per month and we're seeing that
on a regular basis.
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That can really add up.
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It can definitely add up on a property.
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It definitely can.
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So I would imagine that
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you know, there's a bit of a liability
exposure that exists around people that
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ignore this and might not have
emergency communication systems in place.
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Do you have any examples along those lines
of where that might really show
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what kind of potential exposure’s out there?
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Yeah, so--
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I received a story from a colleague
just last week that
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was talking about a 60-year-old newspaper carrier
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in Florida, that she was making her regular
rounds,
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a building that she visited every weekday and was entrapped in an elevator for
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right around three hours and had a medical
emergency.
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There were no operational phones or
cameras,
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no communication with security.
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They didn't know she was on site and
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they had actually left the property.
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And the jury awarded her $5.6 million
just last month.
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And so the--
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That's a fairly unique story,
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but it just identifies that you really
need to focus on reducing your risk
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and liability. And this is such a simple
thing to do,
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to reduce that risk and liability and
it can definitely take care
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of situations like this, or even smaller.
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Yeah. It's like that insurance policy that,
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you know, you hate paying the premium
every year,
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but when you need it, you're sure
as heck glad that it's in place.
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100%.
00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:01.666
Now for a quick word from our sponsor,
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Kings III Emergency Communications.
00:12:04.766 --> 00:12:09.733
At Kings III, we provide critical communication services to help people in distress.
00:12:09.733 --> 00:12:14.400
For over 30 years, our code-compliant
emergency communication technology
00:12:14.566 --> 00:12:18.233
has helped property teams reduce risk and
liability while providing
00:12:18.233 --> 00:12:20.366
a better experience for tenants and guests.
00:12:20.366 --> 00:12:23.933
When seconds count, Kings III answers the call.
00:12:26.900 --> 00:12:29.533
Your next opportunity could be one
connection away.
00:12:29.533 --> 00:12:33.433
BOMA opens doors for you to build
relationships with industry leaders,
00:12:33.433 --> 00:12:38.533
expand your network, and access education
and advocacy to advance your career.
00:12:38.533 --> 00:12:40.333
Join BOMA today.
00:12:40.333 --> 00:12:41.500
BOMA International,
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one membership, limitless benefits,
built for you.
00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.066
Welcome back everyone.
00:12:50.066 --> 00:12:52.666
Tom, let's take a look at this from
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an operational angle now.
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What are the baseline capabilities that owners
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and property managers should really be
insisting on when they evaluate
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an emergency communication setup?
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Yeah, so probably too much to go into
depth on each one,
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but hitting the some of the minimum
requirements would include
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determining on-site location
independently.
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So that is the emergency dispatcher being
able to, without any assistance from
00:13:24.366 --> 00:13:29.966
the passenger, being able to identify the
elevator's address and then also
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the cab number that they're in.
00:13:31.733 --> 00:13:35.066
Also having the capability to
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contact emergency services and the
elevator service company,
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and then also on-site contacts that have
been designated.
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Emergency operators who are trained in
emergencies and picking
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up that phone in at least 45 seconds from
the point of connection.
00:13:52.900 --> 00:13:57.300
And the other is having battery backup for
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four hours continual talk time, at a minimum.
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And then ideally, and what more and more
properties are requiring
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is having a UL-certified,
00:14:12.366 --> 00:14:15.233
call center with redundancies in place
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so that in the event that something should
00:14:17.900 --> 00:14:19.566
go wrong with that call center,
00:14:19.566 --> 00:14:24.433
that there are redundancies in place
for power backup
00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.833
or a redundancy center, to be able to move to.
00:14:29.333 --> 00:14:33.400
Making sure that folks are
Red Cross-certified,
00:14:33.400 --> 00:14:37.800
AEMD-certified, as far as their
certification and training,
00:14:39.033 --> 00:14:43.200
Time and date stamped recordings of
every call that comes through so,
00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:48.733
in the event that you do have a call recording that you need to review that
00:14:48.733 --> 00:14:53.466
you can utilize that at, you know, at your asking
00:14:53.466 --> 00:14:57.233
for training purposes or legal purposes.
00:14:57.233 --> 00:15:01.033
And then also having a translation service in place that
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in the event somebody doesn't speak English,
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.833
or is not comfortable speaking English,
00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.800
during an emergency, that we're able to
bridge that language gap with
00:15:11.800 --> 00:15:13.700
a live translation service.
00:15:14.366 --> 00:15:18.000
So that's some great things to be thinking
about in putting that plan together.
00:15:19.233 --> 00:15:21.966
You know, you mentioned it throughout
the conversation that
00:15:21.966 --> 00:15:27.166
communication expectations are evolving way beyond just standard voice-only systems.
00:15:27.466 --> 00:15:32.033
So, what should property teams
have on their radar regarding those newer
00:15:32.300 --> 00:15:36.066
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
and International Building Code
00:15:36.066 --> 00:15:40.900
requirements for video and text based
emergency lines?
00:15:41.666 --> 00:15:47.000
Yeah, so this is for new elevators and
modernizations only,
00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:51.166
and it's in the states that have adopted
the code, which is all but three today,
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and then, in the markets that have actually enforced
00:15:54.766 --> 00:15:56.533
that code within those states.
00:15:56.533 --> 00:16:01.300
But I can tell you that it's
expanding rapidly and
00:16:01.300 --> 00:16:06.300
so they're adopting those and
they're enforcing those codes
00:16:06.300 --> 00:16:08.533
really, really quickly.
00:16:09.433 --> 00:16:14.533
The code itself requires you to be able to
look into the four corners of the floor,
00:16:14.533 --> 00:16:19.366
so that's either with video or rapid
snapshots to see if there's somebody
00:16:19.366 --> 00:16:23.700
in the elevator or perhaps somebody who's
incapacitated on the floor of the elevator.
00:16:24.133 --> 00:16:27.166
It also provides two-way text communication,
00:16:27.166 --> 00:16:31.833
so that's the passenger being able to
utilize the buttons on the elevator
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and read communications on the screen
from the emergency dispatch operator,
00:16:37.266 --> 00:16:40.000
and that's in the event that somebody is
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.900
hard of hearing or speech impaired and
it provides that ability to communicate.
00:16:45.366 --> 00:16:46.066
Yeah.
00:16:47.333 --> 00:16:51.133
So if a property manager is
listening to this right now
00:16:51.133 --> 00:16:56.300
and wants to take, you know, just one immediate action today to audit their setup,
00:16:56.300 --> 00:16:59.400
what's the very first thing that you
recommend they should check?
00:17:00.633 --> 00:17:04.233
Yeah, so first and foremost, test your
elevators.
00:17:04.766 --> 00:17:09.366
Be proactive and make sure that you have
a transition plan in place
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.933
for those POTS lines, moving to cellular.
00:17:13.633 --> 00:17:19.833
And a lot of properties will look at other
options like VoIP or VoiceOver IP,
00:17:19.833 --> 00:17:24.233
which is a great solution for the rest
of the property,
00:17:24.233 --> 00:17:28.766
but it's not suitable for emergency
communications in most cases.
00:17:28.766 --> 00:17:31.700
And so definitely taking a look at that,
00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:36.066
but also utilizing your BOMA resources and
especially around planning
00:17:36.066 --> 00:17:38.500
for the new elevators and modernizations.
00:17:39.533 --> 00:17:40.600
That's great.
00:17:40.966 --> 00:17:43.033
Tom, this has been a really informative session.
00:17:43.833 --> 00:17:45.766
As we wrap things up for today,
00:17:45.766 --> 00:17:50.000
if there's one major lesson or takeaway
you want listeners to hold on
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.433
to related to our conversation,
00:17:51.433 --> 00:17:52.433
what would it be?
00:17:54.333 --> 00:17:56.200
Yeah, so it's plan ahead.
00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.500
Develop your transition plan today,
00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:03.733
and the little time that it takes to
develop that transition plan
00:18:03.733 --> 00:18:05.466
and actually do the transition,
00:18:05.466 --> 00:18:09.066
you're dramatically reducing your risk
and liability.
00:18:09.066 --> 00:18:13.000
You're increasing continuity across your
property or properties,
00:18:13.333 --> 00:18:17.200
you're ensuring that you're in code
compliance in every single market,
00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:24.000
and you're going to have the time to avoid
costly proprietary systems that
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:28.966
oftentimes limit your capability and
flexibility down the road.
00:18:29.233 --> 00:18:35.766
And I'll tell you that there is some great
technology and advancements coming out
00:18:35.766 --> 00:18:38.266
that you're gonna want to be able to
take advantage of.
00:18:39.633 --> 00:18:44.033
Tom, thank you again for taking the time to join
00:18:44.033 --> 00:18:45.433
us on the episode today.
00:18:46.566 --> 00:18:48.466
Wonderful. Thank you, Alan.
I appreciate it.
00:18:48.766 --> 00:18:51.200
Yeah, absolutely.
And a big thank you to our sponsor,
00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:53.266
Kings III Emergency Communications.
00:18:53.766 --> 00:18:57.533
And thank you, everyone, for listening to
BOMA's Building Excellence,
00:18:57.533 --> 00:19:01.800
a CRE podcast series, where the
conversation doesn't stop and
00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:03.500
the industry keeps moving forward.
00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:07.066
Until next time, this is Alan Stein signing off.
00:00:09.833 --> 00:00:13.833
Welcome to BOMA's Building Excellence, a CRE podcast series.
00:00:14.233 --> 00:00:17.300
This episode is brought to you by Kings III Emergency Communications.
00:00:18.733 --> 00:00:22.533
I’m your host, Alan Stein. Our guest today is Tom Weldon,
00:00:22.533 --> 00:00:27.166
Director of Strategic Accounts at Kings
III and a BOMA Cornerstone partner.
00:00:27.166 --> 00:00:29.066
Tom, thank you for joining us today.
00:00:29.066 --> 00:00:30.900
I'm excited to have you on the podcast.
00:00:31.733 --> 00:00:33.166
Thanks, Alan. I'm excited to be here.
00:00:33.800 --> 00:00:34.666
Great.
00:00:34.666 --> 00:00:37.133
So now Tom, before we dive into today's
topic,
00:00:37.133 --> 00:00:39.533
I like to warm things up around here a
little.
00:00:39.533 --> 00:00:44.033
I've got a quick game of rapid fire to
help our audience get to know
00:00:44.033 --> 00:00:45.833
you a little better. Ready to jump in?
00:00:46.700 --> 00:00:47.333
I'm ready.
00:00:47.933 --> 00:00:50.933
All right. What's the best way
to start the day?
00:00:53.466 --> 00:00:56.900
So I know the right answer is prayer and
exercise,
00:00:56.900 --> 00:01:00.166
but I grab my phone way too fast in the
morning.
00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:05.000
Yeah. That is one of the things that I
that I regret as well was sleeping with
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:06.866
it right next to me on the nightstand.
00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:10.166
Do you prefer summer or winter?
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.166
So it's always been winter given those
two options,
00:01:16.166 --> 00:01:20.800
but it's gotten a little soft and it's
been summer lately.
00:01:22.766 --> 00:01:27.100
Okay. What game show do you think you
could win?
00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:33.533
I don't know about win, but I would love
to be on Family Feud with my family.
00:01:33.533 --> 00:01:35.100
I think that that would be a lot of fun.
00:01:35.733 --> 00:01:39.766
I would agree with that, but it would
have to be Richard Dawson as the host,
00:01:39.766 --> 00:01:43.000
because he was the all-time greatest in
original.
00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:45.033
He's the GOAT for sure.
00:01:45.033 --> 00:01:46.033
Yeah.
00:01:46.033 --> 00:01:47.900
Which emoji do you use most?
00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:55.433
So probably two. One is the fist bump
for a job well done,
00:01:55.433 --> 00:01:58.100
and the other one is the light bulb for a
great idea.
00:01:58.866 --> 00:02:02.066
Good. And what's the strangest fact you
know?
00:02:04.466 --> 00:02:07.500
So one that I just heard recently
00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:10.633
was that most modern elevators,
00:02:11.633 --> 00:02:12.100
the
00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:16.100
close button doesn't actually do anything.
00:02:16.100 --> 00:02:21.066
It's not programmed to work. It's a
placebo effect to give the passenger
00:02:21.066 --> 00:02:22.900
the sense of control.
00:02:23.333 --> 00:02:27.366
And I'm not saying that that's the case on all elevators,
00:02:27.366 --> 00:02:30.266
but it's a recent fun fact.
00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:34.500
That is. I can tell you that that brings
back a distant memory
00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.266
of graduating college and moving to New
York City.
00:02:37.266 --> 00:02:40.166
And that was one of the first things I
noticed about New Yorkers
00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:42.300
is everyone that gets on the elevator,
00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:44.466
as soon as they get on, no matter how many
people are on the elevator,
00:02:44.466 --> 00:02:47.533
they're just pushing that
close button nonstop.
00:02:47.533 --> 00:02:48.766
Like, get this thing out of here,
00:02:48.766 --> 00:02:51.033
don't let anybody else on. So Yeah.
00:02:51.466 --> 00:02:55.300
Yeah. It makes you rethink the crosswalk
buttons as well, doesn’t it?
00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:57.500
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well Tom,
00:02:57.500 --> 00:02:59.933
before we jump into the technical details
of today,
00:02:59.933 --> 00:03:04.233
can you give our listeners a quick
snapshot of your background?
00:03:04.233 --> 00:03:08.233
Tell us a little bit about what you do at
Kings III and how you work
00:03:08.233 --> 00:03:10.033
day to day with commercial real estate
teams.
00:03:12.066 --> 00:03:13.400
Yeah, so-
00:03:14.966 --> 00:03:18.633
So professionally, I've been in sales and
business development
00:03:18.633 --> 00:03:22.800
and working with strategic accounts for
most of my career
00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:24.966
and working with companies like,
00:03:25.633 --> 00:03:29.900
Expedia and Starbucks, and then a bit of
time in the senior care space.
00:03:30.266 --> 00:03:34.800
And a former colleague brought me over to
Kings III as a consultant
00:03:35.100 --> 00:03:39.366
and fell in love with the company and the
people and the mission around life safety
00:03:39.866 --> 00:03:42.900
and was fortunate enough that they brought
me on full time.
00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.700
And then today,
00:03:46.033 --> 00:03:49.600
I'm the Director of Strategic Accounts for
our commercial division
00:03:50.100 --> 00:03:54.100
and working with absolutely some of the
coolest property management organizations
00:03:54.100 --> 00:03:58.233
and their clients and consultants and
helping to provide education
00:03:58.233 --> 00:04:02.800
on code compliance and industry updates
and showing them how easy
00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.066
and seamless and cost-effective life
safety can be.
00:04:06.533 --> 00:04:12.300
And the other thing that I've been
fortunate to be able to do is be a part
00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.933
of [BOMA’s] Cornerstone Partners, which has been incredibly insightful.
00:04:16.266 --> 00:04:17.933
And also rewarding.
00:04:17.933 --> 00:04:19.133
Yeah, that's great.
00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:23.666
I just realized, you know, some of our
audience might not know some
00:04:23.666 --> 00:04:26.033
of the great work that Kings III does.
00:04:26.033 --> 00:04:31.833
Can you give us, really your elevator
pitch, on what it is that Kings III does
00:04:31.833 --> 00:04:34.466
and brings to the table for the
property command?
00:04:34.466 --> 00:04:36.033
Well really all commercial real estate.
00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.866
Yeah, so we've been around for
37 years doing one thing
00:04:41.866 --> 00:04:45.766
and one thing only, and that's emergency
communications for commercial buildings.
00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:47.733
And
00:04:47.733 --> 00:04:54.033
Today we have about 450 sales and support
folks, through the US and Canada.
00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:00.433
Most of those folks reside in our
corporate office or corporate offices just
00:05:00.433 --> 00:05:06.600
outside of Dallas, Texas. And there we
also have 77 emergency dispatch operators
00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:09.933
who are more highly trained than most 911 facilities.
00:05:10.733 --> 00:05:14.933
We support about 160,000 help phones,
00:05:15.366 --> 00:05:19.633
and we take about 2.4 million calls per year.
00:05:19.633 --> 00:05:24.400
And a lot of those calls are emergency dispatch calls,
00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:27.966
but we also have, you know, folks who are
just not feeling safe
00:05:27.966 --> 00:05:32.766
in their environment or needing help
exiting an elevator and
00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:38.566
then also, we take a tremendous amount of
test calls on the elevators that
00:05:38.566 --> 00:05:42.733
we service. And so we're always wanting to
make sure that those elevators
00:05:42.733 --> 00:05:44.000
are being tested.
00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.266
But the statistic that we're most proud about
00:05:46.433 --> 00:05:50.033
is 98% plus customer retention rate.
00:05:50.966 --> 00:05:56.933
We do a very good job of making sure
that our--
00:05:57.566 --> 00:06:03.700
Our value proposition is incredibly high
and our costs are stabilized
00:06:03.700 --> 00:06:07.766
so that there's no surprises as folks
come and join us.
00:06:07.766 --> 00:06:09.666
That's great. Well thank you for that.
00:06:09.666 --> 00:06:13.400
That helps really set the stage
as to the power of
00:06:13.400 --> 00:06:16.466
of the organization that you work for and
and the expertise that you bring to the table.
00:06:17.433 --> 00:06:21.033
So let's dive into today's conversation regarding emergency preparedness
00:06:21.366 --> 00:06:24.333
When building owners and
property managers sit down to
00:06:24.333 --> 00:06:26.900
lay out their overall life safety plan,
00:06:27.466 --> 00:06:32.500
where does emergency communication usually land in that conversation
00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:36.600
and where are the common blind spots you
see teams falling into?
00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:42.633
Yeah, it typically lands in--
00:06:44.833 --> 00:06:50.366
People asking if, you know,
if they need to really focus
00:06:50.366 --> 00:06:53.300
on that emergency communications or
00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:56.300
questioning whether that's that important.
00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:57.300
And
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.533
emergency communications is a huge
part of their life safety plan. So,
00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:08.200
people are often of the mindset that
everyone carries a cell phone
00:07:08.200 --> 00:07:12.533
and so maybe they, you know, it's not
that big of a deal.
00:07:12.533 --> 00:07:17.733
But what they don't realize is that,
that passenger might not have a signal
00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:21.933
or that person standing by a help phone on
the property
00:07:22.466 --> 00:07:25.600
might not have their cell phone with them.
00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:32.366
For elevators, they might not know the address of the building if they're a visitor,
00:07:32.366 --> 00:07:34.400
or they may not know the cab number.
00:07:35.233 --> 00:07:38.866
They may also need medical attention
themselves or may need
00:07:38.966 --> 00:07:43.900
to administer medical attention and need
the assistance of somebody on the other line.
00:07:44.733 --> 00:07:46.833
And as far as the blind spots go,
00:07:48.166 --> 00:07:50.966
the devices are out of sight, out of mind.
00:07:50.966 --> 00:07:57.866
And so you're not constantly thinking about the use of those until you need them.
00:07:57.866 --> 00:08:02.233
And so we urge property managers to test
their phones on a regular basis,
00:08:02.533 --> 00:08:08.666
making sure that, they're always working
and this applies to all emergency phones.
00:08:08.666 --> 00:08:11.400
So that's your elevators and your pool
phones,
00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:13.233
your parking areas, your
00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:16.166
campus interiors and exteriors,
00:08:16.166 --> 00:08:20.700
the blue lights that you see across
corporate campuses and school campuses,
00:08:20.700 --> 00:08:23.966
stairwells, areas of refuge and things
like that.
00:08:24.933 --> 00:08:26.500
Yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:28.300
So on that note
00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:32.700
there's actually a bit of
regulatory clock ticking
00:08:32.800 --> 00:08:35.666
on emergency communications right now
across the United States.
00:08:35.666 --> 00:08:40.066
What are major industry or infrastructure shifts are happening behind
00:08:40.066 --> 00:08:45.133
the scenes that property managers might
not even realize are coming,
00:08:45.133 --> 00:08:47.800
or are, in some cases, already in place?
00:08:49.300 --> 00:08:54.466
Yeah, so in 2019, we knew that the FCC
no longer required
00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.566
carriers to maintain their POTS lines and
that's, Plain Old Telephone Service.
00:08:59.566 --> 00:09:01.800
We're not super clever with our acronyms.
00:09:02.466 --> 00:09:05.766
But we knew that that was already taking
place.
00:09:05.766 --> 00:09:09.566
And then fast forward to just March of
this year,
00:09:10.233 --> 00:09:14.933
the new rule notes that the carriers can
eliminate those POTS lines
00:09:14.933 --> 00:09:19.466
in as little as 31 days, giving the
properties no time to react
00:09:19.466 --> 00:09:23.533
and certainly no time to pivot to a new solution.
00:09:23.533 --> 00:09:24.533
And so--
00:09:26.533 --> 00:09:29.733
You see three things happening with the
properties.
00:09:29.733 --> 00:09:34.200
One, you have degrading lines that are
providing less than optimal service.
00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:38.866
You have a connection that you're paying
for that doesn't actually exist any longer.
00:09:39.533 --> 00:09:41.566
They just haven't tested that elevator.
00:09:42.133 --> 00:09:45.533
And then in a lot of cases,
and this is not unique,
00:09:46.166 --> 00:09:50.966
where they used to have a $50 phone line
for those POTS lines or a
00:09:50.966 --> 00:09:54.300
$50 charge per cab, for those POTS lines,
00:09:54.300 --> 00:09:57.333
and it’s now $2,000 per line, per month.
00:09:57.333 --> 00:10:01.500
I think it's somewhere around
$153 on average across the US,
00:10:01.500 --> 00:10:06.733
but as high as $2,000 or
higher than $2,000
00:10:06.733 --> 00:10:10.066
per line, per month and we're seeing that
on a regular basis.
00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:14.066
That can really add up.
00:10:14.066 --> 00:10:16.366
It can definitely add up on a property.
00:10:16.366 --> 00:10:18.033
It definitely can.
00:10:18.333 --> 00:10:19.566
So I would imagine that
00:10:20.466 --> 00:10:25.566
you know, there's a bit of a liability
exposure that exists around people that
00:10:25.633 --> 00:10:29.900
ignore this and might not have
emergency communication systems in place.
00:10:29.900 --> 00:10:34.333
Do you have any examples along those lines
of where that might really show
00:10:34.633 --> 00:10:37.200
what kind of potential exposure’s out there?
00:10:38.666 --> 00:10:39.666
Yeah, so--
00:10:42.300 --> 00:10:47.166
I received a story from a colleague
just last week that
00:10:47.366 --> 00:10:53.133
was talking about a 60-year-old newspaper carrier
00:10:53.133 --> 00:10:58.166
in Florida, that she was making her regular
rounds,
00:10:58.166 --> 00:11:04.200
a building that she visited every weekday and was entrapped in an elevator for
00:11:05.933 --> 00:11:09.000
right around three hours and had a medical
emergency.
00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.566
There were no operational phones or
cameras,
00:11:11.566 --> 00:11:15.100
no communication with security.
00:11:15.100 --> 00:11:18.700
They didn't know she was on site and
00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:20.433
they had actually left the property.
00:11:21.333 --> 00:11:26.066
And the jury awarded her $5.6 million
just last month.
00:11:26.066 --> 00:11:27.733
And so the--
00:11:29.033 --> 00:11:31.233
That's a fairly unique story,
00:11:31.233 --> 00:11:36.866
but it just identifies that you really
need to focus on reducing your risk
00:11:36.866 --> 00:11:39.866
and liability. And this is such a simple
thing to do,
00:11:39.866 --> 00:11:44.300
to reduce that risk and liability and
it can definitely take care
00:11:44.300 --> 00:11:48.533
of situations like this, or even smaller.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.266
Yeah. It's like that insurance policy that,
00:11:51.266 --> 00:11:53.333
you know, you hate paying the premium
every year,
00:11:53.333 --> 00:11:57.000
but when you need it, you're sure
as heck glad that it's in place.
00:11:57.866 --> 00:11:58.666
100%.
00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:01.666
Now for a quick word from our sponsor,
00:12:01.666 --> 00:12:03.766
Kings III Emergency Communications.
00:12:04.766 --> 00:12:09.733
At Kings III, we provide critical communication services to help people in distress.
00:12:09.733 --> 00:12:14.400
For over 30 years, our code-compliant
emergency communication technology
00:12:14.566 --> 00:12:18.233
has helped property teams reduce risk and
liability while providing
00:12:18.233 --> 00:12:20.366
a better experience for tenants and guests.
00:12:20.366 --> 00:12:23.933
When seconds count, Kings III answers the call.
00:12:26.900 --> 00:12:29.533
Your next opportunity could be one
connection away.
00:12:29.533 --> 00:12:33.433
BOMA opens doors for you to build
relationships with industry leaders,
00:12:33.433 --> 00:12:38.533
expand your network, and access education
and advocacy to advance your career.
00:12:38.533 --> 00:12:40.333
Join BOMA today.
00:12:40.333 --> 00:12:41.500
BOMA International,
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one membership, limitless benefits,
built for you.
00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:50.066
Welcome back everyone.
00:12:50.066 --> 00:12:52.666
Tom, let's take a look at this from
00:12:52.666 --> 00:12:54.600
an operational angle now.
00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:57.566
What are the baseline capabilities that owners
00:12:57.566 --> 00:13:01.666
and property managers should really be
insisting on when they evaluate
00:13:01.666 --> 00:13:03.266
an emergency communication setup?
00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.766
Yeah, so probably too much to go into
depth on each one,
00:13:09.766 --> 00:13:15.033
but hitting the some of the minimum
requirements would include
00:13:15.033 --> 00:13:18.066
determining on-site location
independently.
00:13:18.066 --> 00:13:24.366
So that is the emergency dispatcher being
able to, without any assistance from
00:13:24.366 --> 00:13:29.966
the passenger, being able to identify the
elevator's address and then also
00:13:29.966 --> 00:13:31.333
the cab number that they're in.
00:13:31.733 --> 00:13:35.066
Also having the capability to
00:13:35.166 --> 00:13:38.833
contact emergency services and the
elevator service company,
00:13:38.833 --> 00:13:42.333
and then also on-site contacts that have
been designated.
00:13:43.566 --> 00:13:48.100
Emergency operators who are trained in
emergencies and picking
00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:52.900
up that phone in at least 45 seconds from
the point of connection.
00:13:52.900 --> 00:13:57.300
And the other is having battery backup for
00:13:57.300 --> 00:14:00.400
four hours continual talk time, at a minimum.
00:14:00.700 --> 00:14:06.366
And then ideally, and what more and more
properties are requiring
00:14:06.733 --> 00:14:10.066
is having a UL-certified,
00:14:12.366 --> 00:14:15.233
call center with redundancies in place
00:14:15.233 --> 00:14:17.866
so that in the event that something should
00:14:17.900 --> 00:14:19.566
go wrong with that call center,
00:14:19.566 --> 00:14:24.433
that there are redundancies in place
for power backup
00:14:24.500 --> 00:14:27.833
or a redundancy center, to be able to move to.
00:14:29.333 --> 00:14:33.400
Making sure that folks are
Red Cross-certified,
00:14:33.400 --> 00:14:37.800
AEMD-certified, as far as their
certification and training,
00:14:39.033 --> 00:14:43.200
Time and date stamped recordings of
every call that comes through so,
00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:48.733
in the event that you do have a call recording that you need to review that
00:14:48.733 --> 00:14:53.466
you can utilize that at, you know, at your asking
00:14:53.466 --> 00:14:57.233
for training purposes or legal purposes.
00:14:57.233 --> 00:15:01.033
And then also having a translation service in place that
00:15:01.033 --> 00:15:03.500
in the event somebody doesn't speak English,
00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.833
or is not comfortable speaking English,
00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.800
during an emergency, that we're able to
bridge that language gap with
00:15:11.800 --> 00:15:13.700
a live translation service.
00:15:14.366 --> 00:15:18.000
So that's some great things to be thinking
about in putting that plan together.
00:15:19.233 --> 00:15:21.966
You know, you mentioned it throughout
the conversation that
00:15:21.966 --> 00:15:27.166
communication expectations are evolving way beyond just standard voice-only systems.
00:15:27.466 --> 00:15:32.033
So, what should property teams
have on their radar regarding those newer
00:15:32.300 --> 00:15:36.066
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
and International Building Code
00:15:36.066 --> 00:15:40.900
requirements for video and text based
emergency lines?
00:15:41.666 --> 00:15:47.000
Yeah, so this is for new elevators and
modernizations only,
00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:51.166
and it's in the states that have adopted
the code, which is all but three today,
00:15:51.866 --> 00:15:54.766
and then, in the markets that have actually enforced
00:15:54.766 --> 00:15:56.533
that code within those states.
00:15:56.533 --> 00:16:01.300
But I can tell you that it's
expanding rapidly and
00:16:01.300 --> 00:16:06.300
so they're adopting those and
they're enforcing those codes
00:16:06.300 --> 00:16:08.533
really, really quickly.
00:16:09.433 --> 00:16:14.533
The code itself requires you to be able to
look into the four corners of the floor,
00:16:14.533 --> 00:16:19.366
so that's either with video or rapid
snapshots to see if there's somebody
00:16:19.366 --> 00:16:23.700
in the elevator or perhaps somebody who's
incapacitated on the floor of the elevator.
00:16:24.133 --> 00:16:27.166
It also provides two-way text communication,
00:16:27.166 --> 00:16:31.833
so that's the passenger being able to
utilize the buttons on the elevator
00:16:31.933 --> 00:16:36.833
and read communications on the screen
from the emergency dispatch operator,
00:16:37.266 --> 00:16:40.000
and that's in the event that somebody is
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.900
hard of hearing or speech impaired and
it provides that ability to communicate.
00:16:45.366 --> 00:16:46.066
Yeah.
00:16:47.333 --> 00:16:51.133
So if a property manager is
listening to this right now
00:16:51.133 --> 00:16:56.300
and wants to take, you know, just one immediate action today to audit their setup,
00:16:56.300 --> 00:16:59.400
what's the very first thing that you
recommend they should check?
00:17:00.633 --> 00:17:04.233
Yeah, so first and foremost, test your
elevators.
00:17:04.766 --> 00:17:09.366
Be proactive and make sure that you have
a transition plan in place
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.933
for those POTS lines, moving to cellular.
00:17:13.633 --> 00:17:19.833
And a lot of properties will look at other
options like VoIP or VoiceOver IP,
00:17:19.833 --> 00:17:24.233
which is a great solution for the rest
of the property,
00:17:24.233 --> 00:17:28.766
but it's not suitable for emergency
communications in most cases.
00:17:28.766 --> 00:17:31.700
And so definitely taking a look at that,
00:17:31.700 --> 00:17:36.066
but also utilizing your BOMA resources and
especially around planning
00:17:36.066 --> 00:17:38.500
for the new elevators and modernizations.
00:17:39.533 --> 00:17:40.600
That's great.
00:17:40.966 --> 00:17:43.033
Tom, this has been a really informative session.
00:17:43.833 --> 00:17:45.766
As we wrap things up for today,
00:17:45.766 --> 00:17:50.000
if there's one major lesson or takeaway
you want listeners to hold on
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.433
to related to our conversation,
00:17:51.433 --> 00:17:52.433
what would it be?
00:17:54.333 --> 00:17:56.200
Yeah, so it's plan ahead.
00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.500
Develop your transition plan today,
00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:03.733
and the little time that it takes to
develop that transition plan
00:18:03.733 --> 00:18:05.466
and actually do the transition,
00:18:05.466 --> 00:18:09.066
you're dramatically reducing your risk
and liability.
00:18:09.066 --> 00:18:13.000
You're increasing continuity across your
property or properties,
00:18:13.333 --> 00:18:17.200
you're ensuring that you're in code
compliance in every single market,
00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:24.000
and you're going to have the time to avoid
costly proprietary systems that
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:28.966
oftentimes limit your capability and
flexibility down the road.
00:18:29.233 --> 00:18:35.766
And I'll tell you that there is some great
technology and advancements coming out
00:18:35.766 --> 00:18:38.266
that you're gonna want to be able to
take advantage of.
00:18:39.633 --> 00:18:44.033
Tom, thank you again for taking the time to join
00:18:44.033 --> 00:18:45.433
us on the episode today.
00:18:46.566 --> 00:18:48.466
Wonderful. Thank you, Alan.
I appreciate it.
00:18:48.766 --> 00:18:51.200
Yeah, absolutely.
And a big thank you to our sponsor,
00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:53.266
Kings III Emergency Communications.
00:18:53.766 --> 00:18:57.533
And thank you, everyone, for listening to
BOMA's Building Excellence,
00:18:57.533 --> 00:19:01.800
a CRE podcast series, where the
conversation doesn't stop and
00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:03.500
the industry keeps moving forward.
00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:07.066
Until next time, this is Alan Stein signing off.
