Business
Business Spotlight: Expert Security Solutions
A local company re-brands with their customers in mind! Expert Security Solutions, formally Phone Experts Security, is evolving and it’s about a lot more than just a new look!
“Having determined what we didn’t want to look like and listening to our customers feedback, we decided to make some bold changes that set us apart from all our competitors and give us some key differentiators.” – Brad Dufresne
We recently sat down with Expert Security Solutions’ owner Brad Dufresne and spoke about the company’s renewed focus on security solutions and how it all began.
Q: When did The Phone Experts first begin to focus on security solutions and what was the catalyst for that?
A: The Phone Experts Security was born in 1995 out of a need that we saw for a local, reputable company to provide security systems for small and medium commercial businesses. At the time we were doing a lot of network cabling for computer and telephone systems and we were often asked if we could wire for security, so it seemed like a great fit for our business.
Q: Did you always plan on offering residential security solutions as well or did that come later?
A: While we never ruled out the prospect of providing residential security it wasn’t our focus; but we would regularly receive requests for security quotes from the consumer market, so we eventually started to sell and install in that segment as well. Back then our greatest obstacle to being competitive in the residential market was our ability to finance the customers over 3-year terms. Providers like ADT and VOX were able to do this, but we lacked the capital. The only way we could compete was to provide the hardware and installation at or below our cost and rely on revenue from monitoring to attain profitability.
Q: Tell us more about Expert Security Solutions- why the re-brand and why now?
A: The re-brand gives us the opportunity to tell customers we aren’t just a phone company that sells security, and it allows us to retool and redefine who we are as a security provider. We got to take a hard look at the industry and make decisions about what we didn’t like about the industry and offer customers a better product and service than what’s typically offered in both the consumer and commercial markets.
Q: How will you be offering better products and service- what does that mean to you?
A: The products and services we offer are tailored to what our customer needs are and ensuring they are protected. We are a security company that provides security products that go beyond what the average alarm company will provide at a price point that is fair to both the customer and the company. The installation will be completed by professional well-trained technicians who will exceed the customers expectations. We are constantly evaluating products to ensure that we are current and relevant with respect to changing technologies and we are constantly evaluating our customer service – we want to provide exceptional customer experiences.
Q: Tell us more about what went into re-imagining Expert Security Solutions; what did you discover about your business and your customers?
A: We started by asking ourselves questions like; Why we are in business, How do we differ from our competitors, What level of service do we provide, What image we want to convey and Who our customers are and Who we want our customers to be?
The answers we came up with provided us with a clear sense of what we want to be.
Then we created a value statement. This was created by our security team, specifically for the security division;
“We are a local company that cares about protecting what you value most, through innovative and personalized security solutions, while providing an exceptional customer experience.”
We want to create loyal clients that refer others and exceed our customers expectations while providing quality customized security.
Q: You certainly did your research! So where does all this bring Expert Security Solutions? What’s the way forward?
A: Having determined what we didn’t want to look like and listening to our customers feedback, we decided to make some bold changes that set us apart from all our competitors and give us some key differentiators.
The three pillars to our change and future success are the following:
No Contracts for Monitoring
We believe this is our key differentiator and the one that holds us the most accountable to our customers. When customers sign a long-term contract for the installation and monitoring of their security it puts them a terrible bargaining position when it comes to ongoing maintenance and even for the quality of the initial installation. By having no contract for the monitoring, it gives the customer the freedom to leave us if we aren’t providing the services they anticipated. While this a huge risk to us, I love the potential implications because it makes us constantly review our products and services to ensure that we truly are providing the best products and services at a competitive price.
Customer Loyalty Program
We review our customer accounts regularly to ensure they have opportunities to upgrade to current equipment and new technology. We have incentives for new and current customers.
Ongoing Support
Our dispatch is local and our technicians are local too. This allows us to offer services like troubleshooting and service work faster than a company that isn’t local. Our technicians can be reached 24 hours a day for technical issues or concerns.
Q: Any final thoughts on the future?
A: I believe that our vision for Expert Security Solutions as a “customer first, continuous improvement, learning organization”, will set us apart from the competition. But our success will hinge on our ability to get word of mouth advertising out to the market, so people will want to buy from us and seek out our services when required.
Check out these other great products and services from The Phone Experts/Expert Security Solutions:
Expert IT Solutions– From cloud managed antivirus to our full suite of remote and onsite support options, Expert IT Solutions keeps your business concentrated on business not your IT infrastructure. We keep your data secure by using our online back up services, available to all business service clients, and offer multiple combinations of services to fit your business needs.
Consumer Solutions – Phone Experts Consumer Solutions, provides wireless and internet services across Alberta, this includes Optik TV solutions, and rural services. Offering the latest cellphones, smartphones, prepaid devices and tablets!
Business Solutions – Go where your business takes you! Enable business growth and success with the right solutions and services from Phone Experts Business Solutions, backed by network reliability and industry expertise. We keep your business connected on the go.
The Phone Experts/Expert Security Solutions
ADDRESS:
4724 – 60th St, Red Deer, AB T4N 7C7
PHONE:
403-343-1122
EMAIL:
[email protected]
Alberta maintains a balanced budget while ensuring pressures from population growth are being addressed.
Alberta faces rising risks, including ongoing resource volatility, geopolitical instability and rising pressures at home. With more than 450,000 people moving to Alberta in the last three years, the province has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to address these pressures and ensure Albertans continue to be supported. Alberta’s government is determined to make every dollar go further with targeted and responsible spending on the priorities of Albertans.
The province is forecasting a $4.6 billion surplus at the end of 2024-25, up from the $2.9 billion first quarter forecast and $355 million from budget, due mainly to higher revenue from personal income taxes and non-renewable resources.
Given the current significant uncertainty in global geopolitics and energy markets, Alberta’s government must continue to make prudent choices to meet its responsibilities, including ongoing bargaining for thousands of public sector workers, fast-tracking school construction, cutting personal income taxes and ensuring Alberta’s surging population has access to high-quality health care, education and other public services.
“These are challenging times, but I believe Alberta is up to the challenge. By being intentional with every dollar, we can boost our prosperity and quality of life now and in the future.”
Midway through 2024-25, the province has stepped up to boost support to Albertans this fiscal year through key investments, including:
- $716 million to Health for physician compensation incentives and to help Alberta Health Services provide services to a growing and aging population.
- $125 million to address enrollment growth pressures in Alberta schools.
- $847 million for disaster and emergency assistance, including:
- $647 million to fight the Jasper wildfires
- $163 million for the Wildfire Disaster Recovery Program
- $5 million to support the municipality of Jasper (half to help with tourism recovery)
- $12 million to match donations to the Canadian Red Cross
- $20 million for emergency evacuation payments to evacuees in communities impacted by wildfires
- $240 million more for Seniors, Community and Social Services to support social support programs.
Looking forward, the province has adjusted its forecast for the price of oil to US$74 per barrel of West Texas Intermediate. It expects to earn more for its crude oil, with a narrowing of the light-heavy differential around US$14 per barrel, higher demand for heavier crude grades and a growing export capacity through the Trans Mountain pipeline. Despite these changes, Alberta still risks running a deficit in the coming fiscal year should oil prices continue to drop below $70 per barrel.
After a 4.4 per cent surge in the 2024 census year, Alberta’s population growth is expected to slow to 2.5 per cent in 2025, lower than the first quarter forecast of 3.2 per cent growth because of reduced immigration and non-permanent residents targets by the federal government.
Revenue
Revenue for 2024-25 is forecast at $77.9 billion, an increase of $4.4 billion from Budget 2024, including:
- $16.6 billion forecast from personal income taxes, up from $15.6 billion at budget.
- $20.3 billion forecast from non-renewable resource revenue, up from $17.3 billion at budget.
Expense
Expense for 2024-25 is forecast at $73.3 billion, an increase of $143 million from Budget 2024.
Surplus cash
After calculations and adjustments, $2.9 billion in surplus cash is forecast.
- $1.4 billion or half will pay debt coming due.
- The other half, or $1.4 billion, will be put into the Alberta Fund, which can be spent on further debt repayment, deposited into the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and/or spent on one-time initiatives.
Contingency
Of the $2 billion contingency included in Budget 2024, a preliminary allocation of $1.7 billion is forecast.
Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund
The Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund grew in the second quarter to a market value of $24.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024, up from $23.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.
- The fund earned a 3.7 per cent return from July to September with a net investment income of $616 million, up from the 2.1 per cent return during the first quarter.
Debt
Taxpayer-supported debt is forecast at $84 billion as of March 31, 2025, $3.8 billion less than estimated in the budget because the higher surplus has lowered borrowing requirements.
- Debt servicing costs are forecast at $3.2 billion, down $216 million from budget.
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Trump’s government efficiency department plans to cut $500 Billion in unauthorized expenditures, including funding for Planned Parenthood
From LifeSiteNews
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy shared their plans to ‘take aim’ at ‘500 billion plus’ in federal expenses, including ‘nearly $300 million’ to ‘progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.’
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are planning to ax taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood as part of their forthcoming work for the next Trump administration, they revealed in a Wednesday op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
The businessmen have been appointed by President Donald Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work from outside the official government structure to cut wasteful government spending and excess regulations, as well as “restructure federal agencies,” as Trump announced last week on Truth Social.
Musk and Ramaswamy shared Wednesday that as part of their work at DOGE to downsize government spending, they will be “taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended,” thereby “delivering cost savings for taxpayers.”
They specifically called out Planned Parenthood as one institution that will lose taxpayer funding once DOGE kicks into gear. In their op-ed, the duo said the federal expenditures they plan on cutting includes the “nearly $300 million” dedicated “to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.”
Musk and Ramaswamy also reportedly will take aim at the “$535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations,” according to Catholic Vote, although they have not shared all of the federal spending they plan to cut or reduce.
“With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government,” the business duo wrote. “We are prepared for the onslaught from entrenched interests in Washington. We expect to prevail.”
Mogul and X owner Musk, who was outspoken before his DOGE appointment about the big problem of waste, noted last week that if the government is not made efficient, the country will go “bankrupt.”
He reposted a clip from a recent talk he gave in which he explained that not only is our defense budget “pretty gigantic” — a trillion dollars —but the interest the U.S. now owes on its debt is higher than this.
“This is not sustainable. That’s why we need the Department of Government Efficiency,” Musk said.
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