A word with Claire Poyser-Blair – Sales & Customer Service Manager

When did you start at EMCS, have you always been in Sales / Customer service?

I joined EMCS in the Summer of 2000, I began my journey here as an Administrator working alongside
Michael Crampton managing the RedCare orders and within a year I moved over to the Sales Department as
the National Sales Co-ordinator. Very soon I was put out on the road covering the entire UK; England, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales. In 2004 I was promoted to Sales & Customer Services Manager.

With the big switch off in 2025, how has the PST swap-out been going and how have you been assisting installers?

As an ARC I believe EMCS have been more proactive than our competitors, we have been advising our
customers about ALL IP since around 2018. My team and I actively discuss the project with our customers
when conducting customer service visits, supplying data on signalling devices that need to be swapped out
along with product options for these products to be swapped to. We now have the added benefit of
packages from both BT Redcare and CSL Dualcom to offer our customers in support of this project.

How many people do you have in your department?

Currently, we have 8 team members in our Sales Department, which consists of 5 people on the road
including myself and 3 team members in the office; 2 Sales Administrators and 1 Sales Co-ordinator/Office
Supervisor. Ordinarily we ran with 3 Sales Coordinators, however due to Covid19 most of our meetings are
being held via Video call, which means less travel time for the guys allowing them extra time to manage their
own diaries. This will be readdressed when we are”fully” moved on from Covid and our meetings are all
conducted face to face. Sadly Tom Bell, our Regional Sales Manager for the North, is due to retire in April
2022; Tom will be sorely missed by all of us at EMCS and by our customers who he has serviced and looked
after for the past 15 years.

What are EMCS’s biggest selling points and what makes you stand out from a service point of view?

Our unique selling point is that we are completely independent and still family run, which means we can
make decisions in house very quickly without lots of red tape that our competitors have to adhere to. We
have a strong team of department managers that are dedicated and passionate about the business and
ensuring that our customers are properly serviced, that targets are exceeded and that our team members
are happy.The management team have a mutual belief that a happy workforce, with team members that
enjoy their jobs, is paramount in the delivery of an excellent service that EMCS strives to provide. This is
also reflected in our amazingly low levels of staff turnover. I truly believe that we are the best Alarm
Receiving Centre in the security industry.

Finally, what does the future hold for Alarm / VSS monitoring?

With the sharp rise in fuel and manpower costs it’s now more than ever, more cost effective for businesses and
homeowners to protect their properties via electronic security systems and services rather than having guards
on site. With this in mind, along with the revelation and success of the Police Authority’s ECHO system for
Alarm monitoring, I believe that both Alarm and VSS monitoring will continue to thrive. So long as EMCS are
consistent in providing the excellent service that we promise our customers, we too will thrive along with it.