Audio presents many benefits to security professionals: Alarm verification, crime deterrence and prevention, and conflict resolution, to name a few.

These benefits stem from the increased operational oversight and situational awareness given by audio monitoring technology. To the end-user, these are invaluable. And to security professionals offering and installing audio? Well, the benefits lie somewhere else.

Revenue.

Every business wants to increase their revenue. Whether you're a large security integrator installing equipment in corporate settings or a smaller shop performing network retrofit installs in brick-and-mortar shops, revenue is the ultimate bottom line.

Let's explore a few ways to increase your revenue.

Increase RMR

In many aspects, predictable streams of revenue are the future of business. Providing a product or service for a fraction of the cost instead of requiring one lump sum payment is beneficial to customers.

If you've picked up a trade magazine in the past few years, you know this is becoming true for the security industry. For end-users, a smaller initial investment up front means security isn't something that needs to be budgeted for years in advance. It's a manageable cost that can be paid monthly.

For you, this is your opportunity to offer more services. Instead of just offering video surveillance and monitoring, offer audio as part of the package. When you add ears to the eyes, you give your customers the benefit of knowing what's truly going on in their facilities. In other words, you add greater value to your offerings and ultimately, their security network.

Look at it like this: If a microphone costs $100 and you're able to increase your RMR by $10 by offering audio, the equipment itself will be paid off before long. Everything after the initial few months is money in your pocket. If you kept the client for 5 years, you would increase your revenue by hundreds. Multiply this by x projects over the years and you can see how beneficial audio is in increasing RMR.

Average Unit of Sale

In the security industry, getting to the actual point of sale is expensive. Pursuing a new project is a costly endeavor. By the time your proposal is submitted, you've already spent a significant amount of man hours working to map out the network and invested long hours in-house moving the project forward. This is before you've purchased any equipment.

Profit margins can be razor thin.

By increasing your average Unit of Sale (total cost of goods or services offered), your profit margins increase. In other words, audio is an excellent up-sell. Not only does the end-user reap the benefits of having additional monitoring capabilities, but you're able to increase the average Unit of Sale price per project or transaction.

Takeaway

As more and more end-users demand audio, integration companies who offer audio stand to benefit the most. Not only will audio provide additional services to your customers, it will differentiate your business among a crowded marketplace.

If you offer security as a service, audio is an excellent way of increasing the fabled RMR of your business. If your business operates in the more traditional sense, differentiating your product portfolio is an excellent way of increasing your revenue. Increasing the average Unit of Sale price drives higher profit margins on each product, leading to higher revenues per installation.

And, perhaps the most important reason of all: Audio differentiates your proposal from a crowded marketplace offering the same equipment as the next business.