SIA New Member Profile: Security Reps

Security RepsSecurity Reps, based in Bluffton, South Carolina, is an independent manufacturer’s representative that recently joined the Security Industry Association (SIA). SIA exchanged email with David Tonsberg, Security Reps President, to learn more about his firm, which will be attending ISC West 2018 in Las Vegas on April 11-13. For more information, visit https://securityreps.com.

1. How did your company get its start? How did it get involved in the security industry?

Security Reps is an independent manufacturer’s representative firm that provides technical expertise to resellers, users and specifiers located in the Southeastern United States, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. The company was founded in 2003 by David Tonsberg who is president of the firm.

2. Who are the prominent executives at your company? If someone wanted to meet a key person at an industry networking event, who would that be?

Security Reps was formed as the result of David’s experience and having prior working experience at a different rep firm. David started his career in the security distribution business back in the late ‘80s. He worked as a contractor and later for a large surveillance products manufacturer before entering the rep business. The Security Reps team is comprised of individuals with historical working experience in technology and security. We use a focused, synergistic sales and marketing effort to sustain and grow sales for our manufacturers.

3. What’s your company’s biggest challenge right now?

One of our challenges is understanding how the robotics and artificial intelligence product developments will affect our business over the next three to five years. The challenge is also a new trend that we believe is important. The analytics and artificial intelligence for facial recognition are having an impact. These systems are primarily designed to solve problems associated with access control and visitor management.

4. What trends does your company foresee for the security industry in the next year?

The ability to recognize a person’s face accurately is important for helping to eliminate the managed control of antiquated and expensive card technologies. Facial recognition technology can improve the speed by which first responders are notified of known bad and suspicious persons. Many of the components needed for these types of systems are commercial off the shelf, helping to reduce the cost of implementation while offering full integration to physical access control systems.

5. What does your organization receive from membership in SIA? How do you plan to be active in the association in the near future?

We have been at ISC West every year and a few times at ISC East, working alongside our manufacturers. SIA represents the opportunity for our firm to become more actively engaged with the rest of the community. It is our intent to be a multi-faceted talented group that gives back to this community. We are now a SIA member and fully engaged. Go!

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).