JSB Surveillance is a Minnesota-based security camera and alarm systems company. With over 12 years of experience, they service customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Their high-quality video security and surveillance options give businesses a sense of security.
Let’s start with an introduction. What is your background? Where did you go to school and how did you end up with JSB Surveillance?
I grew up in Golden Valley, Minnesota. I attended Hopkins High School and graduated from The University of Kansas with a Journalism Degree. After graduating from KU, I went back to school to get a Microsoft and Cisco Systems Engineer certificate. I was always interested in computers and technology. When the opportunity came up to install a camera system in one of my families’ restaurants, I jumped on it. I found the technology so fascinating that I started a small business selling these systems to other bar/restaurant owners. The rest as they say is history. . . That was about 12 years ago. We have grown exponentially since then and have increased our product line to include all types of camera and alarm systems.
The availability of inexpensive high-speed internet has been a huge deal. When I first put that system into our family business we would dial in using a 36.6kbps modem to watch the cameras. The video (more like slow moving pictures) were horribly slow to load. Now with broadband everywhere, we can stream high definition video to your Smartphone, PC or Tablet. It’s incredible and one of the biggest reasons our systems are in high-demand.The cameras/recordings devices themselves are also much improved. We used to use 380 TV Line cameras (they were considered high resolution). Now the lowest resolution we sell is 700TVL and all of our other cameras are measured in megapixels. To put this in perspective, our lowest megapixel IP camera (1.3mp) provides 15 times the clarity of the 380TVL camera I was selling 10-11 years ago. It’s pretty amazing.
How is most of your day spent as the President/CEO?
I spend most of my time meeting with clients and working on estimates. I also put a good amount of time into managing our advertising and providing support to our customers.
What was your most surprising challenge since starting the company?
Keeping up with the technology. Every year there is something new to learn and to be trained in.
How does JSB Surveillance plan to grow moving forward? Capture more market share? Where do you see the most significant growth?
Since we specialize in security camera systems, they will continue to be our bread and butter. There’s a lot of demand and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. We have also introduced more product lines such as our alarm systems and their integration with alarm.com. Both types of systems can be completely monitored and controlled via a Smartphone.
How important is customer service to JSB Surveillance?
We are one of the only companies in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa that focuses on security camera systems. We therefore know the technology inside and out. Many local security companies have vast product lines, but they seem unable to master any of their products.
Chasing my kids around. Since I’m away from them for most of the week I take full advantage of our time together!
