The electronic security system and cellular phone
industries are dominated by large corporate franchises.
Yet a Jackson-based
family business has not only held its own even as the economy contracts, it
continues to grow.
John Campau, president and CEO of Comtronics, said his
company may use sophisticated technology, but the reasons for its success are
simple: It offers custom-designed systems at reasonable prices with a personal
touch.
Comtronics was started by the late Philip Campau, John’s father, in
his basement 50 years ago. John joined the family business in 1986 and became
president in 1994.
Under his watch, the security side of the business
has grown to 42,000 customers in nine states, all monitored from the 24-hour
alarm center Comtronics maintains at its downtown Jackson
headquarters.
Campau said Comtronics has invested $500,000 in the center over
the last year to make sure it has the newest, best and fastest technology. When
a bank teller in Atlanta hits the panic button, for example, the alarm center in
Jackson receives the signal instantaneously, dispatches the police and provides
streaming video to verify the alarm, he said.
“We have a very sophisticated alarm-monitoring
infrastructure,” Campau said. “We pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge
of technology.”
But service is just as important as the technology.
Rob Shields, field operations manager, said
Comtronics offers quotes from real people rather than automated voice mail and
works with customers to make sure their needs are met. “They’re being dealt with
the way they want to be dealt with,” Shields said.
As a result, Comtronics customers tend to be loyal
and refer others to the company, Shields said.
Comtronics has exclusive contracts with both
Citizens and Flagstar banks. Sandro DiNello, senior vice president of Flagstar
Bank, said Comtronics monitors the alarms for 175 bank offices in Michigan,
Indiana and Georgia.
“We’ve been doing business with them at least 15 years,”
DiNello said. “They have always provided first class service and very, very fair
pricing.”
Under Campau’s leadership, Comtronics diversified into cellular
phones 10 years ago, and the phones now account for 30 percent of the company’s
business.
Comtronics will soon open its 14th retail store at
W. Michigan Avenue and Brown Street. The building, a $1.5 million investment,
has a high-tech look and will serve as a prototype for other Comtronics stores.
Inside it will have a coffee bar, lounge area and more than 50 live phones on
display.
Peggy Calderone, senior account executive, said
cell phones have been around long enough now that people know that if they get
their phone from the Internet instead of a store, they will have to go back to
the Internet for service, and that will cost them both time and money.
Comtronics fares well against security and cell
phone giants
In contrast, Comtronics is “kind of the place you know,”
Calderone said. “It’s almost like a personal relationship. That’s what
(customers) want.”
Despite the economy, Comtronics set a five-year sales
record for phones in July and then topped it in December.
The R.W. Mercer Co. recently bought 110 phones
from Comtronics. Operations Manager Joe White said the construction company had
dealt directly with a national phone company but had a hard time getting service
so it went with Comtronics, which also provides its alarm service.
“They know
what my needs are. I don’t have to mess with it,” White said. “If they (phones)
break, are damaged, lost or stolen, I just point our people to Comtronics and
they take care of it. ... It’s like having an in-house communications department
for us.” Photo
Credit: J. Scott Park - Citizen Patriot. Ryan O'Leary,
middle left, a sales representative with Comtronics, shows mobile
phones to Michael Brown of Jackson in the main showroom at One
Comtronics Place near downtown Jackson. | 
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