Entrepreneur
Buddy Mason

Company Information
American Digital Security
140 Westwoods Dr.
Liberty, MO 64068
(816) 415-4237
www.securitybyads.com

Type of Business Security

Year Founded 2002

Employees 22

Keys to success
“What I think a lot of companies don’t do, is they don’t build partners, they build customers. We build partners.” -Buddy Mason

Buddy Mason owns a technology company. In fact he loves technology, admitting to getting “geeked out” when it comes to new electronic components. But it isn’t technology that drives this Liberty, Mo., entrepreneur. Mason is motivated by the grainy video footage of Kelsey Smith being abducted from a Target parking lot in Overland Park, and the often blurry faces of suspects seen in store robberies. Mason is especially motivated when he considers Columbine, and how vulnerable kids are when schools are not properly secured.

Mason’s company is American Digital Security, which provides businesses and school districts with video surveillance and other electronic security systems. A sister company, DVR Distributors, sells security equipment nationwide. For Mason, overall security comes first when it comes to his customers—technology is just a means to that end.

“I don’t only preach cameras when I go into a school to do a security consultation,” Mason said, “I don’t say, ‘Buy a camera system from me.’ I say, ‘Lock your

school down first. Stop people from walking in your school.’”

Mason and his team take a holistic approach to security for their customers, from the basics of locking down facilities to improved lighting. Then comes the camera and surveillance technology—and impressive technology it is.

A Clear Advantage

Most people have seen on the TV news the grainy, often out-of-focus images of a criminal caught in the act. Although the face is sometimes indistinguishable, those images from analog video cameras are often the best chance for catching suspects. The new generation of IP megapixel surveillance equipment from ADS provides a clear advantage—literally—over the old analog systems (see examples on the next page).

The image quality of digital cameras can be 10 to 25 times greater than analog, with cameras ranging from one to 29 megapixels.

Behind the Camera

Even the best 29 megapixel surveillance camera is useless on its own, however, so ADS provides integrated Network Video Recorders (NVR) systems and proprietary software to capture, store and analyze the incoming video images.

The systems not only allow for visual identification of people, they can read car license plates and cross-check against a database. For example, by reading car license plates, the surveillance system can alert security personnel if a fired employee drives into the company parking lot.

The camera system also can  electronically monitor activity in a space and alert security if someone walks into the restricted area.

That technology also provides benefits after an incident. If vandalism occurs overnight in view of a camera, with old analog systems someone would have to scan hours of video to find when it occurred. With ADS technology, a line or box can be electronically drawn with the software and the system will automatically search for when someone crossed that line or entered the boxed area via pixel search. Within a matter of seconds, the system will find when the incident occurred and show the suspect.

Comprehensive Security

ADS evaluates many factors when conducting a security assessment at a location. One of the key factors is lighting, which affects camera performance. That’s why the company often does product demonstrations at night: so customers can see how the surveillance equipment will perform under realistic conditions. It’s also why ADS sells and installs LED security lighting. The lighting technology is just another component of the comprehensive security systems ADS sells, along with electronic card access systems, audio/visual entry systems and emergency panic stations for parks and universities.

“We do a lot of research and development,” Mason said. “Not that I want to be the ‘end-all, be-all’ to everybody, but I do want to carry the products that are going to solve a problem.”

And that goes back to the company’s holistic approach to security.

“If something could happen,” Mason said, “then I don’t want to be the guy who didn’t tell you how to fix that.”

In addition to his own products and services, Mason has partners he works with and recommends to provide other security components to meet his customers’ needs. Mason said ADS complements what other security companies offer, including companies offering security personnel. In fact, he is partnering with a local guard company on providing services to shared customers, where ADS will install camera systems and the guard company will monitor those systems. The customer saves money by having fewer “live” guards, and the guard company doesn’t lose the business. The guard company also can monitor and protect more areas, dispatching security personnel when needed.

“It’s going to be a good partnership,” Mason said. “He’ll have several trained people in the video monitoring facility and when it picks up a person, it will automatically forward them jpeg images of who is on the property. At that time, they can see if they need to dispatch a security officer there.”

The ROI of Security

Leveraging technology to reduce costs for customers is a key strategy for ADS. Security equipment is an up-front operational cost, but Mason emphasizes the return on investment.

“Every time we look at a job now,” he said, “we look at it differently because of the economic times we’re going through. I know it’s going to cost them a little bit more money for the technology, but how can

I save money in the long run for them?”

Preventing theft is important to ADS’s business clients and school districts. It’s not only theft of “big ticket” items such as computers and projectors that hurt school districts, it’s also everyday smaller theft that many don’t think about.

“Lunch room theft has been cut in half in one of the larger school districts we did,” Mason said. “Lunch room theft used to cost that school district about $75,000 annually.”

That savings is important for his largest customer base, but there is another reason Mason is most passionate about working with schools: protecting the kids.

“As a parent, if you only knew about some of the technology out there, you would want that in the school,” Mason said.

The benefits to security technology extend beyond outside threats, Mason said. The cameras are helpful when it comes to “harmless” pranks, such as pulling fire alarms, but also something more serious—bullying.

“We talk about vandalism, and all that stuff,” he said, “but what about bullying? That all started with Columbine. The thought process when we go out and meet with people—they’re thinking totally different than they did 10 years ago.”

For his business customers, external and internal theft is a primary concern, but so is fraud associated with workers compensation claims and fake “slip and falls.” The return on investment can be significant when a company has evidence to dispute a million dollar injury claim.

A Secure Business Model

Providing customers with the dual benefit of personal safety and a direct return on investment related to theft and fraud has helped Mason grow his companies from $750,000 in 2002 to $9 million this year. About half of that comes from DVR Distributors, the sister company of ADS.

DVR Distributors, which specializes in the design, manufacturing and distribution of security system technology components, also accounts for a large percentage of the overall growth in revenue. In addition to being an authorized reseller for various brands through an online dealer portal, DVR Distributors also has its own ClearPix brand of integrated systems, including cameras, NVRs and the analytics software that power them. Mason said the company also will be coming out with its own brand of card access systems, called ClearPas along with his own line of wireless products to support remote cameras. Having his own equipment designed and built to his specifications allows seamless integration among components—the cameras, software and NVRs. Plus, because he’s the only one carrying the equipment, other online sellers can’t undercut his prices.

Mason’s companies have sustained growth during the recession and he projects $10.5 million in total revenue next year.

“Our business is growing because it doesn’t matter where the economy is,” Mason said. “If the economy is bad, we still have the opportunity to grow because people are stealing more or there is still that outside threat that scares everyone.”

The diversity in his business model—systems sales and installation, manufacturing and distribution of ClearPix equipment, reseller and distributor for other manufacturers—has broadened his revenue stream and pushed his growth.

“The good thing is we’ve grown a little over a million a year, and it’s been a slow consistent growth so we haven’t outgrown who we are.”

David Day is executive editor for Thinking Bigger Business magazine. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it