The first half of Joan Coolbaugh’s last name gives an accurate description of how she handles alarm situations. Sometimes hearing from a monitoring center operator means it is an urgent situation for the security system client. Customers of Affiliated Central are instantly calmed by Joan’s cool, collected voice as she answers the call and their concerns. It only takes a few minutes speaking with Joan to realize she has both the professionalism and personality to make her an excellent monitoring center operator.

“I enjoy what I do, and I think I am pretty good at it,” Joan says. “I have a way of dealing with people that has a calming effect on them. My only regret is sometimes I wish I could have that effect on myself!”

Although Joan became a part of the Affiliated team this year, she has honed her calming skills over the past 11 years as a monitoring center operator for another company. Even after all that time, however, she admits she has been challenged to learn even more about the industry after seeing how Affiliated Central’s state-ofthe- art systems offer far more capabilities than the competition.

“I don’t have anything bad to say about my previous employer, but I was amazed at how much more Affiliated is getting out of basically the same type of system,” says Joan. “My last company didn’t utilize the many intricate information screens when answering alarm situations. I was amazed at all the different codes, mapped zones and even the well-documented procedures. We did not utilize all of that at my last job, even though they were using the same system.”

Joan began working in the monitoring business in order to stay close to home and help her daughters take care of their children, Joan’s grandchildren. When not at work, Joan’s top priority is spending time with her three grandchildren.

“I still watch my oldest grandson after work,” she says. “He is 15 now and I have been watching him since he was a baby.”

What started as a local job with flexible hours has grown into a very successful career for Joan. She feels grateful to have found a profession for which she is so naturally suited. Her only regret is not coming to Affiliated Central sooner.

“I wish I had joined Affiliated 11 years ago,” she say. “I worked for a very nice company before, but Affiliated is the future.”