A True Commitment to The Best Service at the Port of LA: A Q&A

I was surprised! This was really unexpected, to be honest. It’s funny, we put a lot of effort into all of the preparation for this visit and everything came together rather seamlessly, so when everything was over—it felt almost anticlimactic. It all worked out in the end and that was a rewarding feeling.

It all started with an unexpected call from a Secret Service agent.  A police captain gave them my info as they were looking to get a better understanding of the security systems here and—after being put on the spot for an impromptu cybersecurity scrutiny—we went over everything they needed to know. Being able to provide specific details of the systems at the Port gave them a high level of confidence in our installation and capabilities, so after that call, we quickly jumped into planning.

From there, I became the central point of contact between the Secret Service, the police, and the Port of LA. I even worked closely with the White House Communications Chief, which isn’t something we’d usually do, but given our knowledge about the Port, it just made sense—and we were more than happy to step up and help out wherever needed. From phone line installations to making sure there was data service everywhere, we helped ensure that everyone had the right equipment and everything they needed to be successful. 

The Port of LA came to us when they were looking for a change from their previous provider. We’re now going on 10 years of working with them and the relationship is stronger than ever. Several years ago, we gave the Port of LA a dedicated team that has our full attention. Our team motto is “Good enough isn’t good enough if it can be better, and better isn’t good enough if it can be best,” and I believe that makes a huge difference.

Over the years, we’ve been able to build a strong level of trust and have been fully “embedded”, as we like to put it. This means that we always focus on the quality of our work, and we’ve even become an extension of their organization to the point that some people might think we work for the Port and not Convergint, which we take as a complement to our service. We’re proud of the work we do and excited to see this relationship continue to grow.  We were awarded another 3-year contract this year and get to keep delighting this customer until 2025 for sure.

To me, “being our customers’ best service provider” goes beyond being available, answering the phone, or being on-site within two hours—it means being an extension of the organization, so much so that the line between being a service provider and an organization’s employee is blurred. There’s no task that’s too small and when our job is done, we don’t just call it a day. We make sure that everything we do is the best, so if anyone were to walk behind and look at it, they would say “that’s Convergint work.” When we see that something is out of place or needs to be replaced, we’ll take care of it.

We have a small team working at the Port of LA and everyone has their specialty that they are good at, so we know which colleague to call for backup.  Very few tasks can be achieved by one person alone. By having our individual complementary skills, we’re able to complete everything to the highest quality and focus on the small details. This helps a small team execute plans and run operations efficiently for an organization like the Port of LA. From my perspective, it comes down to knowing your customer and their operations so well that you can think as they do, think ahead and anticipate their needs, and look out for their best interest.

It’s hard to pick just one. I’d say my top memory is that, about three years ago, there was a dock labor union meeting to discuss automation and they expected 1100 people. The police realized some of the cracks in their planning and came to us at the end of the day before the meeting.  At the last moment, we worked with the Chief of Police to install additional security systems to get the coverage they needed, and we ended up working pretty late into the night. The Chief was grateful for our efforts—they even took the time to write a letter of commendation! This moment was a huge milestone for our relationship with the Port and set the tone for how we can work together.

Since then, they’ve realized that they can come to us during preplanning for any event—and for anything security tech-related—and they’re not afraid to ask! There was this other time when they asked us to create a prototype and we delivered it to them within a few days when we were given weeks to complete it. I’m proud to say that they were impressed. We’ve truly created a collaborative partnership with the Port of LA where we can brainstorm new ideas and solutions, even when it’s something we haven’t done before—and it’s an honor to see that they have such great trust in us and our ability to come up with unique solutions. I believe that this partnership and being an extension of the Port will continue to be the key to our long-term success.