Marlcliff Security Services / BG-Demo – Kickoff
Callcompleted
Marlcliff Security Services · 9 Jun 2025 15:45
Kickoff on 9 Jun 2025. Sharon Tilley wants one place for sites, incidents, calls and invoices. Rhys Gulliver pressed on Snowflake access. Live incident alerting was deferred, and Sharon said she will remind BG-Demo.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Kickoff on 9 Jun 2025. Sharon Tilley wants one place for sites, incidents, calls and invoices. Rhys Gulliver pressed on Snowflake access. Live incident alerting was deferred, and Sharon said she will remind BG-Demo.
What happened: Kickoff with Sharon, Kamal Hussein and Rhys for the customer, and Daniel Okafor and Laura Penhaligon for BG-Demo. Laura set out four stages: access, connectors, client mapping, then training.
Customer view: Sharon's goal is to stop account managers opening three systems and to stop clients hearing about incidents from their own staff. Rhys wants the grants list in writing before anything is created.
Commercial: The control-room system only offers an overnight export, so incident data would be a day old. That falls short of Sharon's overnight false-alarm example. Daniel treated live alerting as a later sequencing question, which may become an upsell or a complaint.
Watch: Forty Growth users, group permissions and a second client code needing a mapping spreadsheet are all open. Sharon said budget stays with Nigel, so scope changes must go through him.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Kickoff and single client view
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Laura Penhaligon sends Rhys and Kamal the grants list by Wednesday morning.
- Sharon names a first reviewer from the account managers by Thursday.
- Daniel Okafor sends the call notes by the end of the week and revisits live incident alerting after the first phase.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The control-room system only supports an overnight export, so incident data would be a day old against Sharon's overnight-alert need.
- The client code mapping spreadsheet is described as mostly right and shakier for small accounts.
- Rhys needs the grants list before anything is created and will be tied up with an audit afterwards.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Live incident alerting was parked for later and could become a follow-on engagement once usage is established.
- Sharon wants all account managers in from day one, which supports broad adoption of the Growth licences.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, hello. Can everybody hear me all right? I think I've got Sharon and Kamal on already. Rhys, I can see you in the lobby, I'll let you in now.
Rhys GulliverAfternoon. Sorry, I was stuck on another call. Can you hear me? My headset has been playing up.- Daniel OkaforLoud and clear. Thank you all for making the time, I know Monday afternoons are never anyone's favourite. Just to check who's here: from our side it's me, Daniel, I'm your customer success manager, and Laura Penhaligon, who is going to be your implementation consultant. Laura, you're on mute, I think.
Laura PenhaligonSorry, yes. Hello everyone. Good to meet you properly. I've only seen your names on the order paperwork so far.
Sharon TilleyHello Laura. Sharon. Before we start, can I just say, my week has been a lot. We had an alarm activation overnight at a client site and the keyholder didn't pick up for ages. Which site, which shift? Night shift, thankfully, and it was a false alarm. But what did the client hear from us? Nothing, until I rang them myself at seven this morning.- Daniel OkaforOh, that's not a nice way to start the week. Did you get it sorted in the end?
- Sharon TilleySorted, yes. But it's exactly why we're here. The control room knew, the account manager didn't, and the client heard it from their own staff. That's the thing I want fixed.
Kamal HusseinHi all. Kamal. I'll just say I've got no open tickets to report because we haven't raised any yet. So that's a clean start, at least.- Daniel OkaforA clean sheet is a good place to begin. Right, let me say what I'd like to get out of the next hour or so, and then Laura will take us through the plan. The aim is that by the end, everyone knows who owns what, what we need from your side, and what the first couple of weeks look like. How does that sound?
- Sharon TilleySounds right. Short and practical, please. I've got a handover at half five.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood, we'll be done well before then. Sharon, perhaps you could start by telling Laura, in your own words, what you want account managers and the control room to be able to do. I know I've heard it, but she hasn't.
- Sharon TilleyOkay. We look after a couple of thousand business clients across the South West and South Wales. Guarding, mobile patrols, alarm monitoring. Right now, if a client rings their account manager, that person has to open the rostering system, then the control-room log, then the finance system to see if the client is behind on invoices. Three places, and half the time they don't match. I want one place where an account manager can see the client's sites, the incidents, the calls and the invoices together. And ask it a plain question.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's really clear, thank you. And credit control is in that picture too, yes? I saw that on the scope.
- Sharon TilleyYes. Credit control want to know if a client has had a bad month of service before they chase them. Otherwise we send a reminder the day after a missed patrol. Not clever.
- Laura PenhaligonNo, I can see that. Right. So what I'll do is walk through how we run the implementation, and please stop me anywhere. The short version is that everything is built inside your own Snowflake account. We don't copy your data off to our systems. We connect your sources into it, B-Viz indexes them there, and then people ask questions through pages, chat and search.
- Rhys GulliverCan I jump in on that? That's the bit I care about. When you say inside our Snowflake account, who actually holds the keys? Because I have to answer to our insurers and a few of the larger clients on how their site data is handled.
- Laura PenhaligonFair question. It's your account, so you hold the keys. We're given a role with the permissions we need to build and run the layer, and you can see and revoke that role at any time. Nothing sits outside.
- Rhys GulliverAnd that role, is it scoped? I don't want anything with admin over the whole account.
- Laura PenhaligonScoped to the database and warehouse we create for B-Viz. I'll send you the exact list of grants in writing this week so you can have a look before we do anything. If you don't like something on it, we change it before we start.
- Rhys GulliverGood. Yes, please do that. I'd rather read it than be told it.
- Daniel OkaforCompletely reasonable, Rhys. Just to close the loop on that one, Laura sends the grants list, you review it, and nothing is created until you've said yes. Kamal, you'd be copied in on that as well, I imagine.
- Kamal HusseinYes please. I'll be the one running most of the connections, so I want to see exactly what's being asked for.
- Laura PenhaligonWhich brings me to the connectors. In the order form there are the sources we've promised to bring live. From what I read, the big ones are the rostering system, the control-room incident log, the finance system, the CRM and the call recorder. Is that how you'd describe it, Kamal?
- Kamal HusseinRoughly. The control-room system is the awkward one. It's quite old and it doesn't have a proper interface. We export from it overnight. I'll check the connector options, but I may need to think about whether we point you at the export rather than the live system.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's fine, an overnight export is workable. The nightly refresh is built around that anyway. What it means is the incident data would be as of the previous night, not live. Is that acceptable for what Sharon wants?
- Sharon TilleyHmm. For account managers looking at history, yes. For the thing I said at the start, the overnight false alarm, no, they'd not see it until the next day. Is that a deal-breaker for the first phase, or is it something we can come back to?
- Daniel OkaforI wouldn't call it a deal-breaker at all. I think it's a sequencing question. Let's get the history and the client picture right first, and we note live incident alerting as something to look at once you've seen how people use it. I don't want to promise something today that Laura and Kamal haven't looked at.
- Sharon TilleyFine. Write it down, though. I will remind you.
- Daniel OkaforI'm writing it down as we speak.
- Laura PenhaligonNoted on my side too. Right, the next thing is client identity, because it's the glue. Kamal, when I join an incident to an invoice to a call, what's the common key? Is there one client code across the systems?
- Kamal HusseinWhich client code is that? That's the honest answer, because there are two. Rostering and finance share one. The control room uses its own, and there's a mapping spreadsheet that someone in the control room maintains. It's mostly right.
- Rhys GulliverMostly.
- Kamal HusseinMostly. I'd say it's good for the big accounts and shakier for the small ones. I never trust it without checking.
- Laura PenhaligonOkay, that's really useful to know now rather than in week three. What I'd suggest is we take that mapping early, load it, and run a check for any client that appears in one system and not the other. We'd give you the list of mismatches and you or someone on the control-room side decides what's right. We don't guess.
- Sharon TilleyLet's get the account manager on it for the big ones. They know their clients. Nobody else will spot that a site has moved or a contract has been split.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a lovely idea, Sharon, and it's a good example of why the people matter as much as the plumbing. Could you name someone who'd be a sensible first reviewer, or would you rather come back to me?
- Sharon TilleyI'll come back to you. I want to pick someone who won't be on leave. Give me till Thursday.
- Daniel OkaforThursday's perfect, thank you.
- Laura PenhaligonSo let me lay out the shape of the work, and then we'll talk owners. Roughly, there are four stages. First, access and security: the grants, the Snowflake set-up, who's an admin. Second, connecting the sources one at a time and checking each is loading properly. Third, the client mapping and the sense check with your account managers. Fourth, getting people into it with some training, and then we step back and see how it's being used.
- Kamal HusseinIs there a runbook for the connectors? If I'm doing this, I want it written down. It's in the runbook is my favourite sentence.
- Laura PenhaligonThere is, and I'll tailor it for your systems as we go so you end up with something specific to Marlcliff, not generic. You'll have a backout step for each connection too.
- Kamal HusseinGood. I don't change anything live without a way back. Especially not the finance system near month end.
- Laura PenhaligonUnderstood. We'll plan around month end so nothing lands when your finance team is busy.
- Rhys GulliverGoing back to access for a moment. Who gets to use this? I saw forty licensed users in the paperwork. Is that forty named people, and can I control which of them see what? Credit control shouldn't necessarily see everything the control room sees.
- Daniel OkaforForty users, yes, that's what's licensed on the Growth plan. Laura can say more on the permissions side, but I'd say, honestly, it's a place where we should agree a simple starting position and refine it.
- Laura PenhaligonYes. We set it up by group. Say, account managers, control room, credit control, and then you decide per group which sources they can ask about. Kamal, as admin, can adjust that. I would start tighter than you think and open up, rather than the other way round.
- Rhys GulliverThat's my preference. Can I see the groups before anyone logs in?
- Laura PenhaligonAbsolutely. Nobody gets an account until you've signed off the groups.
- Sharon TilleyHow many of the forty are account managers? Because I'd like all of them in from day one. If half of them are in and half not, nobody trusts it.
- Kamal HusseinI'd have to count. The account managers and the control-room supervisors are most of it. Credit control is a few people. I'll put a list together.
- Daniel OkaforThat would help, Kamal. And Sharon, you make a good point. In my experience the accounts that get the most from this are the ones where the whole team starts together, so people have someone to compare notes with. How is the team finding it so far, by the way? Have they heard much about it?
- Sharon TilleyThey've heard a rumour. Half of them think it's another reporting tool. I've told them it's a way to stop opening three systems. I'll do a short note this week so it comes from me.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be wonderful. If you want, I'm happy to look over a draft, but you know your people far better than I do.
- Sharon TilleyI'll manage. Brisk and honest, that's the style.
- Laura PenhaligonLet me pick up on timing now. I don't want to give you dates I can't hold, so here's how I'd put it. We start with access this week, assuming Rhys is happy with the grants. The first connector should be live within the first stretch after that, and I'd choose the CRM or rostering first because they're the cleanest. The control-room export is the one that might take longer.
- Rhys GulliverI can turn the grants review round quickly if you send it by Wednesday. After that I'm tied up with an audit for a bit.
- Laura PenhaligonThen I'll aim to have it with you by Wednesday morning at the latest.
- Daniel OkaforWhich I'm happy to chase, so if it's not in your inbox, tell me and not Laura. Sorry, Laura, that came out as pressure.
- Laura PenhaligonNo, that's fine, it's a good backstop.
- Kamal HusseinCan I ask about credentials? For the finance system we use a service account. I'd rather create a new one for B-Viz than reuse it, so we can see what it does.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's the right way to do it. Read-only, a separate account, named so everyone knows what it's for. I'd recommend the same for every source.
- Kamal HusseinAgreed. I'll make a list of the accounts I'd create and send it to you and Rhys.
- Rhys GulliverPlease. And name them clearly. I once spent an afternoon working out what an account called test two was doing.
- Sharon TilleyDon't we all have one of those.
- Daniel OkaforHa, we do. Now, a word about how we'll stay in touch, because I want you to know who to ring. Laura is your day-to-day contact during the build. I'm here for anything about how it's going overall, and to make sure it's delivering what Sharon needs. Lewis Kerr, who looked after the commercial side with you, stays your account owner for anything contractual.
- Sharon TilleyYes, Lewis was good. Straight with us on what we were buying. And budget stays with Nigel, I'll say that now, so if anything changes in scope, it goes through him.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Nothing changes scope without it going through you and Nigel. I'd want that anyway.
- Laura PenhaligonCould I check one more thing on the finance side? The invoices, are those per client and per site, or only per client? It affects how we link them to the incident data.
- Kamal HusseinMostly per client, some large ones are split by contract. I'd have to look at how that shows up in the export. Give me a few days.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's all right. Could you send me a sample, with the client names blanked, so I can see the shape?
- Kamal HusseinYes. I'll do that tomorrow.
- Rhys GulliverSorry, one more on my side, and then I'll stop. Support. If something breaks at four in the morning because a nightly load fails, who sees it? Is that us or you?
- Daniel OkaforA bit of both, really. The refresh runs overnight and is meant to be complete before the working day starts. If it doesn't complete, you'd see it, and so would we. Anything you raise goes through the helpdesk, and on Growth there's a defined first response for urgent items. Laura and I will walk you through the route properly once things are live, so it isn't a surprise.
- Rhys GulliverThat's fine for now. I just want to know before it happens, not after.
- Sharon TilleyThat's my line.
- Daniel OkaforIt is. Right, I think we've covered a lot. Can I try and close the loop on actions, and tell me if I've got any wrong? Laura sends Rhys and Kamal the grants list by Wednesday. Rhys reviews and says yes or tells us what to change. Kamal sends a list of the service accounts he'd create, and a sample of the finance export with client names blanked, tomorrow. Sharon gives us a first reviewer from the account managers by Thursday, and sends a note to the team this week.
- Kamal HusseinPlus a count of who the forty users are, by group. I'll have it with the other things.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, Kamal, yes. And on our side, I note the question about live incident alerting as something to revisit after the first phase. Laura?
- Laura PenhaligonAnd I'll send a written plan for the first few weeks after I've seen the grants response, so it reflects what Rhys has agreed. I'll also set up a short weekly check-in so we aren't relying on emails.
- Sharon TilleyWeekly is good. Fifteen minutes. Not an hour.
- Laura PenhaligonShort and focused, I promise.
- Daniel OkaforI'll come back to you all by the end of the week with the notes from today, so there's one place to look. Anything else before we let you go? Sharon, your handover?
- Sharon TilleyI'm fine. Thank you both. Let's get the account managers on it. Thanks, all.
- Rhys GulliverCheers, everyone. Speak soon.
- Kamal HusseinThanks. Bye for now.
- Laura PenhaligonThanks all, speak to you on Wednesday. Bye.
- Daniel OkaforBest wishes, everyone. Thank you again for your time.
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