A commercial security technician installs and services cameras, door access and alarm panels for offices, stores, warehouses and apartment buildings. They answer the urgent calls when a door won't lock or a camera goes dark. They keep detailed service records and hold the alarm license their state asks for.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, security systems companies · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for installing, troubleshooting, and maintaining commercial security systems to ensure robust protection and seamless functionality, contributing to overall client satisfaction and company reputation.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Install commercial security systems including cameras, access control systems, and alarm panels with precision and adherence to industry standards.
Troubleshoot hardware and software issues swiftly to minimize system downtime and disruptions.
Perform routine maintenance and inspections to ensure optimal system performance.
Collaborate with customers and internal teams to tailor solutions that fit unique security needs.
Maintain detailed service records and documentation for each task and client interaction.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct on-site installations and system upgrades while ensuring compliance with safety regulations.
Respond to customer service calls and address concerns related to system performance.
Review work orders and provide accurate time estimates for troubleshooting and repairs.
Liaise with vendors and suppliers to source necessary equipment and parts.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
System Installation Accuracy: 98% first-time installation success rate.
Response Time: Resolve customer issues within 2 hours of service call initiation.
Maintenance Completion Rate: Complete 95% of scheduled maintenance visits on time.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Achieve a minimum rating of >4.8 stars on feedback surveys.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Associate degree in electronics, communications, or related technical field preferred.
Minimum of 3 years’ experience in installing and maintaining commercial security systems.
Proficiency in troubleshooting low voltage and security systems.
Strong customer service, communication, and problem-solving skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working within the security, telecommunications, or low voltage industries.
Background in reading and interpreting technical diagrams and blueprints.
Proven track record of successful project installation and maintenance in commercial environments.
Familiarity with emerging security technologies and industry compliance standards.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift and carry equipment weighing up to 50 pounds.
Frequent climbing of ladders and working at heights.
Exposure to varying weather conditions when working outdoors.
Extended periods of standing and walking during installation and service calls.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours typically between 8 AM and 5 PM with occasional overtime as needed.
On-call duties to address emergency service calls outside regular business hours.
Travel required to various commercial sites within the service region.
Work in diverse environments including indoors, outdoors, and confined spaces.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Hourly rate: $25 - $35 per hour based on experience and certifications.
Eligibility for performance-based bonuses and commissions.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
Retirement plan (401k) with company matching and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company fosters a culture of innovation, teamwork, and continuous learning to empower every employee.
We are dedicated to delivering high-quality services while investing in professional and personal growth.
Our collaborative environment encourages open communication and the sharing of ideas.
We value inclusivity, customer focus, and a commitment to excellence in every aspect of our work.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Security work puts a tech inside locked buildings and into alarm systems that police answer. On top of the trade skills, state boards and city halls layer on licenses and rules.
Texas licenses each alarm installer
In Texas, the Department of Public Safety licenses alarm installers one by one. Door access installers get a license of their own. Each license holder must work for a company DPS licenses. A new alarm installer takes 16 hours of Level 1 training within the first 12 months, with 2 of those hours on the low-voltage parts of the electrical code. Renewal takes 8 more hours every two years. Source: Texas DPS: Continuing education requirements by private security license type.
California registers alarm agents
California's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services registers alarm agents. These are the people an alarm company hires to sell, put in, service, watch over or respond to alarm systems. Agents need to be 18 or older and go through a state and FBI record check. While the paperwork is pending, a new hire with no criminal conviction may work on a temporary card. Source: California BSIS: Alarm agent fact sheet.
The license check isn't your background check
Texas and California each take fingerprints and run their own record check before they license an installer. If you also buy a report from a screening company, federal law has its own steps. You give a notice on a page by itself and get written consent. If the report leads you to reject someone, they get a copy of it first. Ask your lawyer about state and city fair-chance rules too. Source: FTC: Background checks, what employers need to know.
Cities regulate false alarms
Albuquerque charges alarm users once they pass three false alarms in a permit year, and it regulates installers too. An installing company needs a city alarm business permit. Installers hand each new user the city's false alarm sheet, may not put in systems with automatic voice dialers, and wear a company photo ID issued after a background check. Check each city's rules before your first job there. Source: City of Albuquerque: Alarm ordinance.
A microphone changes the legal picture
Camera video of a door or a loading dock is one thing. Recording what people say is another. Under Washington law, recording a private talk is unlawful unless every person in it agrees. Telling people first counts as their agreement there, if the warning is recorded too. Leave camera audio off unless the customer has cleared it with their own lawyer. Source: RCW 9.73.030: Intercepting or recording private communications (Washington).
How much commercial security technicians make
The closest BLS group for commercial security technicians is security and fire alarm systems installers. Security and fire alarm systems installers who work for security systems companies earned a median of $28.95 an hour ($60,220 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $60,070 median for security and fire alarm systems installers in all industries. About 55,660 of the 86,340 security and fire alarm systems installers in that survey work for security systems companies.
The template pays this tech by the hour, plus bonuses and commission. Put your on-call rules in writing. Under federal rules, a tech who must stay at your shop, or so close that they can't use the time as their own, is working; one who only has to leave word where they can be reached generally isn't.
Security systems companies
$60,220$60,220 median Middle half $48,090–$72,820 10th–90th $38,630–$79,350
All industries
$60,070$60,070 median Middle half $47,820–$73,690 10th–90th $38,800–$81,150
$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Security systems companies
$38,630
$48,090
$60,220
$72,820
$79,350
All industries
$38,800
$47,820
$60,070
$73,690
$81,150
BLS doesn’t publish pay for low-voltage contractors on their own. These figures cover security systems services, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has installed and serviced commercial access control, IP camera and intrusion systems
Programs panels, readers and recorders and reads their event logs to find faults
Works a service call alone and writes up what was found and fixed
Holds or can get your state's alarm license, where your state has one
Keeps the customer posted while a door or camera is down and gives honest repair times
Teach these on the job
Your brands' programming software and dealer portals
Your maintenance checklist for each system type
Your on-call rotation and when to call for backup
Local alarm permit and false alarm rules in your area
Quoting small add-ons and upgrades during a service call
Expect a laptop with access control, recorder and panel software, a multimeter, a PoE tester, a camera test monitor and a stocked service van. Name the platforms you install and service, since programming skill doesn't always carry over from one brand to the next.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Fire door hold-opens
A building manager asks you to hold a fire-rated stairwell door open with a magnet that isn't tied to the fire alarm. What do you do?
A strong answer: Explains fire doors can be held open only with listed devices that release on alarm, declines the request and offers a proper solution with the fire alarm contractor.
Behavioral · Solving hard commercial problems
Tell me about the toughest commercial system problem you fixed. How did you narrow it down?
A strong answer: Gathered event logs and the symptom history, tested one part at a time, such as power supply voltage, wiring, network or programming, proved the root cause and confirmed the fix held on a later check.
Pull these from your service software each month. Look at urgent calls and scheduled work apart, since the two compete for the same tech's day.
System Installation Accuracy
Commercial installs that pass the walk-through and go live with nothing left to come back for: no missed device, wrong setting or failed test. Log the cause of every return.
Response Time
Time from the customer's call to the problem being fixed, taken from ticket time stamps. Keep night and weekend calls in a separate column.
Maintenance Completion Rate
Scheduled maintenance visits done in their planned week, against all visits due. Missed visits roll forward, so show the backlog next to the rate.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Surveys from the site contact after service calls and installs. Read what they say about updates during an outage, since that's when business customers judge you.
In some states, and not always through one agency. Before you send a tech into a new state, check its alarm or private security board and its electrical board, since low-voltage work can fall under both. Then check the city. Albuquerque, for one, makes every alarm installing company hold a city alarm business permit as well as the state license.
How much does a commercial security technician make?
Security and fire alarm systems installers who work for security systems companies earned a median of $28.95 an hour ($60,220 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $48,090 and $72,820 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can a service call clear a customer's false alarm?
In some cities. Albuquerque lets the installing company send the repair invoice to the city's False Alarm Reduction Unit when it fixes a system within 10 days after a false alarm. The city then deletes that false alarm from the customer's record, up to six times per permit year. Train techs to write up the cause and the fix on every false alarm call.
What happens on a maintenance visit?
A good visit tests every device, not just the ones the customer mentions. The tech checks the batteries in panels and power supplies and cleans camera lenses. They make sure the recorder keeps video as long as it should, update firmware, and check that doors latch and release as set. The report lists anything worn out, with a quote to fix it.
What do applicants want to see in a commercial security tech posting?
Name the access control, camera and alarm platforms you work on and the types of buildings you serve. Say which state license is needed and whether the company covers it. Explain how the after-hours rotation works and what it pays, describe the service van, and give the size of the region techs cover.
