KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Comments on request to take fire alarm off line / More on CS operators working from home September 21, 2022 ********************* Comments on request to take fire alarm off line from article on September 7, 2022 ******************** Ken Years ago, we had a call come in requesting details on one of our customers. The caller wasn’t in our records, but identified themselves as the property manager for an apartment building where we provided service. The person that took the call put them on hold, and we went down our own list of known, authorized staff. It turned out the caller was the daughter of one of the residents! After that we tightened SOPS and ensured our account managers always went by the book when it came to putting systems on test or disclosing any account information. Even if the client is comfortable with letting their relatively unknown subcontractors have this much control, it seems like an unnecessary risk. Name withheld ******************** Ken, Your response was more intelligent than SG’s. Bob ********************* Response ******************** Central stations should be very careful who they take requests from before taking an alarm off-line, no matter what kind of alarm. Authorization should be in writing. Getting it in the end user contract would be a good start. Dealers can cover themselves and the central station by using the Standard Form Agreements which designate the alarm dealer as the agent for the subscriber when dealing with the central station. ********************* More on CS operators working from home ********************** Ken As a network engineer by training with a utility background, I echo some of the other commentators. To deliver high availability monitoring services in a work from home scenario, the operators need to be widely dispersed. The northeast blackout demonstrated large areas of the country could lose power. Statistically, we see the frequency of outages decreasing, but the duration and scope of impact increasing. A similar trend is emerging with broadband providers, exasperated by consolidation in the industry. In many cases, an operator may only have one viable broadband provider who serves five or six states from a single "super headend". Geo-diversity doesn't address operational concerns - visual observation of the operator's computer screens by unauthorized persons (family), leakage of central station procedures, nor overhearing client passcodes, and so on. From the business perspective, distributing the workforce across multiple time zones brings the joys of being a multi-state employer. Have fun learning about California overtime rules, Minnesota's direct deposit requirements, Illinois' paid time off requirement, and Ohio's accrued vacation cash out at separation policies. Health insurance in multiple states? Folks, we don't have a technical problem here - the computer and networks can handle this whole work-from-home thingy. It's a people / man-made disaster problem. Bob Long Auburn IN ******************** Ken Gotta side with Bart and Morgan on the issue of remote monitoring being approved by UL after what I imagine was some heavy lobbying by TMA. Even my small company managed to set up a separate monitoring station in our office to isolate different monitoring personnel during COVID. This work from home America is not good for our industry or our country. Go back to work, people! Get out of your pajamas and off the couch! Jean *********************** Response ********************** It’s interesting that this discussion started with an article by Jeff Zwirn where he cautioned against remote operators. Jeff and I thought this topic would make a good webinar topic and I wanted someone who supported remote operators to represent that side of the issue. So far we haven’t heard from a single central station that they employ remote operators or approve of the practice. I don’t know if the “edict” whichever laboratory that approved the practice was temporary or “the new norm”, but so far no one is apparently willing to take that side of the issue. If the practice remains approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory [and I don’t think this really has anything to do with testing a product] then it is likely going to be recognized as acceptable practice despite all the reservations expressed by alarm industry experts. ******************** To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
