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 white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.comsecure.mybiz.com and mybiz.com 
**************************************************************************************************
taking on more responsibility than you need to - what's wrong with that?
May 26, 2017
********************
    Many alarm company entrepreneurs believe their success is a consequence of their unique marketing approach and hands on services that they make available to their subscribers.  I am sure most business minded people believe they have something special to offer, something that makes them more successful than they would be without these business models or ideas, and something that sets them apart.  Sometimes these ideas work out and great success is achieved.  Other times, it's just a lot of hard work, failed ventures and busted dreams.
    I've heard this before, many times.  The alarm company owner wants to be involved in all aspects of the alarm services, often insisting that the central station contact the alarm company rather than the subscriber or contact both concurrently.  Why, what's the rationale?  The added involvement cements the dealer - subscriber relationship; shows commitment to the subscriber's welfare.  
    It also creates a plethora of additional exposure and potential liability, all of which you can do without.  How so?  What's wrong with:

  • central station instructed to contact only dealer upon receipt of signal
  • central station instructed to contact subscriber's contact list and dealer upon receipt of signal
  • automated communication, signal or video or audio data transmission, programmed to communicate to dealer and subscriber concurrently

    The customary and traditional model is dealer does installation, provides inspection and repair services.  The central station does the monitoring and communicates directly with the subscriber as appropriate.  The dealer gets a daily or monthly or some other periodic activity report of all signals received by the central station and how the signals were handled by the central station, but the dealer is not getting called by the central station during the alarm signal event.
    There are a few reasons a dealer decides to unplug the bed-side receiver and subcontract out the central station monitoring.  Why run a 24/7 operation when you can farm out the monitoring?  The monitoring company is, believe it or not, better equipped, better trained and more efficient in monitoring than you will ever be.  That means it will handle the signals better and much cheaper than you can.  That's not your experience?  Well, then, you're with the wrong central station.  [pick one from The Alarm Exchange].  Unless you are paying your central station well over $100,000.00 a month you are not in a position to run your own central station, at least not economically.  But I'm off topic a bit.
    You've selected the central station so you don't have to have a 24/7 operation.  What's the point of inserting yourself and your operation back into the loop so that now you still have to be available 24/7?  Maybe you have an answer to that question that satisfies you.  In that case, let's consider what additional exposure and liability you have.
    Presumably your involvement is for the benefit of the subscriber and the subscriber will be able to rely on your involvement.  If you're getting a real-time signal from the central station presumably you are expected to take whatever reasonable action would normally be required.  You are expected to act as any reasonable person should.  Are you going to decide whether there should be a dispatch if the central station has called you for verification of a signal and emergency condition?  Are you sending a runner or providing guard response, which you want to dispatch rather than have the central station dispatch [which would be its job and part of its services]?  Are you sending a repair person to the premises to effectuate repairs immediately?  Or are you or your designated employee on call for the evening going to roll over, go back to sleep, and deal with the signal in the morning?  
    Your relationship with the subscriber should be defined and confined to the terms of your written agreement.  Anything else you do for the subscriber will be outside the protection of that written agreement, will be gratuitous and your good deed.  Trouble is, no good deed goes unpunished.  What were you thinking when you told the subscriber you'll take the calls and make the dispatch decision?  Sure, you sold an expensive surveillance system with audio, two or more modes of communication and charged way more for monitoring than you are paying the central station to provide the monitoring services, but is all that enough to justify the exposure and liability, which I assure you, knows no bounds.  
    Think your written contract with the subscriber will protect you when you "go the extra mile".  Probably not if that extra mile takes you out of the parameters of the relationship described in the contract.  The Standard Form Agreements do have provisions that extend the protection of the contract to other duties you perform, the "extra mile" so to speak, but unless you have the Standard All in One form [or whoever wrote your contract copied from it] you won't have the protection you need when the time comes.  
    I don't think you should be taking on the additional exposure; you already have enough. Don't agree to do things you 

  • won't do
  • won't do well
  • have engaged others to do
  • are not customarily and traditionally done by those in your industry [there's a reason]
  • haven't documented and covered in your written agreement with the subscriber

******************

THE ALARM EXCHANGE

alarm classifieds alarm security contractsThis area is reserved for alarm classifieds, alarm company announcements, solicitations, offers, etc. Those wishing to sell or buy; borrow or lend; dealer program or dealer; central stations; insurance brokers; business  brokers, insurance companies. Equipment to sell; looking for employees; subcontractors; mergers;

There is no charge to post a listing here.Include your contact information, phone, email and web site.  If you would like to submit a posting, please send an email to ken@kirschenbaumesq.com.  To create a reciprocal link to our website, click here.
**************************************************************************************
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
516 747 6700
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
oovoo account: KenKirschenbaum