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 ********************** Comment on work from home issue from alarm expert December 7, 2023 ************************* Comment on work from home issue from alarm expert ************************* Ken To: any Central Stations who subscribe to Work From Home (WFH) Monitoring Consumers and other Subscribers do not receive any safety and security benefit whatsoever when their alarm systems are being monitored using the Work from Home (WFH) Method. Was the Work from Home (WFH) Method created to provide for more Safety, Security and Reliability of monitoring consumers and other subscribers protected premises? NO. The Work from Home (WFH) Method increases Central Station profitability. However, the adoption by UL of the Work from Home (WFH) Operator Method does not override nor can it just cause a morphic change to the terms and conditions of what the subscriber originally contracted with the Dealer to be provided with, as to the way in which the system was originally represented to be monitored by a UL Listed Central Station with Operators working inside of it. Why would any Alarm Dealer want to indemnify a Central Station who uses Work from Home Operators in the event of a claim? Why would any Alarm Dealer want to use Work from Home Operators instead of Operators working within the four walls of a Fortified, Fully Redundant, Generator Backup and Distraction Free Central Station? Why would any Alarm Dealer agree to Work from Home Operators if what they originally contracted for with each of their subscribers was Central Station Monitoring with Operators working from within the Central Station? Simply put, the Work from Home (WFH) Method is not and can never be tantamount to Operators working within the four walls of a UL Listed Central Station. It increases risk, vulnerability, and inherently provides for less safety, security, reliability, and access to a litany of distractions for operators that but for using the WFH Method, would never exist. The foregoing opinions are held to a reasonable degree of Professional, Technical, and Scientific. Certified Alarm Contractor, Approved Alarm and Law Enforcement Instructor, Certified Protection Professional, Board Certified in Security Management, NICET Level IV Certified, Certified Fraud Examiner, UL-STP 827 Member and Alarm Science Certainty. Jeffrey D. Zwirn, CPP, CFPS, CFE, SET, FASI&T, CHPA-IV, MBAT, NFPA 3000(PS) *************************** Response *************************** Other than assist with staffing issues it’s doubtful that WFH monitoring has any benefits, certainly not to the end users. As central station risk increases the alarm dealer’s risk increases because of the indemnity provision in the Dealer Agreement and because a lost account means more to the dealer than it does to the central station. What I think we are missing is technical discussion on how central stations have accommodated to reduce risk using the WFH monitoring model. These home operators are surely not working from their kitchen using their cell phone. One problem is that central stations are not willing to admit they permit work from home, at least not to their dealers. It seems like among central stations those who permit work from home are well known. Yet, even the central stations who don’t permit work from home and sound the warning bell, are loath to “out” their fellow central stations. The silence from those who should be speaking up is deafening. ********************* STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: 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. *********************** WEBINARS:https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* 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 / 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. ************************** 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
