KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Contract protection for telecommunication failure
/ More on husband and wife disputes / 
Why you should use our central station - webinars continue today

July 14, 2020
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Today's webinar:  starts at noon ET.  Register now:
UCC – United Central Control - July 14, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3503808614443052302
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Contract protection for telecommunication failure
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Ken
            Do the All-in-One Security and Fire All in One contracts include some relief from liability due to telecommunications failures?   We rarely if ever provided telephone lines with monitoring service but now we’re including cellular service from various wholesale providers that mainly rely on the Verizon or AT&T networks.
            Is there protection from failures in service that we provide but the operation and repair of which are beyond our control?  I suppose that would include failures of our 3rd party monitoring companies and their telecommunications providers as well. 
            Please advise, thanks!
Matt B
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Response
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            The Standard Form Agreements all provide insulation from liability because of communication failure.  The All in One contracts provide that you do not own the communication pathways, though the contracts do provide for you owning the radios if that’s the case.  If you are a re-seller for cellular service that would have to be addressed in the Schedule of Equipment and Services or a separate contract for the cellular service, or in both documents.
            As a general proposition, as long as your include your equipment and service in the Schedule of Equipment and Services the contract provisions are going to apply, and hopefully protect.  
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More on husband and wife disputes from article on June 30, 2020
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 Ken
            Thanks, as always, for supporting our industry, often in such entertaining ways!
            In short, "Dance with the one who brung ya".
            Husband had contracted for installation, and had signed a monitoring agreement, which included an indemnification clause on our behalf, as well as the usual exculpatory boilerplate language.
            He called one day, requesting a remote code change, and we complied. The following weekend, there was an intrusion with dispatch, followed by a furious voicemail message in our general mailbox. His wife had called in, demanding that we fix the alarm system, which she had ripped apart, trying to silence “the thing”, as "her" code no longer worked. She claimed that this was "her" home, and that the husband had no right to make the code change, etc, etc. We went to service the system, but declined, after taking photographs of the damage done. (We would not touch the system without his authorization, and commitment to pay for repairs.)
            Our dilemma: Which cease and desist letter should we honor,  the one from the wife's attorney, or the one from the husband's?  We received one from each, and both intended to make us indemnify their respective client against the other. Each threatened suit for damages if we did not comply with each demand.
            Obviously (at least to me), our contract obligated us to the husband, not the wife, in spite of (extra-contractual) claims by her that we were responsible to her, as the owner of the home. She claimed that her ownership predated the marriage, and the upcoming divorce. Not our circus. We were contracted with the husband for monitoring, and with no-one for free repairs.   
            The contract and the strength of protections therein, is all that mattered.
  We never heard from either party again.
Jim d'Entremont
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Response
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            You’re lucky they didn’t decide, with their respective lawyers, that focusing their anger against you would be more productive use of their time and more lucrative.  
            I think you made the right call.  Follow the contract [sort of like follow the money].  The husband was the contract signatory and had the authority to make code changes.  I don’t know if you use the Standard All in One, but apparently your contract does not require you to repair equipment intentionally damaged, no matter by whom.  
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Central Station* 2020 webinar series K&K is hosting webinars by central stations, one at a time, who will address "why you should be using our central station".  Each webinar will be approximately 20 minutes and then Q&A opportunity.  See what your central station has to offer or what others offer, enabling you to choose the right central station for you.  You should be using a central station listed on The Alarm Exchange to be assured of quality and more importantly, accountability.
  *  only central stations on The Alarm Exchange will be invited to participate
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Register Now for the CS webinar series: 
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UCC – United Central Control - July 14, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3503808614443052302
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Rapid Response - July 15, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2467263818567576075
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Dispatch Center - July 16, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5719660994972167691
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Statewide Central Station - July 17, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2654849298360793872 
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Affiliated Monitoring - July 20, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6582371903028819982 

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Dynamark Security Centers -  July 21, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2732409948268814863
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Stanley Security Wholesale Monitoring  July 22, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1266411303572956432
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Allstate Security Industries Inc – July 23, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7997485149440152333

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General Monitoring Services  - July 28, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6847800607085109776
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Cops Monitoring - July 29, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5614688421138368523 

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Security Partners - July 30, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2765625095170808591 
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National Monitoring Center - July 31, 2020
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2527889790544756495
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Central station 2020 webinars
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             Not all central stations listed on The Alarm Exchange have opted to participate in our webinar series, "Why you should be using our central station" and I've been wondering why.  Only answer I can come up with is, apparently, they don't think you should be using their central station.  Go figure.
            Our central station's webinars have begun.  Register now.  
            Central stations will have the opportunity to tell you what services they offer, to what extent the services are unique or specialized and what you can expect to pay.
  
            The webinars offer an excellent opportunity to interact with your central station, scope out another central station, and consider whether you want to move accounts or open new accounts with a particular central station.  Am I encouraging central station hopping?  No, but I am encouraging you to use central stations listed on The Alarm Exchange.  Why, for you, not me.  You get the added protection of knowing that the listed central stations are expected to deal with dealer issues and cooperate with a goal of resolving disputes. Those that fail to co-operate risk having their post removed from The Alarm Exchange.  That may not sound like a big deal to you, but check out The Alarm Exchange central station category.  Every major reputable central station is participating.  If your central station isn’t, move to one that is.  If you don’t, don’t bother complaining to me about problems you have with the central station; I have no relationship with that central station and won’t be able to make a call to resolve your issue.  
            So make some time to attend the webinars, by video or on your phone.  They will all be recorded and you will be able to view or hear them by visiting the K&K website and navigating to the alarm webinars:  https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars
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To order up to date Standard Form Alarm /  Security / Fire and related Agreementsclick here:  www.alarmcontracts.com
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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.
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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