If you monitor subscriber alarm systems by subcontracting the monitoring to a wholesale central station, you need to read this article.

If you are a central station, monitoring other dealer's subscribers, you need to read this article. This topic was addressed in a previous article, but that article was lengthy and I want to make sure the issue receives the attention it deserves.

    Do you communicate instructions to the central station regarding your subscribers' systems? Can you put a system on test, vacation, change call numbers and authorized personnel, change zones and reporting instructions, change codes? Does your central station take instruction from you, either over phone, fax or email?

    If you or the central station answer yes to any of the above, then you must review your monitoring contract and the three party monitoring contract [between you, subscriber and central station] to find the provision that authorizes you to act for your subscriber.

    There are only a few ways you can be monitoring your subscriber's alarm systems.

1. The most dangerous way is without any contract at all. You have no protection. You must have your own monitoring contract; the three party monitoring contract your central station has you get signed by your subscriber is not sufficient to protect you. You must get your own contract and use it.

2. You use just your monitoring contract, and you either maintain your own central station or you subcontract monitoring to a wholesale central station, but that central station does not require that you use a three party monitoring contract.

3. You use your own monitoring contract and you also have your subscriber sign a three party contract provided by the central station. This is by far the best method of conducting your monitoring business; both for you and the central station.

    Some contract signed by the subscriber must authorize you to act on the subscriber's behalf when dealing with the central station. Without such explicit authorization you will be scrambling to find authority if there is a miscommunication that contributes to a missed signal and no response. If the central station has a direct contract with the subscriber [which it does with the three party contract] that contract usually has subscriber information including codes and call numbers, etc. If that contract signed by the subscriber does not authorize the dealer to make changes then by what right do you communicate those changes to the central station?

   If you are using your own monitoring contract, and a three party contract provided by the central station, you have two opportunities to include a provision that authorized you to act on behalf of the subscriber when dealing with the central station. Since that is typically the reality of the relationships, shouldn't your contract(s) provide for it?

    Failure to include this provision exposes you and the central station to unnecessary risk. Check your contracts today.

    If you can't find the provision that authorizes you to act for your subscriber then you should either get that authorization by separate written agreement [letter] and you should change your contracts.