October 24, 2011
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Question
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Total Connect and Alarm.com are NOT self monitoring. That's something
that might be done with a tape dialer or something.
Customers CAN NOT get Total Connect or Alarm.com services on their own thru
those entities. They are only available thru an alarm company's central
station. Thus, that's not self monitoring.
Now, the customer might get a text message from one of these services about a
burglar alarm that just activated and call the alarm company / central station
to say that's probably false; don't respond. That'ss still not
self-monitoring. That's being a moron but it's also making the decision
to issue a no dispatch.
Honeywell still makes their alarms capable of calling a
telephone number and having a computerized voice tell the owner which device
is going off (gee, thanks Honeywell).
I just wanted to make sure that there was no confusion over Alarm.com and
Total Connect. Those aren't self-monitoring services since the central
station can't be cut out of the loop on those services.
Am I missing something from the original conversation?
David Myers
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Answer
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I think self monitoring refers to no central station live response -- does
that make sense?
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Question
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Ken,
We are entering in to a new business sector: Managed Access Control and Hosted Access Control. Have you created any contracts to deal with the lease/sale/installation/and recurring revenue for this business model?
Sincerely,
Jeffrey
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Answer
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Yes, get the Standard Access Control Administration Contract
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Comment on employee - or sub
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Ken,
The employee v. contractor relationship is often abused in California and I will not hesitate to file a complaint when contractor workers are used as employees. The few times I've used a contractor employee, I treat them in the same manner as any other contractor with a requirement for the appropriate license, insurance, and properly insured vehicle. The contract defines the result expected from the work and payment terms. The contractor is responsible for the method and manner of the work and is only held responsible for the result as defined in the contract for the specific job. And, a 1099 form is sent to the IRS. To hire a person as an alarm or low voltage contractor in California the person must possess either a trade specific state contractor license, or alarm company license and qualified manager certificate.
Dick Miller
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Question on Florida fire monitoring
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Hi Ken:
One of our bank customers have asked us if we can monitor their fire alarms. My question to you is this. We are EG certified (burg) in Florida and hold a state low voltage license. We are not fire certified. Our monitoring station, however, is fire certified. As long as another fire company does their inspections and service, can we provide the monitoring?
Thanks for your help in this matter.
B
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Answer
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Anyone in Florida have the answer to this one? I think the real question is can this alarm company enter into a fire alarm monitoring contract and sub out the inspection, service and monitoring.
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CCTV question
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Ken:
We are about to bid on a job to install an outdoor wireless camera system in the downtown business center for a municipal police department. It is possible that the system could later be expanded to cover public housing and other government owned facilities. I am concerned about the liability if the system fails to protect the public safety, etc. Can you recommend one of your standard contracts that is suitable for this situation?
Thank you
Tom
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Answer
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Yes, the CCTV sales contract https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/alarm2.htm