Selecting a central station to monitor your alarm subscribers should be one

of your more important business decisions. Certainly price alone is not the

sole criteria.  Disputes can arise, as you can see from the last email.  A

dealer, ready to retire and sell his subscriber accounts, found out that he

was under contract with his central station to continue the monitoring

service for 5 years.  This contractual obligation made his accounts less

appealing to another alarm company interested in buying the contract

accounts because that buyer had its own central station.  Here is a reprint

of an article that has been on my web site for several years.  The advice

is still sound, and of course we'd all like to hear from the central

stations if they have their own ideas.

 

Selecting a Central Station: Considerations

 

             Alarm dealers who do not have their own central station

facilities face the option of selecting from the plethora of companies

that provide monitoring for other companies. This is known as "wholesale"

monitoring or "third party" monitoring. Here are some issues that a

Dealer should consider.

1. Does the dealer require UL certified monitoring, and can the central

station (CO) provide that service?

2. Is the CO competitive in its prices for its monitoring service?

3. Does the CO carry industry accepted errors and omissions insurance?

4. Does the CO provide any type of support to the dealer other than

monitoring the accounts, such as technical support, assistance with

service or equipment, or discounted errors and omissions insurance

premiums?

5. Does the CO require that the dealer sign a contract, and does that

contract lock the dealer into a long term relationship with the CO, does

it require the dealer to indemnify the CO, and does it give the CO an

option, first right of refusal, to purchase the dealer's subscriber

accounts if the dealer wants to sell?

6. Is the CO also an installer that may actually be in competition with

the dealer?

7. Is the CO a local company providing monitoring to dealers in its

geographic area, or a nationwide monitoring company?

8. Will the CO permit the dealer to have its own telephone line coming

into the CO?

9. Does the dealer require the dealer to have all subscribers sign the

CO's monitoring contract, a "three party contract"?

10. Does the CO have a reputation for honesty, efficiency, providing good

monitoring service, keeping good records and being responsive to the

dealer when necessary?