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Question:  Hired as subcontractor to program fire alarm
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Ken
    A sub of an electrician who installed a fire alarm at a 17 unit apt bldg called me to program the fire lite panel he installed. Guy he normally used is awol. 
    Who do I have sign a Standard  Fire Alarm contract?  There is the owner/developer, the electrician and the sub he hired to install the fire alarm. That guy is who called me. 
    Is this okay I will cross out purchase price for sales, and full service and just let it be for service?
    As a follow up, the electrician gave me a competitor's central receiver number and account number and  expected me to do the programming on the spot.   I would have no time to have the end user sign anything. Plus the electrician already tried to start programming and got the system in trouble. Oh, and there were a connection or two to make. Plus I'm not getting any recurring, so I politely explained he should call the monitoring alarm company to finish up this work. 
Regards,
PW
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Response
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    I think you made the right decision to pass on this job.  The few bucks you were offered wasn't enough to pay for the potential nightmare.  
    But you had the right idea.  The Commercial Fire All in One was the right agreement to get the end user to sign.  You should have insisted on getting the inspection, monitoring and service RMR from the end user.  Not likely that the electrician was interested in those RMR items [only because most electricians don't know from RMR].  Had you gotten involved in the fire alarm installation or programming without a proper contract, and my guess is that the electrician didn't have a proper fire alarm contract, you would be exposed for a long time if that alarm failed to operate as the subscriber expected [and as you know that is quite a different expectation than the one you have].  In your case you should have used the Subcontract Agreement.  That form would have started with a representation by your hiring contractor that it has a proper contract with the end user, which in this scenario is not the case.Since the "general" contractor didn't have a proper contract it's appropriate for you to insist that your All in One be signed by the end user, even for just programming.
    All forms of security have the potential of exposing the security professional to liability.  The risks attendant with fire alarms are easy to imagine and you would be delusional to believe that those scary scenarios can't happen with your subscribers.  They can.  
    Any security services need to be pursuant to a proper alarm/security agreement signed by the end user.  That means either you or the contractor hiring you, needs a contract directly with the end user.  There are no acceptable short cuts or excuses.  Get the contract signed before you do the work.  While I don't necessarily endorsed strict non flexible business practices, I think this is one area where it's appropriate.  
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follow up on Mobile Marketing
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Ken,
    Thank you once again for the opportunity to contribute to your daily blog.  You recently posted our perspective in fighting fraudulent door knocking campaigns by increasing customer engagement via the GoVivo Mobile Platform. We’ve received many inquiries about our solution from the post. For all, the ability to increase customer retention was a high priority, but what became very clear was how excited dealers are with the ability to reach a new pool of customers for their current products, effectively creating a new strategy to acquiring customers.  One alarm company owner said “There hasn’t been a new way to market alarm systems in 20 years, we tried Facebook and social media and it was a colossal waste of time!” 
    When we designed GoVivo, we designed it with the goal of not only being great for customer retention and engagement, but with a clearly defined mobile marketing strategy to create viral sales opportunities.  The GoVivo strategy puts your brand on both your current customer base, and an entire new group of potential customer’s smartphones, creating viral and referral sales.  Meaning, one that gets both current customers and potential customers to interact with you from the app.  A strategy to expand your customer base, provide a competitive advantage with commercial accounts and creates an asset that can be leveraged into new revenue streams. 
    GoVivo is not a technology that you resell, it is a technology to create more opportunities to sell your current solutions.  For more information we are listed in the alarm exchange or complete the online form at http://govivomedia.com/get-started-dealer/
    To Your Success,
John Hoffe
hoffej@govivomobile.com
www.govivomobile.com
GoVivo Media Inc.
760 298-1214
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