• Someone trips the breaker or removes the fuse for the electrical circuit feeding the alarm control panel.
• Someone unplugs the transformer feeding AC power to the alarm control panel.
• Someone disconnects the AC power for the entire electrical panel (perhaps to perform work on a circuit).
• Someone who is planning to be away for an extended period orders their hydro supplier to discontinue service in order to save money (don’t laugh – it happens).
• A hydro pole near the affected site is damaged in an accident and hydro is disrupted.
• A storm moving through the area causes hydro outages.
• An accident…you get the idea!

Experienced monitoring station operators will tell you that few (if any) types of signals will lead to more aggravation than “AC Failure”. It’s one of those thankless situations we force on people. Some of the more common responses operators hear are:

• Okay, so it’s 3:30 in the morning. You woke me up to tell me my power is off. What do you expect me to do about it?
• Oh we are quite aware that the power is off. That would explain why we are sitting here in the dark, wondering whether anyone scored in overtime! Did our team win? Do you happen to know?

These are rather tame examples. The sarcasm can be much more caustic than shown here.

Now let’s look at other mitigating factors. If we go back far enough, we might remember the ice storm of 1998 that knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses throughout Quebec and Eastern Ontario. In 2004 most of Ontario lost power when something went wrong with the power grid in northern US, Ontario and elsewhere. Christmas week of 2014 saw a large portion of Southern Ontario with power lines being knocked out, once again by freezing rain. Even a lightning and thunder storm can cause havoc and power outages over a wide area. In some of these instances it took over 3 weeks before service was fully restored! Of course it is not unusual during such events, for power to be restore for a period of time only to disappear again – and again – and again!

The time required for an actual operator to handle each signal is an absolute minimum of about 10 seconds, so each operator can clear about 6 such signals every minute, or somewhere around 180 per hour. It’s simple enough to do the arithmetic and discover that over 50 operators would have to be working at top speed just to clear these somewhat meaningless signals – with others committed at the same time, to handle burglary, fire, medical, panic or other alarm traffic at the same time!

Obviously something has to give! Since computers can clear signals at a much faster rate than people, and given the information provided earlier in this article, the choice is a no-brainer. AC Failure signals will be forced into a log-only mode, thus permitting alarm signals to be treated more quickly and accurately. This procedure is referred to by some as Priority Processing Mode where priority is given to signals other than AC Failure.

Think about it for a moment. Would any of your customers have purchased an alarm system simply to monitor for AC Power Failure? Of course not. What they purchased was an alarm system to protect them against burglar and/or fire and/or medical emergency or hold-up. Their main concern might even have been environmental, such as a potential flood or a failure of their refrigeration system – but their primary consideration was certainly NOT to have the electricity supply monitored.

When such circumstances arise, you, as the responsible alarm dealer, must ensure that your monitoring station is properly informed IN WRITING so that continuous notification service can be made available, even when the station is operating in Priority Processing Mode. To avoid any nasty surprises, we recommend that you review your customer list now. Take note of those accounts that fit the “Continuous Service Required” category and send the list to your station.

So you have made the decision to run your own business – congratulations, although at times the path may be rocky, you will be able to set your own hours of operation, and you get to make the decisions on how your company will move forward.

Your first item of concern may be, do I need office space, or should I work out of a home office? What are the pros and cons of each? Here are some questions you will want to answer for yourself. There are also many articles on this subject on the web and in business publications that will provide further information.

This is your starting point before you jump in to any major decision. In the past, starting a business often involved rental or purchase of a physical location, but in today’s business world, working from a home office or rental office is becoming more common and accepted.

Do you need staff? Will you be selling product or doing repairs? Are standard working hours important to you or do you prefer a more flexible schedule? Are you rooted in your community or are you considering a move in the future?

Spend some time thinking and envisioning what your ideal situation would be and what environment would provide the most satisfaction to you before you move ahead with your plan.

Depending on where you are located, investigate what kind of space options you have, and the costs involved for each option.

Ultimately, the final decision is up to you, and for a start up business, there can be multiple advantages to at least start with a home office, as it is easier to move up to office or storefront options, rather than shift back if things are not working out quite as planned.

As with any major decision, the more research into options you can do before you make your move increases your chances of success. Get solid financial advice before you proceed in any direction, the tax implications of each option should be explored before you make your first steps.

Monitoring stations are often asked by their dealers to issue a certificate that can be given to their subscriber for use when applying “for a discount on their home or business insurance. Although this practice is fairly commonplace, it is not something that should be supported by the stations.”

Once the proper equipment is selected, it must also be installed in a prescribed manner that assures the most effective performance possible. Upon completion of the installation, the installer must provide at least one suitable and approved means of communicating alarm signals to a monitoring station that must itself, meet or exceed the standards demanded by ULC.

In order to be able to issue ULC Certificates, the installation company must itself be ULC-listed. The requirements for such listings include the need to apply for certification. Once the application is accepted, ULC will arrange for its field representative to visit at least 3 installations while accompanied by a representative of the installation company. Such visits are meant to ensure that the standards have all been met. During these field inspections, the alarm systems will also be tested through to the monitoring station, which must already have undergone inspection and listing in its own right.

Once ULC has satisfied itself that the applicant understands and can perform according to their standards, the installer company will be listed by ULC and will thereafter, in conjunction with that specific monitoring station, be permitted to arrange for the issuance of a ULC Certificate for each site that has such a requirement.

Annual follow-up inspections are also required. These follow-up visits will involve the random selection by the inspector of 3 sites for which the company has issued certificates. As during the initial inspections, it will be necessary to exhibit adherence to all standards, a signed agreement with the subscriber and a signed agreement with the monitoring facility (if it is a 3rd party provider).

There are obvious costs for all these services –both to the alarm installation company and the monitoring station – and those costs will largely be borne by the installing company.

With all that in mind, alarm dealers can, if desired, prepare and provide a certificate of their own that may well be accepted by the customer’s insurance company. Sample forms of such certificates are often available from your monitoring company and can be modified as required by your staff. In each instance, this “certificate” should show the name and address of the subscriber, the name and address of the installation company, the fact that the system is being monitored (if the station is ULC-listed it might be wise to mention that fact) and what types of signals are included in the monitoring service (burglar alarm, fire alarm, sump pump failure, etc.).