A central station located on the other side of the country may not be able to
provide some of the assistance or support that a local central station
can provide. On the other hand, a nationwide monitoring company may offer
the kind of support that you need and can't get from a local company. One
issue you should consider is what type of support are you likely to seek
from your central station.
A dealer can expect its central station to provide some or all of this
type of support, and this list is by no means all inclusive:
*
keep the dealer apprised of the local laws pertaining to alarm installations and
monitoring, and other laws effecting the dealer;
*
newsletters with current informative information;
*
information on current and proper contracts [my
favorite of course];
*
information on errors and omissions insurance, as
well as discounts if you use the central station's insurance carrier;
*
technical support for installations;
*
covering UL certificates;
*
monitoring fire or other special systems that the dealer is not licensed to monitor;
*
covering service calls;
*
providing certain clerical services such as
invoicing subscribers for the dealer;
*
newsletters directed to the subscribers that promote services of the dealer;
*
financial support;
*
available to purchase subscriber contracts when the dealer is ready to
sell
I am sure I have left out services that a central station could provide,
and may have included items that no central station does provide.
However, as a dealer you need to consider what items are important to you
when selecting your central station. It may not be important to you that
the central station keep you up to date on new laws or offer to cover
your service calls in a pinch. For others, service call coverage may be a
life saver for the dealer. Perhaps the clerical service provided by a
central station saves the dealer the expense of an employee, maybe even
an office. Even if you believe yourself totally self
sufficient and not in need of any of the support I mention above, there is
no reason not to consider the possibility of such need in the future when
making your selection. Remember this is only one of the several items I
mentioned in the overall process of making your selection for a central station.