KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails?   Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com 
**********************

Can you use residential contract for commercial /  Comment on police response

May 13, 2023
************************
Can you use residential contract for commercial
***********************
Ken
          We have only a handful Commercial Alarm Burg customers....can we just edit our Residential for this one particular Commercial Customer to sign...or should we order a commercial Burg contract?
  Thanks
Jayson
****************************
Response
****************************
          Legally you can use the Residential All in One with commercial customers; but not the other way around.  If we are talking about very few accounts and you don’t care about the value of those accounts/contracts if selling your business, then use the residential form.  It's not however a way to build your business.  I suggest you invest in your business and get the Commercial All in One and the Disclaimer Notice if you didn’t get it with the Residential All in One
          By the way, there is no good option for commercial fire; you need the Fire All in One.  I am often asked if that contract form is needed if the alarm company intends to do just one commercial fire alarm.  The answer is yes; there is no such thing as “slightly pregnant”; either you do commercial fire or you don’t. 
*************************
Comment on police response
*************************
Ken
          Thanks for your 4.28.23 detailed comment to my question, does alarm company have obligation to tell potential or existing customers what real police response time and policy is.  As usual, it is good advice. 
          At the end of your comment, you said.. “the alarm does what it does; deter, detect, signal and dispatch when appropriate. That alone is worth the price”. 
          In our opinion, that part of the comment“…and dispatch when appropriate”  is the root of the false alarm problem that has plagued the industry for decades. The traditional industry “Standard” for … “dispatch when appropriate”, is almost meaningless due to the severe fragmentation within the interlocked segments that delivers $15 Billion annually.  We have given Law Enforcement lots of experiences and documentation to justify their position to lower the credibility of monitoring firms with slow-or-no priority for police response, unless witness of 911 type threats. The new Standard to be introduced this year, TMA-AVS.0-1,#3&4.rev1, could be a good start to retain and build RMR market value.
Lee Jones
***********************
Response
***********************
          I don’t know what the proposal from The Monitoring Association is so I can’t comment on it.  The alarm industry doesn’t control the police, obviously, and customers either understand and appreciate the value of their alarm service or they don’t.  If they want to find out police response they can call their local cops, or they can set off their alarm and wait.  Obviously if the sale is in a jurisdiction where the alarm company knows there is no police response [if there actually is such a place] then the sale pitch shouldn’t lead the customer to believe the alarm will trigger police response [perhaps without something more, like eye witness confirmation].  I note that the SimpliSafe television commercials mention police response [if I recall correctly] and I don’t think it’s too much to believe that local government is actually going to do their job and provide police protection for the general population and not just the politicians and higher up government officials who enjoy chauffer service as well as police protection. 
          I am firm in my convictions that:
  *  fines for false alarms should not be levied against alarm companies
  *  the added value alarm systems bring to the table far out-way the cost of false alarms  
  *  alarm permit fees should be banned unless the permit holder is getting something the general public is not getting
          I just want to mention that in my neighborhood I get letter all the time from the police advising the use and setting of alarm systems.  We also don’t have false alarm fines. 
*********************

STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm /  Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com
***************************
CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304.
***********************
ALARM ARTICLES:  You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles  updated daily        *************************
THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily.
https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange
*************************
Wondering how much your alarm company is worth?  
Click here:  https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth
******************************
Getting on our email list / Articles archived:
    Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list.  Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up.
**************************

Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com