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QUESTION - CENTRAL STATION CONTRACTS
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Ken,
    We have been using your contracts, and you have done some specialty work for us in the past.  We are getting ready to update to the latest and greatest versions. Thank you for the great service.
    We are considering changing central stations, and the new central station (Rapid Response), apparently uses you for their agreement. If we are using YOUR contract for our own work, and having read your comments about subcontractors, and subscriber agreements, how do you feel about our signing Rapid’s agreement as it stands?  Clearly they require us to indemnify them for any mistake, as well as require our insurer to list them as additional insured. 
    Obviously when reviewing the contract representing the CS, what is good for them may be bad for us, and since we would consider you as our attorney, I am only hoping for something that is fair to both sides, and does not expose us to needless liability concerns.
    Is that possible ?
  MS
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RESPONSE
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    Lots of central stations use our agreement, formerly called the Installer Contract and now called the Dealer Contract.  In fact the Dealer Contract has just been updated; it more fairly balances the bargain between dealer and central station.  However, something that doesn't change is the indemnity requirement.  You will be required to indemnify the central station.  The best way to handle this is to name the central station as an additional insured on your policy [or go to the same carrier the central uses], and limit your indemnity to the amount of available insurance.
    Most central stations, including Rapid, will accept the Standard Form Agreement in place of the Three Party Contract [the central station's monitoring contract].  That makes it easier for the dealer and actually provides better protection, provided the dealer's subscriber contract is up to date and properly executed.  
    Even if your central station doesn't require a copy of the subscriber contract before activating monitoring I think it's a good idea to send it to the central anyway.  Tell them to store it in their file.  Free redundancy.   
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QUESTION - AUDIO VIDEO ON PUBLIC BUS
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Ken,
    Is it legal for a transportation shuttle bus that Albany county owns that transports travelers to the airport from a parking lot to install camera and audio in their buses?
Respectfully
John Papaleo
Advanced Warning Security Systems, LLC
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ANSWER
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    Legal?  Who you gonna call, ghost busters?  It's a municipal bus.  Video is no problem.  Audio could be a problem.  New York is a one party state, so the bus driver consents to the audio.  Problem is that the driver isn't going to be party to every conversation that gets overheard and recorded.  Terms of passage may be dictated by tariff since this is a public bus.  A private bus could include consent in the ticket purchase agreement.  Sort of like printing the terms and conditions on the back of the ticket.  
    The audio isn't going to cause an issue until a private conversation with some juicy info is recorded and then broadcast on the Internet or Fox 5 news.  That's not likely to happen.  
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OHIO CONSUMER REQUIREMENTS
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Ken
    Does your contract address the disclosure requirements surrounding the Ohio Consumers Sales Practice act?
Matthew Allyn
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RESPONSE
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    Yes - there is noting in the statute that we dont cover   http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/1345
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