******************************
Comments On DIY From October 9  2015 Article
*****************************
Ken
    Legal Zoom for lawyers is the the equivelent of DIY for alarm systems.  Sure we can all do a lot of things with out the real thing.
Dennis Nethercott
****************************
Ken,
    As I have spent a lot of time working with clients in the DIY space over the past few years, I wanted to share my thoughts.
    It seems, as expected the topic of DIY is getting its due share of attention.  Gene raises many good points as DIY relates to our industry as well as other industries.  I would like to add a few more points.  Although the term DIY for the most part is self-explanatory, what is not obvious is how this segment in our industry is bifurcated.  You have the DIY that are systems or components that are off the shelf or over the Internet and are not really “Professional Class” Systems, nor are they supported or monitored  by professional security companies.  Systems as these are really not the competition for professionals and at best may expand the market to consumers who may never subscribe to a professional system and services.  The big concern with these “down and dirty” systems is the potential effect it could have on false alarms (even though they may not have monitoring).  Where the real potential exists and where some notable growth and positive results are being experienced, is another sector.  This is the sector where security professionals are selling “Professional Class” systems that they program, test and provision in a custom sense for each customer and include telephone support and professional UL central station monitoring.  I personally have experience on different levels with most of the respected players in this space.  What most don’t see is how deep these organizations are and how vast the infrastructure is that supports the Gold Standard companies in this space.  From a competition standpoint, I think most traditionalists are missing something very important.  As Gene stated, this new channel isn’t creating massive erosion of the traditional market, its creating an expanded market in the same manner that the Free system create an expanded market.  Granted, you may experience some erosion, but the wider expansion and awareness far outweighs any erosion. &nb! sp;Here are some real facts.  Not everyone that seeks out a DIY system, buys a DIY system.  Some do nothing and some actually subscriber to a traditional system and dealer.  This comes after some of these very intuitive and smart DIY companies have educated these potential subscribers in a way that traditional dealers lack.  We have to face some facts.  Most traditional dealers are World Class when it comes to installing, servicing and monitoring.  At the same time most also lack quite a bit when it comes to marketing and sales.  The DIY companies on the Internet are doing a fabulous job educating the world.  This is why this segment is likely to experience some of the greatest growth.  The byproduct of this great effort, is that some trickles down and the intuitive traditional guys will pick up some of this business while the market channel expands.
    As I have stated in articles I have written and in my upcoming seminar at ISC East, DIY is Not for the Meek.  This is a very serious business, that must be understood and respected.  It is another great expansion for our industry.  More awareness and greater growth as an industry.  Like anything else, you will  always have the good, the bad and the ugly in any space.  Let’s focus on the good and the application of best practices.  DIY is good for the industry and should not be excused from following the rules and regulations that we all follow.  Ken has done a great job in supporting this sector from a legal standpoint.  I have first-hand experience with his local and nationwide DIY Monitoring Agreements and they are perfectly tailored for anyone who is serious about competing in this space.
    Regards,
Peter P. Giacalone, President
Giacalone Associates, LLC
www.giacaloneassociates.com
*****************************
Ken
    I couldn’t agree more with Gene from Reliable Alarm regarding his comments in the October 9 2015 article.
    I’ve been in the alarm business for over 37 years, the last almost 10 years on my own.  I do not have very many monitored accounts at all and I don’t depend on RMR to keep my business afloat.  My business depends on some sub-contract work, repeat business from existing happy and satisfied customers and new projects with good margins.  I don’t do any advertising and depend solely on my existing customer base and their referrals.
    I agree that if you build “the big machine” you need to feed it with the RMR from hundreds, if not thousands of monitored accounts, but the main goal should be to keep and expand revenue base from new installations, large projects, service, test and inspections, etc.
    This being said, I don’t believe the DIY programs will have a huge impact on good, quality, time tested alarm companies and contractors.  As a very good friend of mine once said “when all these people purchase equipment and systems online to install themselves have service issues, let them call the internet to service and repair it as well”.
Robert E. Klein
RK Electronic Services
Monroe, CT
*****************************
MORE COMMENT ON SUPERVISED POWER SUPPLIES FROM OCTOBER 15, 2015 ARTICLE
******************************
Ken
    Re: Keith Fisher’s comment in the Oct 15 2015 article.  
    We are all subject to what our manufacturers provide us.  We don’t have to assume anything when we install products.  These problems can be left to the Quality control team of the large corporations who wholesale there product to us.  I would comment if a large corporation who wholesales to dealers, a product, and we install it, there is no expectation that we as dealers have the ability to make sure the equipment is ok.  Liabilities fall back on large corporations.  This is why we call them Large and were small. 
    The equipment I sell, it says in the installation manual, that the backup battery is tested under load every 24 hours.  From a legal stand point I don’t care.  In other words the manufacturer says it and I am going with it.  I don’t have the capability to test and see if what the manufacturer and distributor are saying is true.  There is no expectation that the end user shouldn’t trust what the manual says.  The trust but verify doesn’t apply.
    I have witnessed several times in the past manufacturers, cut corners to save a penny. A penny over hundreds of thousands of units adds up.  In every instance it came back to bite the manufacturer in the ass.  The penny they tried to save cost them a fortune.  In fact several times the companies were sold off to other entities because of this.  The word has spread thru out the manufacturing industry to just say no to the bean counters.  Everyone looses when the bean counters are trying to save the corporations money when it comes to quality control.
Dennis Nethercott