another newbie, what to do with this Brinks alarm system?

hopefully ADT/ Tyco does well

I am not talking about some broker hawking their wares. I am talking about the folks, in the financial world, (which is not your stock broker or your

401K manager) that have looked at the company (ADT) and their creative accounting practices, scandels, lawsuits, tax burden, etc. Hell, they are still dabbling with their 1999 books to explain why they didn't pay over $50 million in taxes that year. You said it best "Almost" everyone.....with the rest happy to make a couple of dollars on their stock now and then. The stock increase, in the recent past, has had to do with the break-up, which was suggested by who, the financial world who suggested they get rid of ADT, and was driven by who, the stock holders, and was finally, after 3 years, done by who, a new board of directors try to salvage it. Not being argumentative, but I do have dealings, since I am just down the street from the Tyco building in Boca, with several top ranking folks in that office, as well as, NJ. Were they lieing about what had been happening?

I don't have to bash ADT. They have made their own bed, which is well documented. How many companies, can you name, that have had as many fines levied on them by different Attorney General's offices around the country as ADT. Name one company that has had to pay a single fine in excess of a million dollars to any single jursidiction. Can you name the jurisdiction that, after receiving and paying a fine for over $100,000, continued with the same practices until they were caught and received another fine in excess of $140,000. More money than brains, I guess, or is it a "we really don't give two hoots about your silly state laws or how much it costs us" attitude.

Local and regional companies don't support authorized dealership programs, allow unlicensed activity, within their programs, for personal gain, allow their state license to get suspended by ignoring state law, continue to violate state law and simply pay the fines when caught, shall I go on? You may be to far removed from what goes on in the streets, with ADT, to comment on these issues. I am not bashing ADT, just stating what is already out there. If you don't like the smell, don't open the can.

And they were using Moose and ITI products prior to that. They allowed their dealers to use a wide range of products, to include DSC, Caddix and FBI. You are talking to someone who worked with ADT folks here in Florida, Houston and San Antonio, TX, as well as, San Francisco in the late 80's. I did extensive work for ADT on their high end residential, for the two years after Hurricane Andrew, in the early 90's. I was close to the ADT people that opened and recruited for the dealership program, when it started, and was in close contact with their attorney in Boca during the demise of that same program, which included knowledge of the raiding of a dealers office with the Broward Sheriff's Office due to allegations of drugs and other illegal activities. Boy did that one stay quiet. I am not someone who is only guessing at what has happened to ADT over the last 20 years.

ADT uses EST, Bosch, DMP,

And I am removing a Focus system that was installed not more than three years ago in a commercial application. The clients ageement just expired.

Yes it is, however, the rest of the industry did not follow ADT's lead to this equipment as you suggested earlier.

What? Are you saying that dealers can't obtain this equipment? Come on! Any dealer can get any equipment they choose. I have been approached by many of these type companys to become a dealer for them, as have most other licensed companys.

Most of it was in recent history because they were previously using proprietary stuff for years. It wasn't until they started shutting down alot of their central locations, switching stations, etc. that they when more conventional. As fas as procedures go, that is irrelevant.

ADT also meets UL and DoD

OK

What you are missing is that ADT is ultimately responsible for all the crap that they allow their authorized dealers to do. It is irresponsible for a company to start, build, and profit from a program and than not accept any responsibility for the actions of the participants of the program. I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with the ADT attorney on this issue. In all fairness, he does send me a copy of the nasty gram he sends the dealer, when they get out of line, but the bottom line is that the dealer doesn't stop and ADT still funds the agreements. In other words ADT is not interested in enforceing their dealer contract as long as that dealer is producing. And......yes ADT corporate does have a higher price line but who drove that? The financial folks we talked about earlier and the accounting fiasco that ADT has themselves in. They couldn't continue with the "free" program or the $99 dollar program after that. It took a change of the Board to move in that direction. With their pricing, they don't write the amount of business they used to, so they continue to put the leads out to the authorized dealers whether they are conducting business illegally or not.

Ahhh.......It doesn't take me two to three weeks to get to a service call. That is a huge difference and I think most here, that are actually dealing with the end user, has come across this same end user concern. But, it is understandable. How many technicians does it take to service 5,000,000 customers in a timely fashion? You can call it being a victim of their own success but that isn't very comforting to the end user. You know this is a problem for them when they are on a mission to hire sub contract service techs. I get this call every couple of months, so I know it is happening.

I don't know what you mean by this, our primary panel is the Vista-15P/20P which was used by ADT long before any regular dealer could get their hands on it. Also the 8132 Symphony Internet keypad. a large number of peripherals including some GE stuff all created for ADT but now for everyone

The only equipment that I can think of where the rest of the industry didn't follow is with that Napco Freedom panel.

Actually it is much harder to get the above equipment compared to the standard stuff, especially DMP. Bosch isn't that much easier

It goes further back than the panels listed below. I am sure ADT had relationships with several manufacturers to customize product, private label, etc. for many years. I just remember, here in south Florida when they went to, for their resi installs, a conventional panel simply private labeled. Everyone was already using this or similar equipment prior to ADT using it. J made it sound like it wasn't until ADT started using these panels that the rest of the industry followed suit. Then when the dealership program started, again at least here in south Florida, ADT was accepting almost all major brands of panels the dealers wanted to install. I remember the memo going out to the dealers listing six or seven different panels they would accept, which were all readily available over the counter and had been being used by the majority of the industry. There was no standardization at all. I do understand that, some of what ADT had made for them at one point, is now available to open distribution, but is that an agreement between ADT and the manufacturer that if certain quantities are not met, the product goes on the open market? I don't know.

Didn't know you worked for ADT. I probably haven't been around the NG long enough to have picked up on that.

Do you think ADT, because of their mere size, may be a beta test site for product from these manufacturers? I am sure it would be smart, once all the approvals have been received, to use an ADT, give them a great price, to get it out in the market prior to putting it on the shelves. And...Iam sure, at times, ADT has gone back to these manufactures with specific requirements they want in a panel for instance. But I don't think, because there are so many choices out there, that companies are deciding on equipment just because it is what ADT is using. If I misunderstood J's post, I apologize, but it is hard to interpet things through his defense of ADT sometimes. He is definately a homer. I would bet his performance reviews are right up there.

Now their advertisement is on the inside cover of all the trade rags this month.

Yah..you do have to jump through some hoops to get to be a dealer. I realize you can't readily get these products through normal distribution, but if you choose to be a dealer and want to jump through the hoops, a legitimate company can become a dealer for any of these companies. Protected territories may be the only hurdle that could cause a problem, however, I haven't seen where they are that concerned about protecting territorys.

I actually just said "same equipment." I really don't know who was using the Vista panels when ADT switched from Moose in the mid-90's. I don't know much about the dealer program equipment choices. Most of the ones I've dealt with installed low end Ademco, but I know there are other options. ADT itself has agreements with Ademco to make all the regualr resi panels and the Focus 200/ Cadet. The small biz panel is DSC. The Napco Freedom panel was originally developed for ADT as a low end easy to operate system. The first generation wasn't well received, but I hear they've improved it some. About a year after ADT started selling it as the Safewatch EZ, Napco released it through distribution as the Freedom. It's an interesting concept with at least some potential to help eliminate false alarms.

I'm not sure about the residental side, but on my side of the business, ADT has an R&D group that seeks out new technology and works with manufacturers to develop it. There are several projects we're involved in right now with the US government to develop homeland security technology. One that has been made public is called Operation Safe Commerce. Yuo should be able to google that one.

That's how the Focus 200 versions have been done through Ademco.

I'm really not that much of a homer. You guys are tough. I understand that most people here only see the ADT resi/ dealer side of the company. ADT had real issues with the Tyco-fueled acquisition rampage in the late 90's through 2003. With Slink alone, we added 1 million accounts. That was tough to manage. The dealer program also spun out of control during this time as well, probably because the people responsible for oversight were focused on the acquisitions. I hear the dealer thing has drastically improved and ADT stopped buying companies and now is focused on organic growth and lowering attrition.

By the way, Tyco is keeping the "Tyco International" name for the new company that will consist of Fire and Security, the engineering group, and the safety products group. Essentially, they're spinning off heathcare and electronics into separate companies. ADT currently accounts for about 10% of Tyco's revenue. With the new company, ADT will be about 30% giving ADT a much bigger role in determining the stock's performance. ADT is Tyco's biggest producer of cash and essentially operates without debt, so it's viewed by management as an asset and is supposed to be the cornerstone of the new Tyco.

The thing with security systems is that you never know when you need one. Best to be safe and protect your family. Just call and have them reconnect the service. It's relatively inexpensive, in my opinion.

On Friday, December 14, 2012 5:18:02 PM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Hello, > > I'm new here as well, and have looked for a FAQ for the group an= d came > up empty, and I hope my question isn't too basic! > > I've recentl= y moved into a home that has a Brinks alarm system > installed, looks to ha= ve been installed in 2004. We opted not to > continue the rather pricey mon= thly monitoring service given the > neighborhood, and the proportion of tim= e we spend at home. (The prior > owners I'm told were working out of the co= untry and had it installed > due to their absence). > > Anyway, we have all= this hardware, wired door and window sensors, > other sensors labeled as "= PIR" devices (passive infrared if my > research is to believed?) inside the= control box that I assume are the > motion detectors I see up on the walls= of various locations in the > house. I'm thinking there's got to be a way = to put all these goodies > to use with a do it yourself sort of setup that = maybe could leverage > an internet or phone connection to call my cell phon= e in case of > trouble. > > The main box of the alarm has a circuit board t= hat's about 8x4" with > no real identifying marks on it. I would have to as= sume I'd have to > get a new controller board for the DIY system and then j= ust re-use all > the existing sensors? > > Anyone with experience doing the= same? > > Thanks for any insight or advice, or a pointer to some good jump= start > resources for reading/research. > > Best Regards, > Todd The thing = with security systems is that you never know when you need one. Best to be = safe and protect your family. Just call and have them reconnect the service= . It's relatively inexpensive, in my opinion.

WTF!

Don't people look at the frikin date of a post anymore?

The OP is probably divorced, remarried and living in another state by now a= nd owns a whole new alarm system.

So do you know if he moved to Yuma? Got a phone number? Do you think a cold call would be productive?

WTF! > > Don't people look at the frikin date of a post anymore? > > The O= P is probably divorced, remarried and living in another state by now > and = owns a whole new alarm system. So do you know if he moved to Yuma? Got a ph= one number? Do you think a cold call would be productive?

It was a Brinks system so as fate would have it .... he moved down to Flori= da ... near Jim R.=20

OP is probably divorced, remarried and living in another state by now > and= owns a whole new alarm system. So do you know if he moved to Yuma? Got a p= hone number? Do you think a cold call would be productive?

rida ... near Jim R.

I haven't been here in a while, you guys are a tougher bunch a "baystads" t= han ever. LOL