COPS Monitoring Purchases 150K Accounts From AlarmWATCH
HUNT VALLEY, Md. — Wholesale alarm monitoring company COPS Monitoring has purchased AlarmWATCH, a central station based here, for an undisclosed amount.
The deal brings with it roughly 150,000 subscriber accounts. COPS provides central station services to 3,500 independent alarm dealers that represent nearly 800,000 subscribers nationwide. The acquisition positions the company to better serve alarm dealers in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and surrounding states, according to David Smith, director of marketing and communications, COPS Monitoring.
“We are continually looking for ways to expand our ‘hometown’ presence and philosophy by opening or acquiring central stations in new markets to better serve independent alarm dealers,” he tells SSI. “AlarmWATCH has a long reputation for providing exceptional service, and we would like to expand on this by offering dealers the added reliability of multi-site monitoring and other added benefits.”
One of the added benefits new clients can expect is COPS’ MPower technology, an advanced dealer access and alarm database management software.
“It gives the dealers powerful tools to help run their alarm business,” Smith says. “Dealers can enter and edit accounts, run a wide variety of reports, view their invoices, place their accounts on test, watch their signals in real time as we receive them and much more.”
Nearly 100 existing AlarmWATCH employees will continue to monitor subscriber accounts from the Maryland central station with Gail Schreiner, vice president of operations at AlarmWATCH, taking the lead.
In addition to operating the newly acquired central station in Maryland, COPS Monitoring also has monitoring centers in New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee and Texas. By having the facilities throughout different regions, it allows the company to gain insights to the benefits and challenges alarm dealers experience in different areas, Smith says.
Ashley Willis is associate editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION magazine. She can be reached at (310) 533-2419.
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