Several alarm industry associations are uniting behind a
drive for Congress to create federal licensing standards
for alarm monitoring companies. The Alarm Industry
Communications Committee (AICC), which is made up of
members from several industry associations, says it
will “vigorously pursue” through its lobbyist the Alarm
Monitoring Licensing Standards and Reciprocity Act of 2004,
which would establish a minimum federal licensing standard
for alarm monitoring organizations. Currently, each state
has different standards, making it difficult for monitoring
companies that cross state lines.

“Clearly, the time has come for the monitoring industry to
pursue this issue at the federal level,” says Central
Station Alarm Association (CSAA) Executive Vice President
Steve Doyle. “This issue has been more than a financial
burden on monitoring companies, it has been a tremendous
physical burden as they have to send employees to various
states for fingerprinting … in this day and age, that is
unacceptable.”

The AICC consists of representatives from the CSAA,
Security Industry Association (SIA) and Security Network of
America (SNA) as well as members from Ademco and Vector
Security. The National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association
(NBFAA) is also rallying behind the bill after reviewing it
and has suggested it be incorporated into one of the
pending Homeland Security bills pending before Congress.

The prospective bill, which can be found at http://www.csaaul.org/ReciprocityAct2004.PDF>www.cssaul
.org, would not mandate states to adopt the federal
standards. However, it would allow alarm monitoring
organizations to entering into new states without
additional regulation as long as the organization’s home
state adopted the federal standard.

Bill Singer, AICC’s representative to Congress, says the
bill has the interest of several senators and
congressmen. “This issue is clearly positioned to have the
best opportunity in years since the Congress is intent on
moving legislation that makes it easier for companies to
conduct business across state lines in this electronic
era,” Singer says. “Also, they know they are behind the
times on these issues. We are thrilled that so many
organizations are joining us in seeking a national
resolution to this problem plaguing central stations across
the U.S.”

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