The Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) has expanded its Proprietary Council, consisting of non-profit central stations that provide monitoring solely for its parent company or institution. Only on the CSAA’s Proprietary Council could one get representatives from Wal-Mart and Target to meet in the same room. Besides the retail giants, the 16 members of the council are diverse – from the central station for State Farm Insurance, to that for the E & J Gallo Winery.

“It’s a support vehicle. What we talk about are the same issues other central stations would,” says AutoZone inc. Central Station Manager Anna Tate, who heads the council. “False alarms? Everybody’s got them. We have the same UL standards, the same staffing concerns.”

Companies set up proprietary central stations not so much as a way to save from having to pay an outside central station, but to provide specialized services like maintaining a call list of executives and putting an emphasis on loss prevention. With that in mind, Tate says proprietary central stations aren’t a threat to other central stations and the companies still use outside dealers and integrators to install the systems.

“They won’t want to keep up with all the services we provide,” she says. “They don’t want us, and we don’t want them. There’s plenty for everybody.”

Proprietary stations aren’t limited to retail outlets. Tate says many hospitals, schools and universities maintain central stations and are prospective proprietary CSAA members.

“Yale University has a proprietary station and looking to expand,” Tate says. “Why would the Orange County School District read Security Sales? Well, that school district in Florida has a central station.”

For more on the Proprietary Council, contact the CSAA at (703) 242-4670.

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