How to Earn Recurring Monthly Revenue From Elevator Phone Monitoring
Kings III Emergency Communications outlines why elevator telephone monitoring is a potentially lucrative RMR opportunity for security integrators on the Security Speaking podcast.
Security integrators are constantly seeking out new RMR opportunities, and over the years we’ve seen some interesting niche market opportunities … from monitoring fire extinguishers to ankle bracelet monitoring.
Kings III Emergency Communications sees the monitoring of elevator emergency telephones as the next potentially lucrative unconventional recurring revenue market for dealers. And similar to the fire alarm side of the business, elevator phones are highly regulated and required by code.
“We believe there’s a huge opportunity in the elevator phone space so with the adoption of new cellular technology that enables integrators and fire alarm companies to monetize the communications path,” says Thomas Worthington, director of dealer programs at Kings III Emergency Communications. “In addition to providing the elevator phone monitoring, it is a tremendous chance to get market share and get recurring revenue very similar to the fire industry. You have pressures of high phone line costs and the phone lines going away in some markets. With cellular technology, integrators and companies like Kings III now are able to provide the cellular communications path and eliminate the need for a phone line.”
He continues, “Beyond that, the elevator industry is 10 years behind the fire and security as far as adopting new technology. There are so many elevators still connected to traditional phone lines that integrators are going to find a lot of opportunity to convert those to cellular and ultimately get that recurring revenue into your pockets, instead of the phone companies’ pockets.”
Worthington says many security integrators are already monitoring elevator phones so it can be familiar territory for those dealers.
Dennis Mason, CEO of Kings III Emergency Communications, says many building owners first reach out to the elevator service company for the communications upgrade, but he says in most cases those elevator service companies don’t want to deal with the communications part. They tend to want to focus on the mechanical portion of the elevator.
“One of the things that we offer our dealers is that we are an elevator company first. We don’t need integrators to partner with the existing elevator service company. Our dealers can work with us. We provide the code expertise and everything that they would need. We understand we’re not fire experts in that we don’t know the ins and outs of NFPA code. In the same way, the fire integrators are not elevator experts, so they don’t know the ins and outs of the elevator business. We have that knowledge. The codes are pretty specific around how an elevator phone has to operate.”
Mason believes it would be challenging for integrators to attempt to address the elevator market directly without working with Kings III because they would not know if they are being compliant with the elevator code. Both he and Worthington sit on the code committees for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) that helps develop the elevator codes nationwide.
The installation of the Kings III devices do not require integrators to enter the elevator shaft at all.
“We provide essentially a two-piece solution. The phone remains analog but the cellular dialer sits either in the phone room or in some place where you’re not worried about phone signal. And it’s not moving; it’s in a fixed location,” says Mason.
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