The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered how slim of a margin there is for central stations of all sizes to go from fully operational to having operational downtime. AvantGuard (AG) was the first central station to be UL compliant providing operators with the equipment and organizational structure to work from home. Now, AvantGuard is one of the first and few central stations to receive the new UL 827A certification. What is this new certification, and how can it assist your central station with their technology needs?
According to SDM, “Under 827A, monitoring centers can choose to adopt a central station host structure to include hosting automation systems, telephone systems, and even receivers in a remote location. The staff at the host site could also serve as the back-end IT specialists.”
Looking beyond COVID-19, natural disasters in specific areas or even a heat wave that causes rolling blackouts in areas like California or Texas can create major issues for smaller central stations. Ultimately, it’s the customer who loses their security and peace of mind when their central station is unable to operate seamlessly in these scenarios. With the UL827A certification, AvantGuard can help central stations that have technological and staffing challenges by providing hybrid monitoring partnerships.
The UL 827A certification allows a central station like AvantGuard to function almost like an Amazon Web Services hub for smaller central stations. These “Hybrid Partnerships” can save dealers with proprietary monitoring 1) money, 2) time, and 3) help keep their central station operational without interruption even when an event like a natural disaster or power outage occurs in the area.
Some of you may have a central station that does not offer fully redundant technology. Or perhaps you don’t have enough operator staffing on weekends or holidays. These are difficulties that AG can assist with through our Hybrid Monitoring options.
If you are working with a monitoring service provider that needs additional technology and staffing, but can’t bear the costs of upgrading and hiring, our redundancy with full phone system options is a robust and cost-effective solution. AG provides you with our phone system, which in turn enables you to record your phone calls and gives you access to two-way communication and auto-dial. This also provides you with a library of recordings with participant logs that are easily accessible. Of course, this option also includes AG receiver redundancy to ensure that your customers will have service 24/7.
If you already have an existing phone system in place, and plenty of staffing, but you are a natural disaster or power outage away from losing signal communication, you have the option to use AG receivers and gain central station redundancy. With this option you won’t have two-way communications through our system, or access to our phone call recording system, but you get to keep your existing system, and gain redundancy.
On the flip side, if you have receiver redundancy, but you are unhappy with your phone system, you can choose to use our phone system and keep your receivers. By going this route, you are able to use our auto-dial, phone recording, and call history functionality.
In order to decrease operating costs, security alarm providers can add to the previous options by having AvantGuard’s monitoring centers handle signals after-hours, during weekends, and on holidays, or whatever times you may need a little extra help. This reduces the worry of having potential disaster scenarios at inconvenient times.
With the above options, there’s no need to worry about being understaffed or having your technology fail. AG has seven central stations in the US and Canada. Now with the new UL 827A certification, we have the technology and staffing to power your business towards growth and success. Reach out to us about a hybrid solution that keeps you operational during uncertain times.
