CMS President Tony Wilson - State of Criticom Monitoring Services

The 2020 Criticom Monitoring Services President's Forum really kicked off with a special presentation from CMS President Tony Wilson. We were pleased to receive information on the current state of Criticom, and we also learned about how the company is improving its monitoring centers.

It is important to remember that Criticom Monitoring Services provides monitoring services for a wide variety of alarm monitoring companies, not just Alarm Grid. Criticom works with a huge selection of alarm dealers to help keep homes and businesses monitored and protected. The past year was huge for Criticom, and it's great to see them growing and thriving as a company.

In the past year, Criticom Monitoring Services added 21,367 new customers across all their partnered alarm dealers, and they converted three (3) existing central station companies into Criticom accounts. Of all Criticom partnered dealers in 2019, 31.8% grew in terms of total customers, while about another 30% stayed roughly the same in size. We are proud to say that Alarm Grid successfully grew its total customer base in 2019. In total, Criticom added 134,394 new customers in 2019. As of 2019, the average Criticom customer has been monitored for 6.56 years.

This past year, Criticom central station operators responded to 5,513,144 alarms. Of these, 2,367,050 were considered to be "high priority". The average response time for these high priority alarms was 29 seconds. Criticom also received 1,481,096 inbound calls. The average response time for inbound calls for Criticom was just 16 seconds. These fast response times are important, as they help ensure that you receive the prompt help that you need when an alarm occurs on your security system. We expect Criticom to continue to improve these response times moving forward.

Criticom also made major improvements to their three (3) monitoring facilities in Cypress, CA, Longwood, FL, and Manasquan, NJ. The company added a Potter Fire Alarm System to their Cypress, CA facility in an effort to promote safety. The Longwood, FL facility was remodeled, as the company spent more than $150,000 in improving its overall aesthetics. And the Manasquan, NJ location was outfitted with a new access control system to keep its employees protected and secured. Additionally, Criticom put $540,000 into improving their Compass software, which is used by dealers like Alarm Grid to create and maintain customer accounts. In total, Criticom spent more than $1.2 Million in improving and maintaining their monitoring centers and software.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, it is expected that Criticom will continue to invest into their growing infrastructure. The Longwood, FL facility will be outfitted with AT&T Fiber Internet Service, which is expected to cost the company $1 Million. The company also plans to invest $600,000 into a new and improved PBX phone system. Lastly, another $600,000 will be invested into improving and maintaining their Compass software. It's clear that Criticom is making the investments it needs to serve its growing customer base that expects the very best alarm monitoring service available. At Alarm Grid, we are absolutely delighted to see Criticom continuing to do what's right for its partnered dealers and the end users who depend on them.

We expect some more insightful presentations and discussions from Criticom as their 2020 President's Forum Conference continues. Stay tuned to our blog for more. And if you aren't yet signed up with Alarm Grid for monitoring service, make sure to check out our monitoring page, and contact us at support@alarmgrid.com for more information. We operate support hours from 9am to 8pm ET M-F. We look forward to hearing from you soon!