Alarm company signs largest partnership to date

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - In a deal expected to have a significant impact on company revenues, residential installation company Armed Alert Security has struck an alliance with an IP network services company to become the security piece of that company’s bundled digital services offering. Through the new partnership with CeriStar, Armed Alert will install, monitor and service residential and small business accounts that are located in residential and commercial communities serviced by CeriStar. The IP network company typically has between 2,500 and 3,000 homes in the communities that it services, according to Brian Sorensen, general manager of Armed Alert Security. “This will be our largest partnership and our most important partnership,” Sorensen said. “The possibilities with CeriStar are endless.” The open-ended agreement with CeriStar will include special negotiated pricing as well as special branding for Armed Alert’s home offering, which will be known as Armed Alert Security powered by CeriStar. The offering will be offered in CeriStar communities, such as Canyon Meadow in Provo, Utah. There, CeriStar is providing its bundled services. CeriStar officials could not be reached for comment by press time. While Armed Alert is a residential company, it is a division of commercial security company Alarm Control Company, which is where the partnership began. “One of the owners of Alarm Control met CeriStar on a joint venture project on a commercial building we did with them,” Sorensen said. “Through that relationship we were able to develop this one on the residential end.” The partnership with a company such as CeriStar is a new strategy for Armed Alert, one that means striking partnerships with builders and other residential service providers to grow the business. The company also has a relationship with Utah’s largest homebuilder, Ivory Homes. CeriStar designs, engineers and manages CeriNet, an IP “utility” network, that integrates telecom, Internet, video and other services into a single fiber line into the home. The company also offers its customers the option of a single monthly bill for CeriStar’s home services.