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Company connects with Global

Company connects with Global

GREER, S.C.--A partnership between third-party central station Alarm Monitoring Center and security product manufacturer Global Online Solutions Network spawned its second innovation, a device that helps prevent unauthorized takeover of accounts, in little more than a year. Introduced at the ISC West Show in Las Vegas, Hyd is a small device-like switch that can be placed anywhere the installer wants. Once present within the system, the product prevents the routine procedure of disarming and reprogramming an alarm system. "We jointly came up with this idea," said John Hughes, chief executive officer at GOSN. Hughes said Keith Armstrong, general manager at AMC, came to him with a problem to solve--dealers having their accounts stolen by other dealers--and he and his team brainstormed the idea. Based here, AMC is a national contract monitoring firm that works with 150 dealers and monitors 28,000 accounts. The two companies have an exclusive agreement on the product, which is sold through GOSN, also based in Greer, for a retail price of $19.95. As of May, interest in Hyd is strong, said Hughes, and GOSN has begun mass manufacturing the device. AMC and GOSN first started talking in late 2003, and by the following spring a plan was in the works for GOSN to provide the central station with its first video monitoring platform and also offer related equipment to its dealers. "It's turned out to be very good to us and our dealers," commented Armstrong on the partnership. During the last quarter of 2004, AMC introduced video monitoring to its dealer base. Armstrong said initial interest in video applications has come from people interested in senior care and on the commercial side. However, corporate clients have been a tough sell, because these types of customers are used to handling their CCTV systems in-house and not incurring the expense of third party monitoring. "That's something people have not gotten used to yet," said Armstrong. A video monitoring package through AMC costs a dealer $3,000 for four cameras. Customers are typically charged in the range of $4,500 to $5,000, said Hughes.

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