New business billed as 'hassle-free' program for dealers

YONKERS, N.Y.—A new business called Online Alarm Quotes offers the benefits of a dealer program and allows dealers to maintain complete independence, according to Tom Fowler, co-founder of the new venture.

The company has been in development for about two years and its official launch was Jan. 17, said Fowler, who also is president and CEO of 24-7 Security, which serves the New York metropolitan area.

He said security dealers who sign up as members of Online Alarm Quotes get qualified leads—about consumers needing alarm systems who have filled out an Online Alarm Quotes computerized request form and submitted their specific needs. Members can also get discounts on equipment, monitoring, leasing and funding, according to Fowler. The annual cost for members is $1 per 1,000 people in a dealer's area for residential leads and $1 per 100 businesses in a dealer's area for commercial leads. Online Alarm Quotes also offers a second year of membership free if members don't at least double their investment in the first 12 months of joining.

Fowler declined to specify how many members Online Alarm Quotes has. The Online Alarm Quotes web site says the idea for it came from Fowler and Donald Trask, president of Trask Enterprises and also of Texas-based New West Security. Trask is retired from a position as national sales and marketing manager for contract monitoring for Monitronics, Fowler said.

Fowler told SSN he was “furious” with the poor results from two lead generation services he was using, and so he started building a lead generation site himself.

Fowler said the company will help members develop a web site and web presence. Fowler said Online Alarm Quotes doesn't put a lien on its member dealers and tell them they must sell contracts back to that company.

“I don't have the right of first refusal,” Fowler said. “Be your own company.”