ADS acquires 500 monitored accounts from Alarm Center

SAVANNAH, Ga.—ADS on March 19 announced it had acquired the Georgia accounts of Baton Rouge, La.-based Alarm Center Security Systems, a purchase of around 500 monitored accounts, bringing ADS' Savannah operations to over $1 million a year in RMR.

While the account acquisition—an even mix of residential and commercial—represents an RMR milestone for ADS-Savannah, it means even more to Alarm Center's Georgia customers, according to ADS-Savannah general manager Joe Antinoro. The new accounts will now have access to what ADS calls a “suite of advanced security technologies,” CSAA Five Diamond certified monitoring facilities, and a new website, offering a customer portal with online bill pay. “One thing that really excited us about this opportunity was Alarm Center's reputation in the area. They're well thought of and had been operating here for a long time and it was a great opportunity for us because of they're dedication,” Antinoro said. “We'll be bringing on a whole new suite of services to their customers, from the customer portal we're developing through the managed access control.”

Brian Watson president of Alarm Center said the decision to sell was not made lightly. “When I started 20 or 30 years ago in Baton Rouge, my dad was looking for something to do, so I decided to open a Savannah branch and he just did a great job building that office. My dad passed away in 07 and then our head technician who was like a brother died in 08. So 800 miles just became a real hassle to travel back and forth to be sure everything was going well,” Watson said. “Ron Davis is my industry mentor and he told me that I needed to sell and focus on the business in Baton Rouge. I'm just not in the selling business. It just rubs me the wrong way. I said, 'these are good customers, I'm not selling to some fly by night, I may agree if the price is right and you find the right company.' Ron looked into it and said, 'I got a friend who's looking to buy.' And that was Mel [Mahler, ADS president], who is just a treasure to our industry.”

In addition to the 500 monitored accounts, Alarm Center will begin referring service calls for an additional 1,000 non-monitored, Alarm Center-installed Savannah area accounts to ADS going forward.

The transaction was handled by Ernie McDaniel and Jackie Wornell for ADS, while Ron Davis, managing partner of the Graybeards (Davis Marketing Group), represented Alarm Center. Alarm Center began operations in 1978 and is still in full operation in its home base area of Baton Rouge.