Alarm Relay launches mobile app for interactive services

EL CAJON, Calif.—Alarm Relay, a full-service security company, is embarking on a multiphase mobile strategy with both near- and long-term goals.

One of the opening phases of that plan is the launch of a new mobile app, which Paolo Piscatelli, COO, believes stands out for its versatility and the fact that it doesn't involve a security panel overhaul.

“Our mobile strategy is to go to market with an OEM partner who has a mobile app our customers can leverage in concert with a device to retrofit their existing alarm or use as an add-on to a new alarm system,” Piscatelli said. “It gives our customers complete flexibility to control alarm systems and the ability to have home automation control through an app.”

The interactive services element is a major focal point of the offering, Piscatelli added. The service gives customers access to lights, locks and thermostats, while also giving them control of their security systems from mobile devices. The app generated through the OEM partnership is compatible with most existing alarm panels, allowing customers to keep their existing security monitoring systems if they choose. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, Piscatelli declined to name the partner.

“Customers are really happy about it,” Piscatelli said. “There's been pretty high adoption so far.”

Alarm Relay also is in the process of developing a “native app” that will enable customers to “control their monitoring experience, then use whatever manufacturing partner they have to control the arm and disarm and the self-alerting experience,” Piscatelli noted. The company plans to release that in the next six to nine months, he said.

In the long run, he envisions the two apps possibly being integrated together, giving the customer “one unique mobile experience.”

Piscatelli said a robust mobile strategy is absolutely crucial not only for a company with Alarm Relay's direct-to-consumer model, but also for anyone competing in the central station space. “It's really an expectation for doing business,” he said. “Customers expect that you have a mobile offering, and if you don't you stand a chance of losing that customer.”