Brink's and Comcast partner

IRVING, Texas-Brink's Home Security and cable provider Comcast on Oct. 18 announced a partnership that's designed to help customers who are often unsure of how phone and home security services work together. The partnership, representatives from the companies said, will help give customers who have Comcast Digital Voice phone service and Brink's Home Security service more reliable phone and alarm services, faster installations, fewer service calls and better customer service. Noting that people are now switching phone services frequently, Shawn Lucht, vice president of Brink's Home Security, said Brink's is eager to collaborate with phone service providers. "We don't want to leave it to the customer to decipher [whether they need help from the phone company or alarm company in the event of a problem]. We want to work with the phone companies to ensure that the customer is not left in the middle," said Lucht. Comcast and Brink's have coordinated operations and cross-trained their technical and customer service teams to streamline the installation process. Both companies have dedicated employees trained in how the companies' technologies interact. Brink's and Comcast began beta testing the service in Indianapolis at the beginning of the year. The program will roll out in Chicago, Detroit and Jacksonville, Fla., before the end of the year. Melissa Volin, Comcast spokesperson, said the system will be "widely adopted in 2007" across service areas common to the two companies. Brink's is in 48 states and Comcast is in 36 states and D.C. This partnership is further evidence, Volin said, that cable IP phone service is as good as, if not better than, traditional POTS phone service. It's the service's reliability, security and battery back-up that made "a high quality security company like Brink's confident in partnering with us." Volin noted that the reliability and quality of Comcast Digital Voice service is ensured because it travels over Comcast's privately managed network, rather than the public Internet. Unlike some VoIP phone systems which are self-installed by customers, all of Comcast's digital voice systems are professionally installed. Twenty-five percent of Comcast Digital Voice customers currently have home security systems, Volin said. The partnership is "an opportunity for both companies to co-market their products to existing customers" and new customers as well, she added.