Telguard offers dealers incentive to go to 3G

ATLANTA—Telguard Corp. is backing its call for alarm companies to prepare for the “2G sunset” with a $5 million program that gives dealers up to $25 for every 2G cellular communicator they replace with a Telguard 3G/4G product.

The company, a division of Telular Corp., combines devices, communications and alarm processing into turnkey systems for wireless monitoring of intrusion and fire systems.

The Upgrade Incentive Program was launched at ESX in Nashville in late June and is now available to all dealers. To claim the credit, a dealer removes a customer's existing 2G cellular alarm communicator—all brands are covered—and replaces it with an eligible Telguard product. The SIM card must be removed from the 2G unit and mailed back to Telguard on an incentive claim form.

Shawn Welsh, vice president of marketing and business development for Telguard, said the program breaks three barriers that may be holding back dealers from moving to 3G: buying habits, price and procrastination.

“We eliminate the 2G habit by giving dealers a seamless transition to 3G,” he told Security Systems News at ESX. “We cover cost as a consideration by making our 3G/4G line available at the same price as 2G solutions. And the $25 incentive rewards dealers who choose not to delay.”

Welsh said Telguard estimates that the industry has 3 million 2G units in the field that will have to be replaced in the next five years. That's the company's predicted time frame for when GSM and GPRS devices will be phased out due to spectrum reallocation by cellular carriers.

“We're reaching out to our own dealers certainly, but to others as well,” Welsh said. “Done right, [the upgrade] will work into a normal service call and we pay them $25. It's a no-brainer.”

Telguard has committed $5 million to the program and will go further if the need arises, Welsh said. Postage-paid claim forms will be available at all Telguard distributors this month and included in all Telguard 3G/4G product boxes starting in August.

Telguard dealers not paying rates specified by the company will receive $12.50 per unit instead of $25, according to the company's website.