[May 31, 2006]

Burglar alarms and beyond: Security firm provides wide range of services

(Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 30--You arrive home to discover that intruders have stripped the place, the cat is missing and a broken water pipe has emptied half the reservoir into your basement. You thank heaven that at least your wife wasn't home, and then realize it's because she's divorcing you and has moved out.

What if each and every one of these difficulties -- the pipe, the wife, everything -- could be handled by a single telephone call? Well, that is the aim of SafetyCare.

From headquarters in Hackensack, this company will send not just repair people, but psychological consolers and counselors, nurses and medical assistants, security and safety experts, and whoever and whatever else it takes to help you solve your problems.

"Your absolute security and absolute peace of mind -- we want you to have both," says President Glenn Fisher. He founded the company last year, an offshoot of burglar alarm equipment and alarm monitoring firms he had owned since 1979.

Fisher spoke recently about SafetyCare and why he considers it to be unique.

QUESTION: Please describe the operation of your company.

ANSWER: Following three years of market research and testing, SafetyCare merges home security and safety systems with a virtually endless range of safety, health and wellness services. It is the only company in the United States, and possibly the world, incorporating home safety and security monitoring with other critical services, such as family counseling and health care support.

Unlike other monitoring companies, ours provides families with immediate access to certified professionals for health crisis counseling, consultation, conflict resolution, problem solving and critical incident intervention. Members rely on us for a broad range of issues, including stress, family problems, mental health issues and addictive behaviors.

Q: How does the service work?

A: Our customers can access the 24-hour-a-day system by simply pressing a button in their homes or calling from anywhere in the world. Immediately, they gain voice contact with an experienced first responder at our headquarters. This team -- generally paid three times the industry norm -- includes licensed nurses, emergency medical technicians and police, fire and emergency dispatchers. [The company either installs the alarm system or converts an existing one.]

Q: What decided you on this business?

A: It was born of necessity to give customers exactly what they need: peace of mind. Our staff is readily available to assist during emergencies as well as non-emergencies. We provide counseling, records retrieval, health care support, and information about medicines, allergies, injuries and mental health.

Q: Why now?

A: SafetyCare has evolved at a time when the home alarm industry is becoming an increasingly mass-marketed product, offering fewer services in a generic, scripted manner.

Rates have steadily increased over the past 10 years, while service has noticeably decreased. The massive alarm companies are focused on customer volume, with inadequate operator support to handle customer calls and actual alarms. SafetyCare is capitalizing on this chronic customer dissatisfaction.

Q: What were you doing before?

A: I founded KingAlarm Distributors, which supplied electronic equipment. Concurrently, my father, Charles, and I created the monitoring service King Central. These companies grew very large, with multimillion-dollar revenue and hundreds of employees.

I retired six years ago. During the interval I hired a marketing research firm whose findings showed that consumers wanted access to security professionals 24 hours a day for questions regarding many areas of their lives.

Q: What is the future for your industry?

A: SafetyCare recently released details about its 15-year plan. There is tremendous value in this company, built from the ground up. We anticipate a stable force of accounts with new and nontraditional services. We've spent millions of dollars in staff training and in infrastructure.

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