News Items From 2003

12/19/2003    Cisco Phone System Activation Attempted

Central One switched to the new Cisco AVVID phone system at 17:00 hours today.  This move did not impact receiver lines only central station voice, fax and fax back.  The phone system did not properly display the dealer's company name as it should causing operators to answer all calls, "Central Station".  On site Cisco engineers were unable to resolve this issue so at 19:00 hours we switched back to our original phone system.  We anticipate the problem will be resolved and the switch to Cisco can be accomplished soon.

12/3/2003    Central Station Software Programmer Hired

Central One has hired a full time computer programmer to head the Alarm Traffic Manager, Version 3 upgrade.  He has over 25 years experience in computer programming and will begin January 5, 2004.

11/1/2003    Central Station Software Upgrade Announcement

Central One is upgrading the Alarm Traffic Manager software.  Click here for details.  We have created an online discussion forum to capture your input, ideas, and concerns as we move forward with this extremely important project.  You may email your private suggestions.  Now is the time to make your wishes known.

9/21/2003    New Web Pages

The Central One web site is featuring two new web pages as its "Link of the Week".  The first page sports our new dealer page that offers:

Dealer's daily reports have long been available by download, fax or email.  Now they are easily available from a standard web browser.  Contact our data entry department if you wish to stop wasting fax paper and receive your reports this way.  Please tell us what you would like to see added to the page next.

9/19/2003    Our Cisco Phone System Installation Begins

Central One's new state of the art Cisco AVVID phone system is now in the process of being installed.  Due to a partial failure of our existing Dictaphone voice logger and the time line for installation of our new Wygant voice recorder most of our stations will not be recorded until the new phone system goes on line.  We apologize for any inconvenience but are certain that all of our dealers will appreciate the benefits of the new system when it comes on line, such as the ability to listen to calls on line.  In the mean time our supervisors are spending extra time listening in on operator calls to meet our standards of "business friendly" demeanor and excellent service.

9/13/2003    Test Signals Emailed to Dealers Can Be Suppressed

Every signal in every account has an "Email Dealer (Y/N)?" property.  If set to "Y" for yes when the signal is received it is emailed to the address designated in the dealer's account.  By dealer request there is a new option in the dealer account (right below the "Email address for signals:" field) called "Suppress email on test (Y/N)?".  If you enter "Y" for yes then you will not receive an email if the signal was cancelled because the account was on test via faxback, internet or dispatcher.

9/11/2003    Report Files Can be Retrieved Using Web Browser

Text and fax files are available for viewing via our new web browser interface.  You must log in with the same credentials used to log in under Citrix.  Look for additional capabilities on this web page soon.

9/8/2003    Download Files Can be Retrieved Using Internet Connection

Since the mid 1980's Central One has provided download software that allows a dealer to receive daily reports and maintain a copy of subscriber information and alarm history in his office computer or network.  Most dealers have abandoned this in favor of real time internet access and daily reports via email.  Those dealers who continue to use the download software may now use the internet to retrieve the daily download files.

8/6/2003    Central One Purchases New Voice Recording System

Central One has contracted for the purchase of a Wygant voice recording system to replace our old, analog Dictaphone recorder.  Conversations will be stored in an SQL server database and can be retrieved instantly using ANI as well as several other parameters.  In the past a dealer may be required to wait several minutes to several hours to hear a recording.  The new system will allow the dealer to hear a recorded conversation instantly.  If the dealer wants someone else to hear the recording (such as the subscriber) the central station supervisor will assign a pin number to the call.  The other person (such as the subscriber) will dial a special telephone number and enter the pin number to hear the conversation.  The new system will come on line when we activate our new Cisco telephone system.

7/24/2003    Central One Adds Password Protected Section to Web Site

Most of Central One's web site is available to the general public.  Information about specific dealers and subscribers requires a specific log in and will continue to do so.  The site will now additionally feature a section that has a common log in that can be given to dealers, prospective dealers and others with a legitimate need.  This section will have rate information, will offer special deals on security products and may contain other sensitive information that should be available to the trade but not the general public.  You may obtain the user name and password for logging in to this new section from our data entry department.

7/4/2003    Central One Purchases New Telephone System

Central One has contracted for the purchase and installation of a state of the art Cisco AVVID voice over IP telephone system and call center.  We expect installation of the new system to be completed in about eight weeks.  The new call center software will provide better management reports and more efficient use of today's telephony infrastructure while continuing to integrate with our alarm monitoring software and providing a platform for future innovation in voice, video and data services.

7/2/2003    DVR Video Monitoring Available

After some careful study and consultation with a number of dealers Central One will offer video monitoring services using remotely accessible DVR's (internet only, no dial-up) such as the Ademco Rapid Eye System.  Oz Vision and other dial-up methods will not be supported.  More.

6/24/2003    New Local Telephone Numbers

Central One Fax Back Fax Machine Elevator Phones
Boca Raton 561-998-1800 561-998-1801 561-998-1802 561-998-1810
Fort Lauderdale 954-660-6555 954-660-6556 954-660-6557 954-660-6558
Miami 305-503-3980 305-503-3981 305-503-3982 305-503-3983
Out of Area 800-934-2527 800-964-2527 800-568-2527 800-243-0392
Stuart 772-403-8020 772-403-8021 772-403-8022 772-403-8023
West Palm Beach 561-868-2666 561-868-2667 561-868-2668 561-868-2669

6/21/2003    Central One Supports AlarmNet-I

Central One has been a long time AlarmNet central station and has supported AlarmNet-I for many months.  This service now offers features that are exciting to high end users and warrant special attention.  Using AlarmNet-I a subscriber can access his alarm control keypad using a standard web browser from anywhere on the planet and not only control his security system but also X-10 devices and appliances remotely.  A special seminar is now being organized so that dealers may see and learn about the capabilities of this system.  If you would like to attend please click here and we will keep you personally informed.

5/19/2003    www.CentralOne.com Wins Golden Web Award

 Central One's web site has been awarded the Golden Web Award by the International Association of Web Masters and Designers for the year 2003 - 2004. At Central One we work hard to provide useful and updated content for the benefit of our dealers and the security alarm industry. Plans for future improvements include secure socket layer access, site search, and additional XML web services for dealers. We welcome your comments and suggestions and offer prizes to those who contribute ideas.

4/26/2003    Central One Moves Administrative Offices

Central One's administrative offices have moved to Suite 200, 701 Park of Commerce Blvd NW, Boca Raton, FL  33487.  All of our telephone numbers remain the same.  The central station and data entry department have not moved.

4/11/2003    Telemarketing Rules Change with Creation of Federal Registry

A number of high volume Central One dealers use telemarketing programs to generate leads for new security system sales and takeovers.  Under the new rules consumers may federally register their telephone numbers in a "do not call" database.  Telemarketers may be fined up to $11,000.00 per call for violating the new rules.  This week's "Link of the Week" features the FTC announcement, the full text of the rules, and a link to the Direct Marketing Association which keeps up with this topic and contains a wealth of marketing information.

2/13/2003    Central One Supports Oz Vision Video Technology

Oz Vision is a multi-faceted video accessory that permits video alarm verification in addition to other applications at a reasonable cost.  Note: On July 2, 2003 support for Oz Vision was discontinued.

2/10/2003    Todd Wheeler Promoted to Central Station Manager

Todd came to Central One in 1991 and served in a variety of positions including dispatch, data entry and central station night manager.  He has also served as the central station coordinator for an alarm installation company specializing in downloading, system integration and access control.  This experience on both sides of the equation as both dealer and central station employee gives Todd a unique ability to understand and accommodate the specific challenges facing security companies in today's market.  Todd is replacing Mindy Debrecht who came to Central One in 1994 and is leaving us to work full time for the Children's Relief Network.  We will miss Mindy but we look forward to having Todd at the helm.

1/28/2003    Monitoring Software Upgrades Planned

Central One will implement zone anding and special back-up signal processing logic during the month of March, 2003.  These changes will not affect your accounts unless you specifically use them.  Zone anding allows you to prevent false alarms by ignoring a single trip from a motion detector or other false alarm prone device.  Back-up signal processing allows more easy identification of accounts where the primary transmitter has failed and facilitates compatibility between radio back-up and two-way voice alarms or accounts that use both back-up and zone anding.  Click here for details.

1/16/2003    Local Receiver Lines Added

Central One has added over 100 new local receiver lines in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Stuart to serve dealers operating in South Florida.  The new lines are with AT&T and are connected to Osborne Hoffman 2000 digital alarm receivers with real time ANI capability.  Migration to these new lines will allow our local dealers all of the functionality that has always been enjoyed by our dealers that use toll free numbers including no busy signals, and real time ANI in the alarm log.  Of course, all of the new lines come to our central station on two underground diversely routed fiber optic cables with no amplifiers between us and the central office.

1/4/2003    Local Ordinance Links Updated

Over a hundred new links to local ordinances regulating alarm installations, user permits and false alarm fines have been added to the Central One web site under individual states and there are several new links on the false alarms page.  Central One dealers may also use Remote Access main menu option F5 to obtain licensing, permit and contact information on authorities in our dispatch agency database.  Please email the webmaster if you know of any web site that we should add.

1/3/2003    Subscriber Web Access

The web site for subscribers is out of beta test and ready for use by any subscriber.  www.MySecurityAlarm.com is the web site where your subscribers can view limited account information, view recent alarm history and test their systems without speaking to a central station operator.  Each subscriber must have a login password before the site can be used.  You may enter a login password on the bottom of the main screen of the subscriber's database record using remote access.  Your subscriber's can register a password on the site.

1/2/2003    Link of the Week Feature Added

Beginning in 2003 Central One will feature (just above on this page) a link of the week.  The link of the week will be one or more web resources on the subject of security, business management, leadership, marketing or any type of web resource we uncover that may be helpful and interesting to our dealers.  We appreciate your feedback and will include helpful comments and reviews in our archives.  To view the archives click the "Links of the Week" title text.  All of the sites we link will have free content that we think may be of value and some will additionally try to sell you something.  Central One does not create these links in order to support or endorse such products.