Press Release

Contract Monitoring Firms Continue to Embrace IQ Certification

FOR RELEASE April, 1998

Contact: Jennifer Burnstein, IQ Program Coordinator

On April 14, the Installation Quality Certification Board granted IQ Certification to USA Central Station Alarm Corp. in Port Chester, New York. USA Central Station President Bart Didden also currently serves as Treasurer of the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA), is past-president of the New York BFAA and is a prominent member of the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA). Didden says his company’s new certification is an indication of USA Central Station’s commitment to quality central station services and false alarm reduction.

USA Central Station has offered full-service UL Listed contract monitoring central station services to dealer customers primarily throughout the eastern United States since 1982. USA’s new IQ designation now allows those customers to gain IQ Certification themselves. According to Didden, "My dealer customers are among the very best installing and service companies in the industry. I got the IQ Certification to show them that I, too, care about quality. And I also got the certification so that my dealer customers could achieve their IQ Certification as well."

With the addition of USA Central Station, there are now 20 IQ Certified contract central stations, representing nearly two-thirds of all contract-monitoring accounts in the United States. IQ Certifications are granted based a company’s strict adherence to a strict set of installation and monitoring policies and guidelines designed to assure quality and false alarm free electronic security. Certification of contract monitoring companies is critical because installation-only dealers must utilize IQ Certified contract monitoring in order to be eligible for IQ Certification themselves.

According to IQ Certification Board Chairman David Mandel, "I am gratified that a majority of the contract monitoring community has seen fit to embrace the IQ Program. There seems to be an understanding of the fact that in order to raise the bar in our industry, contract monitoring stations need to work closely with installing companies on issues like verification and customer follow-ups after false alarms. We’re all in this together, and by both the monitoring and installing companies attaining IQ Certification, we are indeed raising that bar"

For a list of IQ Certified central stations or for information about achieving IQ Certification, contact the IQ Certification Board at 8300 Colesville Rd, Suite 750, Silver Spring, MD 20910, fax: (301) 585-1866, e-mail info@iqcertification.org.