Press Release

IQ Population Reaches Milestone; Canadian Version Open for Comment

FOR RELEASE April, 1999

Contact: Jennifer Burnstein, IQ Program Coordinator

Bethesda, MD -- The IQ Certification Program reached a milestone during its March meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico as the number of Companies in North America that have attained IQ Certification reached 76 with the certification of ComSouth Monitoring Services of Hawkinsville, GA , Com-Linq Central Station of Fort Smith, AR, APS Security of Merrick, NY and Securnet Protective Services of Norcross, GA .

According to IQ Certification Board Chairman Ron Cain, “While I am gratified to see that so many companies see the benefit of this certification, what really pleases me is that 76 companies are doing things the right way to reduce false alarms and prove the quality of their product. I’ve been told that with 76 certifications, there are now more IQ Certified alarm companies than there are regular members of some of the national alarm industry associations in America. While that’s good for IQ I think we can be doing better, specifically by taking the program to Canada.”

To this end, the IQ Certification Board has announced that it is making a draft revision of its policies and guidelines available for public comment and review that includes specific requirements for Canadian alarm dealers. According to Cain, “We let the Canadian Alarm and Security Association (CANASA) write the Canadian equivalents of the American standards. The IQ Board feels very confident that CANASA did an excellent job at making the program work for Canada.”

None of the requirements for U.S. based companies will change as a result of the new guidelines. Rather, the policies are simply amended to take into account all of the subtle and no-so-subtle differences in the way alarm companies need to operate that are specific to Canada in order to reduce false alarms and improve quality. In accordance with the IQ Bylaws, these changes are being made available for public review and comment. To obtain a copy of the proposed changes, contact Jennifer Burnstein at (301) 585-1855 or e-mail info@iqcertification.org.