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Why ADT is No.1 on CE Pro 100
World’s largest security company has made huge strides into integration business and will get even bigger with its Pulse offering.
ADT offers its Pulse system in three tiers. The top two tiers - dubbed Advantage and Premier - have home control capabilities that integrate control of security, lighting, HVAC and cameras.
Integrators should not be surprised to see ADT Security Services sitting atop the CE Pro 100 list for 2010, with an estimated $50 million in custom revenues. Over the past few years ADT has migrated from being strictly a low-cost provider of alarm systems to a company that offers fully integrated commercial and residential security.
But guess what: that number could be much higher - an estimated $121 million higher - when income from their Pulse installations is included. However, those estimated revenues are not factored in for various reasons. Here’s the scoop.
ADT is part of Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), a $17 billion company involved in areas such as industrial machinery and medical devices. But the company’s bread-and-butter industry is electronic security systems via ADT, a standard-bearer for the alarm industry for 136 years. As part of a large public company, ADT is forbidden from breaking out specific data for its entry into the CE Pro 100. It can only use information that is reported in Tyco’s annual reports and SEC filings.
ADT started its Custom Home division in 2008 to cater to the needs of homeowners looking for more advanced alarm systems. Within that division is the company’s Gold Team program, in which ADT works closely with local installers to integrate security with A/V, networking and other subsystems.
The company uses its massive, well-oiled marketing machine to find new clients and actually shares those customers with integrators if ADT deems its own crew incapable of serving the customers’ integration needs. The system is so honed that it is even able to target a customer for up-sell based on demographic information, including zip code. Likewise, integrators in the program bring their clients to ADT for integrated security systems. The arrangement means a custom dealer does not have to obtain an alarm license, and he does not maintain any of the liability associated with security.
Custom Home clients also get surveillance products and future integration solutions offered by the group. And they receive 24-hour service, even for non-emergencies, from a “Preferred Customer Service Agent empowered to answer any questions you may have,” according to the website.
But that was just the beginning. Last year, Tyco took several more strides that moved it even further into the custom space.
First, it acquired Broadview Security Systems (formerly Brink’s) and incorporated its 1.4 million residential accounts into ADT. CE Pro readers may recall that for many years, Brink’s Home Technologies division was a member of the CE Pro 100. The company, which was known for its subsidized residential installation model for $99, had branched into installing flat panels and in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers, along with running structured wiring in new construction. Back in 2006, that Brink’s division alone reported $25 million in custom installation revenues, making it the No. 2 company in the CE Pro 100.
But guess what: that number could be much higher - an estimated $121 million higher - when income from their Pulse installations is included. However, those estimated revenues are not factored in for various reasons. Here’s the scoop.
ADT is part of Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), a $17 billion company involved in areas such as industrial machinery and medical devices. But the company’s bread-and-butter industry is electronic security systems via ADT, a standard-bearer for the alarm industry for 136 years. As part of a large public company, ADT is forbidden from breaking out specific data for its entry into the CE Pro 100. It can only use information that is reported in Tyco’s annual reports and SEC filings.
ADT started its Custom Home division in 2008 to cater to the needs of homeowners looking for more advanced alarm systems. Within that division is the company’s Gold Team program, in which ADT works closely with local installers to integrate security with A/V, networking and other subsystems.
The company uses its massive, well-oiled marketing machine to find new clients and actually shares those customers with integrators if ADT deems its own crew incapable of serving the customers’ integration needs. The system is so honed that it is even able to target a customer for up-sell based on demographic information, including zip code. Likewise, integrators in the program bring their clients to ADT for integrated security systems. The arrangement means a custom dealer does not have to obtain an alarm license, and he does not maintain any of the liability associated with security.
Custom Home clients also get surveillance products and future integration solutions offered by the group. And they receive 24-hour service, even for non-emergencies, from a “Preferred Customer Service Agent empowered to answer any questions you may have,” according to the website.
But that was just the beginning. Last year, Tyco took several more strides that moved it even further into the custom space.
First, it acquired Broadview Security Systems (formerly Brink’s) and incorporated its 1.4 million residential accounts into ADT. CE Pro readers may recall that for many years, Brink’s Home Technologies division was a member of the CE Pro 100. The company, which was known for its subsidized residential installation model for $99, had branched into installing flat panels and in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers, along with running structured wiring in new construction. Back in 2006, that Brink’s division alone reported $25 million in custom installation revenues, making it the No. 2 company in the CE Pro 100.
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Article Topics
News · Business Resources · Home Automation and Control · Security · Events · CE Pro 100 · Cctv · Adt · Adt Pulse · 2011 Ce Pro 100 ·About the Author
Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990. He joined EH Publishing in 2000, and before that served as publisher and editor of Security Sales, a leading magazine for the security industry. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He is currently a member of the CEDIA Education Action Team for Electronic Systems Business. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.
3 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
The May issue has an estimate for Best Buy/Magnolia/Geek Squad that doesn’t not appear online as part of this article. Since the CE Pro 100 is a voluntary list and Best Buy did not submit, they are not on the list, but ADT did submit.
And who’s number one in prepared food sales? McDonalds? Doesn’t mean I’d serve their burgers to the neighbor’s dog. How do you quantify quality? The CE Pro 100 gives people at CE Pro something to do with their time. Otherwise, it’s a tool with little value to anyone in our business, even for those willing to share best practices.
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Really!
If you’re going to go that route, go all the way baby. Where is Best Buy on this list, I know they should have made it on there somewhere.