CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 2002 

Sonitrol Security Services, Inc. received its listing from Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) for Central Station Burglar Alarm System, one of the top listings UL can certify for a mercantile monitoring station. 

Combined with its other listings for Protective Signaling and Factory Mutual Fire, the Sonitrol central station located in Charlotte is now the only security service provider in North Carolina and the Greenville/Spartanburg territory in South Carolina who provides all UL Central Station listings for burglary and fire as well as fire alarm approvals from Factory Mutual. 

Sonitrol Security Services, Inc. is UL listed for Protective Signaling and approved by Factory Mutual for Fire Alarms since 1987, but didn't have the burglary listing to secure jewelers and furriers at the time. "When we received our original listings from UL back in the late eighties, we felt the jeweler's marketplace was well served in the Carolinas by three national UL Listed burglar alarm companies", said William J. Price, President and CEO of Sonitrol Security Services, Inc. "All of that began to change in the mid-to-late nineties when two of the three nationals were acquired by ADT. However, with our recent upgrade to SonNT, Sonitrol's new central station platform, the timing seemed right to obtain the listing and extend our security services to jewelers and furriers as well." 

Sonitrol Security Services, Inc., a franchise of Sonitrol Corporation since 1984, recently upgraded its monitoring facility to SonNT. This new Windows NT(R) based monitoring platform offers several new monitoring features such as interfacing between the Sonitrol operator and the subscriber's hardware, for example. The new platform not only assists the Sonitrol operator with the ability to effectively monitor Sonitrol's unique and proven sound detection and verified intrusion systems but also fire alarms, sprinkler systems, access control, fence protection systems and soon, remote video surveillance systems. 

"The main factor that moved us towards obtaining the upgrade of our UL listing was probably the numerous phone calls we received from jewelers in the Charlotte region including Donald Haack Diamonds and Douglas Harris Jewelers," said Price. "Both jewelers were dissatisfied with their current vendor, enough so that they were willing to help us toward upgrading our UL listing. With our recent and successfully completed installation of the SonNT monitoring platform and the consolidation of the national UL players, we feel that the jewelers and furriers throughout North Carolina and Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina now have a more effective solution to meet their security service needs."