FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of the most commonly asked questions we receive at Acadian Monitoring Services. If you have a question that is not answered here please call us at (844) 652-3093 and we'll get you an answer right away.

Services

Has Acadian done custom integrations for its dealer partners?

Yes. Acadian has performed a number of customer integrations for products that its dealer partners have requested. Each integration is different but a custom integration can typically be done within 2-3 months.

Does Acadian work with or provide any dealer financing services?

At this time Acadian does not provide these services, however, Acadian has partnered with two different companies that provide these services which Acadian commonly refers its dealer partners to. In the event you would like more info, please contact our sales staff for this information.

Does Acadian monitor mobility-based alarm systems?

Yes. Acadian currently monitors mobile PERS, cell phone apps as well as panic buttons associated with vehicles.

Which interactive services can a dealer offer to their subscribers?

Alarm.com – Dealers sign direct and choose alarm signals to resend to Acadian.
Connect 24 – Dealers sign up and are billed through Acadian.
SecureNet – Dealers sign up and are billed through Acadian.
AlarmNet – Dealers signed up and are billed through Acadian.

Is it true that Acadian maintains one of the country’s largest AES network?

Yes. Acadian maintains an AES network of over 4,500 radios, three frequencies and 21 IP links throughout the Chicago, IL area. Acadian purchases, stocks and resells all AES radios and supplies. Certain items must be special ordered which can take 3-6 weeks to receive.

Will the dealer’s staff have access to pull / automate reports on activity at any time?

Yes. For traditional alarm accounts, Acadian offers a number of free dealer reports such as All Activity reports and Trouble Reports that can be automated. The dealer’s staff also has the ability to pull these reports from Acadian’s BoldNet software. For video accounts, Acadian provides reports for police dispatches and apprehensions. Additional reports are available upon request or can be viewed with the dealer login to Acadian’s Sureview platform.

Does Acadian have a phone app?

Acadian has multiple free phone apps that it provides to its dealers. Acadian’s basic phone app is called BoldNet Mobile which allows a technician to perform a number of basic alarm functions such as put an account or zone on test. Acadian also has Immix Mobile which allows a dealer to see live video feed and events for video sites. Additionally, Acadian fully integrates with apps from manufacturers, such as alarm.com, to support any new features being added to enhance the customer experience.

What type of cameras can Acadian monitor?

Acadian utilizes SureView’s Immix video platform which is an open architecture platform that integrates with over 100 different video products. Examples of integrated products includes cameras, encoders and NVRs from Axis, Avigilon, Hikvision, Dahua, Samsung, Xtralis, Agent VI, Umbo, CheckVideo and Visualint just to name a few.

Technical

What after hours support does a dealer have in the case of an emergency?

Supervisors are on duty 24 / 7 in our central stations. In the event they cannot answer a technical question, they will refer this to Acadian’s second tier of technical support. In the event this still is not answered, this will be pushed to Acadian’s management team. Keep in mind this is for technical questions regarding receiver or communication issues to our central stations.

What does Acadian support outside of traditional telephone or POTS lines?

Acadian supports AES radios and works with customers to get their own IP Links established. We also work with standalone cell providers such as Tellular and Uplink. On the IP side we work with Firelite Teldat IP, DMP IP, Bosch IP and DSC IP. There are a few products that use Sureguard’s IP protocol and we are capable of handling those as well.

Acadian supports a number of accounts using cellular services such as AES (Chicago), AlarmNet, Alarm.com, Telguard and M2M. Our dealer partners use several other types of radio communication that is proprietary to their equipment such as DMP, Bosch, Napco.

What type of alarm receivers does Acadian use?

Acadian maintains an infrastructure that involves a number of different receivers including Sur-Gard System 5, Sur-Gard System 3, DMP, Bosch, Ademco MX8000’s & 7810’s, Osbourne Hoffman OH-2000 and Firelite IP. Our receivers cover the most popular formats, CID & SIA and support most formats the alarm industries alarm panels use.

What type of redundancy is in place in the event of a catastrophic failure?

Bold Manitou Platform

Acadian has four separate groups of servers that have the ability to run the entirety of our account base. These servers have geographic separation as the primary set are in our Lafayette office and the secondary set are in our Chicago office. In addition we have backup receivers for our Lafayette office in Chicago to handle all traffic in the case of a catastrophic failure. Acadian also leverages its class C network and the status of Acadian as a BGP organization to allow Acadian to fail its outside IP addressing to Chicago in the event of a failure. This means that all of Acadian’s outside addresses will continue to work during a failure as they will be routing through our Chicago office.

SureView Immix Platform

Acadian uses redundant virtual environments and redundant storage arrays to have the Immix machine move from Lafayette to Chicago within a few seconds. At that point Acadian would be running on the replicated data that we have in the storage array in Chicago. This data will be as current as the time when the failure occurred. The external address will also move to Chicago in this event so all incoming traffic will continue to be received.

Contract

Are dealer partners required to sign a long term agreement with Acadian?

All agreements with Acadian are no longer than one year in duration and have a 30-day notice of cancellation clause. Acadian does not believe in forcing its dealer partners to work with them and at the same time wants the flexibility of a short term agreement so that they can terminate business with any company that does not meet the standards of care Acadian would expect from an alarm company when dealing with the security needs of their customers.

Are there any volume commitments?

There are no volume commitments when working with Acadian. With that said, some dealers may receive tier pricing terms based on a number of accounts monitored within a given time period.

Company

Is Acadian owned by a private equity firm?

No. Acadian is an employee owned company that is affiliated with the world’s largest privately owned ambulance company, Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc. As an ESOP company all employees of Acadian are eligible to own a share of the company.

Is there a billing software or service provided to the dealer?

Acadian does not provide a billing service for our dealers. In the event a dealer is looking for a software, Acadian has been working with several dealers with Alarm Biller. This software works in conjunction with our Sedona Office platform.

How many accounts does Acadian currently monitor?

Acadian monitors hundreds of thousands alarm accounts including security, fire and medical accounts, over 500,000 subscribers using a cell phone app based panic button and a number of panic buttons associated with mobile fleets spread out throughout the United States. Acadian’s largest growth has been with our video monitoring services. Presently we monitor over 1,000 video accounts which encompasses over 6,500 cameras throughout the United States.

How many employees does Acadian Monitoring Services have?

Acadian Monitoring Services employs over 180 employees throughout its three central stations and video center.

What software platform does Acadian use for their alarm monitoring?

Acadian has partnered with two companies for its monitoring needs. Acadian uses Bold Technology’s Manitou platform for traditional security needs, and Acadian uses Sureview’s Immix Central Station platform for video monitoring needs.

What type of companies does Acadian work with?

Acadian partners with local alarm companies as well as nationwide alarm companies and integrators. In a number of situations, Acadian has helped worked with its dealer partners to land and close several national accounts, including accounts for Fortune 500 companies.

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