Sonitrol and Telular partner for AMPS solution

BERWYN, Pa. and CHICAGO--Sonitrol Corporation, an electronic security company, and Telular Corporation, a manufacturer of wireless products, entered into an agreement Sept. 18 to convert Sonitrol's analog cellular products to digital using Telular's Telguard Digital technology. "We've partnered with Telular to come out with a compatible GSM technology that works with our solution," said Gregg Groenemann, vice president of marketing and franchise operations for Sonitrol. "We've got 5,000 of our own customers who need to be converted over to the new technology and, including our dealer network, it could be upwards to 10,000 customers," he said. Groenemann said that Sonitrol has been aggressively contacting its customers to notify them of the February 18, 2008 AMPS deadline. "We have a call center reaching out to our customers and setting up and scheduling visits from our technicians," he said. "We've done a lot of marketing and mailings and alerts and [posting information on] our Web site ... We don't want to let anyone go unnoticed before February." Groenemann expects all analog customers will be fully converted to Telular's digital technology by January. Telular's Telguard Digital technology is currently being installed by Sonitrol's technicians. "We provide the product and cellular service and Sonitrol does the installation and monitoring," said George Brody, senior vice president and general manager of Telular. "We designed the Telular product to format with the Sonitrol alarm and it will specially interface with Sonitrol's security panel," he said. Telular's product will transmit full data information over its cellular network and not just a summary, said Brody. "Whatever information is programmed in the panel that is transmitted to the central station via phone line, [our technology] will transmit the exact same information over the cellular network, whereas other products only send summary data, which is limited," he said.