The acquisition of SafetyCare’s assets by the former TeleAlarm LLC, a manufacturer, marketer and servicer of wireless emergency call systems for medical alert monitoring, is a natural progression, emphasizes Mike Bodnar, the TeleAlarm executive who has been named general manager of SafetyCare Technologies LLC, Reading, Pa.

“That was the driving force in our interest in acquiring SafetyCare, because it is a great fit for our products,” Bodnar told SDM. TeleAlarm had been supplying products that SafetyCare sold to its customers.

The company, which dropped the TeleAlarm name, is completing a $2 million renovation of its 8,000-square-foot monitoring center in Reading so it can offer enhanced monitoring along with sale and service of its wireless emergency call systems.

“We’re hiring only first responders, emergency medical technician (EMT)-certified personnel to take care of these medical alert calls,” Bodnar pledged. “Those folks are experienced with stressful situations.”

The company’s products allow for two-way communication between the responder and the customer as if they were conversing on a telephone line, which Bodnar called a duplex speech pattern.

“Our product line allows them to deal with that stressful situation with the greatest sense of urgency and time savings,” he asserted.

The monitoring, products and services will be offered only through dealers, Bodnar insisted. “Our intent is to use authorized partners and then strengthen the offering for our valued dealer partners,” Bodnar stressed.

The SafetyCare acquisition brings a new set of dealers to the company. “TeleAlarm’s dealer network runs the gamut from communication specialists to low-voltage folks to some in the security industry, so it’s across the board,” Bodnar noted. “They were sales, installation and service types of entities.

“SafetyCare had a different group of dealers, so we’ve grown our distributing channels as well with this acquisition, and we’ll be melding both in,” he explained.

The products are used at the homes of seniors and disabled persons, and as back-up systems in assisted living, retirement and nursing homes, when they are understaffed during holidays or when staff members are busy dealing with other emergencies.

 “It can be sold by dealers who have or don’t have their own central stations,” Bodnar explained. “We value their business and look forward to it continuing together.” For more information, visit www.safetycare.us