Guardian Protection Services is pleased to announce its Western Operations Alarm Monitoring Center has earned Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification. Guardian now operates two wholly owned and UL-certificated Alarm Monitoring Centers in the United States.

Guardian’s Western Operations Center located in Tempe, Ariz., provides business continuity to all mission-critical operations performed at its headquarters in Warrendale, Penn. “The attainment of UL certification at Guardian’s Western Alarm Monitoring Center furthers our strategic initiative to underpin key business operations to protect against any potential disruption of service to our customers,” said Mike Overby, vice president of customer care operations. “UL is a highly respected independent third party that has certified that Guardian’s alarm monitoring centers adhere to the highest standards.”    
 
The attainment of UL certification was an effort initiated by Guardian in January 2015 when it acquired the 35,000-sq.-ft. facility in Arizona. Changes and upgrades were made to the infrastructure and interior that included a voice and data network design to provide redundant communication pathways, installation of a new exterior structure to house two diesel-powered generators and construction of a training center within the operation. The result was that Guardian not only met code (UL827), but exceeded it. According to Overby, the second monitoring center is also part of a long-term strategy that puts Guardian in compliance with future-oriented UL code changes related to today’s rapidly changing technology, resiliency requirements and minimum monitoring equivalent weight (MEW) factors.

The Western Operations Center is not only a UL-certified alarm monitoring center but is also home to Guardian’s customer service operation, data center and other important business functions. These western-based business centers became functional in March, 2015 and have full redundancy with the same teams in the Warrendale, Penn., corporate headquarters. Onsite information technology professionals at both locations support the centers and video-conferencing technology bring employees from each center together for training and face-to-face conferences even though they are 2,000 miles apart. 

Joe Colosimo, president, said, “Not only are we well-positioned from a UL certification perspective, but we have enhanced our customer service and data entry functions by offering additional hours of service to better respond to the needs of customers and authorized dealer partners located west of the Mississippi. The fact that we have successfully undertaken and achieved the integration of the Western Operations Center underscores Guardian’s capability to make significant investments for the future.”