Bell Canada boomerangs to the home security game

Bell Canada is once again providing home security services, announcing last month the creation of its Home Monitoring program. This is a market the company first entered about eight years ago, but exited in 2003 after a series of corporate transactions. Despite being essentially a home security service, the country's largest telephone company prefers to call Home Monitoring a completely new business. "We feel very strongly that we've created a new category," Jeff Crews, Bell's VP and general manager of Bell Monitoring Services, tells Report on Wireless. Bell figures the home security market is ready for a new entrant. "When we looked at the research we conducted over 2006 and the penetration of traditional home security services, we learned that four out of five homes do not see sufficient value in traditional security offers, which is a surprise," Crews explains. "We took that piece of information and we looked at the assets we have available to us - how could we make that customer experience so much better, so much richer, more convenient and applicable on an everyday basis?"Unveiled late last month, the program combines Bell's mobile wireless network, high-speed Internet access, and security devices such as window monitors and motion detectors to create a holistic home monitoring platform. The main communications unit employs Bell Mobility's 1X wireless network instead of traditional phone lines to connect with the outside world. Window and door sensors also operate wirelessly, although on a network distinct from the cellular that the base station uses.The all-wireless aspect makes for easy installation and portability - owners can take the system with them if they move to a new home. Potential intruders will not be able to disable the system by cutting wires because it is wireless, but that could be its weakest link as well: wireless networks can be hacked. Users can receive text or email messages on a variety of devices if a window sensor is triggered, for instance. The system can also be configured to send live video feeds to devices and allow users to remotely arm or disarm the system. Home Monitoring can be configured to notify users when smoke alarms are triggered as well. Bell is pitching Home Monitoring as a respectful Big Brother, a way to keep tabs on household activities without interfering with them. Users can set the program up to send an alert if there's no movement at 10:00 a.m., for example, a time when a household member usually wakes up. Homeowners can set up alerts for when the children come home from school.Lawrence Surtees, manager of communications research at IDC Canada Ltd., says Bell might be barking up the wrong tree for growth. "Sometimes the clout of an incumbent provider such as Bell or Rogers may be advantageous, but there are times when it doesn't confer an automatic advantage - where the market is crowded, for instance. I would argue the home alarm market is fairly established with all ranks of players, from small to large to specialized."But Roberta Fox, head of telecom consultancy Fox Group, says Bell might be on the right track. "Put this in for your parents and big, stable Bell will take care of them. It's a little different from the AlarmForces, Honeywells and ADTs."Telecom consultant Mark Goldberg also says Bell is doing the right thing. "I continue to like the ‘stickiness' of security systems as part of a telecom services bundle," he writes on his blog. "People just don't seem to change their monitoring companies as frequently as other services."Bell is by no means the only telco in the security services arena. Telus Corp. launched its HomeSitter in 2004. MTS Allstream Inc. owns AAA Alarms in Manitoba. That firm is spreading west with the acquisition of Calgary's Superior Security Systems Ltd. last August.Crews says Bell is aiming Home Monitoring at its core Eastern Canadian territories, "where we have the vast majority of our customers and the strength of our brand." But the service is available anywhere 1X service reaches.This isn't Bell's first stab at home security. In March 1999 the telco consolidated two security providers and formed Bell Gardium, which promised "smart home" services such as remote lighting control and appliance monitoring. But two other business decisions would hamper Gardium's success as a Bell brand: in March 1999, US carrier Ameritech Corp. purchased 20% of Bell. Meanwhile another US carrier, SBC Communications Inc., was in the process of acquiring Ameritech. Then in September Bell sold Gardium to Ameritech, which merged it with subsidiary SecurityLink. In October SBC completed its Ameritech acquisition. In 2003 SBC sold its 20% Bell stake, severing the Canadian carrier's connection to Gardium.Given that history, Bell might be well-suited to tackle the home security market, which is tumultuous. "Over the last five years these security firms have consolidated tremendously," Fox notes. "There are a lot fewer of them than there used to be."But business prospects among Canadian telcos are tight as they face declining revenues from traditional services such as local voice. In response, carriers are looking for additional revenue streams, and one prevalent trend sees companies such as Bell combining disparate networks and applications to create novel services. A mixture of wireless data networking, Internet programming and security hardware, Home Monitoring exemplifies this thinking.The Bell Home Monitoring starter kit ($199) comes with the wireless base unit, two door/window sensors, a motion detector and a keypad. Additional equipment, such as video cameras, water detectors and personal-safety monitors cost extra. Visit www.bellhomemonitoring.ca for details.

Bell Canada boomerangs to the home security game

News | February 9, 2007

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