Bureau Terms - Alarm Watch

BUREAU MONITORING TERMS & CONDITIONS

“This Agreement is between Alarm Watch Ltd (“the Company”) and the bureau company (“the Bureau”). The Bureau, a business installing alarm systems and offering monitoring and notification services to its customers (“Subscribers”), partners with the Company which provides the said services. By acknowledging mutual agreements and terms herein, both parties agree as follows:”

Provision of Services: The Company agrees to provide monitoring and notification services on behalf of the Bureau for the stipulated fee. The Bureau shall furnish the Company with Subscriber details using a predetermined form and shall send ‘test’ signals to the Company’s monitoring equipment.
Credit Check: The Company reserves the right to conduct a credit check on the Bureau at any time during the term of our agreement. By entering into this agreement, the Bureau consents to such checks and agrees to provide any necessary information or documentation required to facilitate the credit check process
Payment and Invoicing: A monthly fee is levied on the 1st of each month for all active accounts. The invoice for this fee shall be delivered to the Bureau’s email address by the 10th of the following month. Payment is due upon receipt of invoice, and the payment is considered late if not received by the Company by the 20th of the following month. A late charge of fifty dollars plus ten percent of the total outstanding balance will be applied for late payments.
Service Suspension Due to Overdue Payment: If invoices become overdue, services such as the web portal and smartphone apps will be locked, displaying a message to the Subscriber indicating that the service has been disabled due to non-payment.
Non-payment and Billing Relationship: If the Bureau fails to remit payment for three consecutive months, the Company reserves the right to contact the Subscribers directly to take over the billing relationship to recover the owed amount. The billing relationship can be transferred back to the Bureau 12 months after the account is up to date.
Direct Debit Authority: The Bureau shall set up a Direct Debit Authority to facilitate the monthly payments to the Company. This will provide a consistent, automatic payment method handled by the company, thereby reducing the risk of late or missed payments.
Technical Assistance and Fault Monitoring: The Bureau shall check daily emails that contain customer fault signals and offer technical assistance to the affected Subscriber if required. It is the Bureau’s responsibility to provide necessary support and rectify any faults detected in the system to ensure the continuity and effectiveness of the monitoring services.
Notification Limitation: The Company will strive to follow the Subscribers’ instructions. However, on occasion, our service may be limited to notification via phone call, email, or SMS.
Telco Outage or National Disaster: In the event of a large-scale telecommunication outage or a national disaster which overwhelms the monitoring centre, notifications for low-priority signals may not be dispatched, with a reliance on email and SMS notifications instead.
Alarm System Design and Installation: The Company does not participate in the design or installation of the security alarms, or the configuration of communication paths. As such, the Company bears no liability for any deficiencies in the alarm system or our service arising from such design, installation, or configuration.
Communication Paths: The Company advises that Bureaus and their technicians always offer a dual communication path to Subscribers, due to potential outages in PSTN, Cellular Data networks and Internet networks. Sole reliance on one path could lead to the monitoring service being non-operational during such outages.
High-Value Assets: If a Subscriber has high-value assets (over $1,000,000 in contents that the alarm is protecting specifically), the Bureau is encouraged to inform the Company in writing. Such Subscribers should be offered dual path monitoring and/or given the option for a second monitoring centre to provide independent backup. It is also recommended that the Subscriber be advised to consider implementing a system that alerts on-site staff and remote personnel without the need for human interaction.
Video Verification Service: If Subscribers engage in our video verification service and request that the Company make decisions based on visual data captured by their cameras, such decisions are made without liability. The Company does not possess knowledge of the site layout, and it is recommended that Subscribers review their own images to determine the appropriate action.Full terms for Video Verification services can be found at https://www.alarmwatch.co.nz/video-verification-terms
Smoke or Fire Alarm Connection: If the Subscriber and Bureau decide to connect a smoke or fire alarm to the intruder alarm for the Company to monitor, such service is provided without liability on the part of the Company.
Emergency Services for fire detection: The bureau acknowledges that security alarm systems may include monitored smoke sensors that do not necessarily comply with fire system standards, and therefore, public emergency response should not be expected.
Response by Emergency Services: The Company does not guarantee any response by Emergency Services to any alarm activation, regardless of the type of activation. The bureau and its subscribers acknowledge that the Company has no control over the response actions of Emergency Services and cannot be held liable for any lack of response or delayed response to an alarm activation.
Guard Services: The Company contracts guard services to third-party providers and thus, has no control over their service levels. All guard call-out requests made by the Company will be charged to the Bureau or the Subscriber, based on the agreement between the Bureau and the guard company.
Extreme Use Subscribers: The company reserves the right to increase monitoring fees with two months’ notice for subscribers who generate excessive volume, defined as over 100 events per month. The bureau will be given an opportunity to reduce the workload from the subscriber before any additional charges are applied.
Repeating Signals: If a Bureau’s subscriber has recurring faults or signals that disrupt our operations, we may place that signal in test mode for 30 days, with notice provided to the bureau to rectify the issue.
High Use Subscribers: Additional charges may apply to subscribers with DOTL and chiller/freezer alerts that generate more volume than is considered fair usage, defined as more than 10 alerts per month. The bureau will be given warning each month of customers who are approaching incurring additional fees.
Use of Data: The company reserves the right to use bureau and subscriber data, in compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations, for purposes of artificial intelligence development, machine learning, and statistical analysis. This data will be anonymized and aggregated to ensure that no individual or specific bureau or subscriber can be identified. The insights derived from this analysis will be used to improve our services, enhance operational efficiency, and support business decision-making
Illegal Activities: The Company shall not be responsible or liable for any activities conducted illegally by the bureau, its subscribers, or any third parties. If illegal activities are detected or suspected, the Company will cooperate fully with the New Zealand Police and other relevant authorities as required by law, including providing any necessary information or assistance to support investigations or legal proceedings
Sharing of Information: The Company is permitted to share voice recordings, video clips, and customer information with relevant parties, such as the Police, Fire Service, Ambulance Service, and guarding companies, as and when required to ensure the safety and security of individuals, property, and the community, or in compliance with legal obligations. Such sharing will be conducted in accordance with applicable privacy laws and regulations.
Limitation of Liability: The Company shall not be liable for any deficiencies in the alarm equipment of any Subscriber nor any delay in response time or non-response of Police, Fire or other authorities, institutions or individuals notified by the Company. The Company’s sole and only obligation under this agreement shall be to monitor signals received and respond thereto in a reasonable manner. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of a liability claim against the Company, the maximum liability of the Company will be limited to an amount equal to one year’s monitoring fee for the Subscriber in question.
Termination: Both parties agree to provide 90 days’ notice for the termination of this Agreement. If this Agreement is terminated for any reason, provided no outstanding invoices exist, the Company shall provide the Bureau with a digital copy of all current and up-to-date data for each Subscriber.
Intellectual Property: The Subscribers remain the intellectual property of the Bureau. The Company agrees not to solicit monitoring services or any other services from the Subscribers, either during the term of this Agreement or for 36 months after its termination.
Governing Law: This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.
Entire Agreement: This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding between the parties. It is valid only when signed by an authorized representative of the bureau. No representations, warranties, or inducements have been made to any party concerning the Agreement other than the representations, warranties, and covenants contained and memorialized in it.