Boardroom
KeepYourIP

In The Boardroom With...

Mr. Davin A. Roos
Principal
Keep Your IP
KeepYourIP.com


KeepYourIP provides secure IP addresses for the alarm & security industry. This way alarm dealers & installers will be able to program their own IP address to communicate their IP alarm panels to central station monitoring receivers. KeepYourIP provides independence and secure reliability in transmission of these alert signals. Our services promote competition, provide scalability, and allow consistent budgeting for the alarm industry. In a time of constant change and conscience buying we deliver an aggressive product that will fit all standards of economic growth.


SecurityStockWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Davin. Please tell us about your background and please give us a brief corporate history of Keep Your IP.

Davin Roos: I started in this industry coming in from the communications world as owner and founder of ASG Communications & Business Consultants where we specialized in providing communications services to the security industry. As we talked to our customers, which were mostly Central Stations, we continued to hear from them about their woes and issues related to the method of communication between alarm panels and the Central Station receivers using switched toll free numbers. At that time, ASG became involved with communications provider CenturyLink, in the design and creation of a telecom product that addressed the issue alarm dealers had in programming panels to toll-free numbers that belonged directly to the station. Basically it was as simple as allowing dealers to own their own toll-free number and point it to any number they wanted and as needed while providing a dedicated connection for reliability.

As the customer base started to delve into passing alarm communications via the internet using IP, we quickly realized that most of the same issues that came with the toll-free world also came into play in the IP world. Attending the ISC West show in 2010, we noticed how basically every equipment manufacturer had an internet related product offering and decided that this was the time to create our own product line. The wave had started.

Using similar logic to the toll-free forwarding concept, a group of security industry friends, associates and I created Keep Your IP. A secure IP forwarding service developed just for the Alarm Industry. Now Alarm Dealers would have the same luxury of owning their IP address for communicating panels to receivers just like they can with their toll free numbers without usage.



SecurityStockWatch.com: One would read on KeepYourIP.com that, "With everything moving to the internet these days, it was simply a matter of time before the alarm industry moved there too, and it is happening very, very quickly. Internet based alarm systems are here now and will lead the next growth burst of this industry for years to come. These new feature rich systems no longer rely on the old 800 dial-up "thru the phone line" communications method and instead send their alert signals through an IP (Internet Protocol) connection reaching the central stations site immediately either by wires or wirelessly." Please give us an overview of the solution KYIP brings to market.

Davin Roos: Our solution compliments the growth burst of Internet base alarm systems by allowing an IP alarm panel to be programed with an IPv4 address that is controlled and owned by the alarm dealer. Today the only way for an alarm dealer to implement an IPv4 address is by having the Central Station supply it and that gives the control to the Central Station and not the alarm dealer (good for the CS but not so good for the Dealer). With this said it makes it difficult for the alarm dealer to ever leave the CS without having to change an entire IP panel network which is costly and timely. We also have seen that the CS has been using our services for an internal BGP platform between locations for redundancy/Disaster Recovery and control.

“Fleenor Security Systems began using Keep Your IP to manage our Alarm Reporting IP addresses in early 2012. With the increase of IP reporting, we had a growing concern about being able to easily redirect our alarm traffic in the event of an emergency or ISP failure. We found that KYIP gives us the ability to program two IP’s into every panel, and then redirect those IP’s to any location of our choosing using a very simple web interface. Since implementing KYIP, if we need to make equipment configuration changes at our site or activate contingency planning for emergencies, I no longer need to update the programming for every panel. In addition to the ease of use, we have experienced zero downtime from KYIP. The staff at KYIP has provided us with superior customer service and has always been very timely in answering any questions.” Karen Sullivan, Central Station Manager, Fleenor Security Systems.


SecurityStockWatch.com: How does it work? Are different services and pricing plans available?

Davin Roos: Our services are very much similar to that of the toll free number. Where you take an IPv4 address that we supply to the alarm dealer to program onto their IP panels and then we forward the IP to the central stations Internal IP that they provide to us along with the open port for the type of equipment that was installed. There is a separate port for every manufacturer type of IP alarm panel (DMP, DSC, Bosch, etc.…). We provide a Primary and a secondary IP from each of our Collocated facilities (DigiPort in Miami, Savvis in Irvine, and ScaleMatrix in San Diego). Each facility is UL certified and has backup diesel generators along with multiple ISP providers with a gig of Internet combined into each of our servers. We also have backup equipment that mirrors each other all the way to the router and switch, so that there is no point of failure that is not duplicated for complete true redundancy and reliability.

Yes we have 2 products that we sell and that is the standard IP for alarm panels that sells at $19.99 and we recommend that the dealer purchases 2 (Primary and Secondary) for $39.98. We also sell another IP for Videofied and that sells at $24.95 and we also suggest that the alarm dealer purchases 2 (Primary and Secondary) for $49.90. We have found that the majority of the alarm dealers purchase 2 because the cost difference is not that much considering the damage if the loss of 1 would occur. Please keep in mind that an alarm dealer can put 2 IP addresses on a 1000 plus alarm panels and not pay any more than $39.98 per month which is a lot less than toll free numbers that are usage sensitive. We bill monthly and everything is automated and we take all major credit cards including ACH.

Keep Your IP has given us the flexibility & ability to stay in control of where we keep our alarm accounts. Within 5 minutes I can change where our alarms report to. This has given us the confidence to move into the future and not feel tied down to any one station. From day 1 the service worked without a flaw and was easy to get setup. Very satisfied with our IP provider. Justin Owen, President, Owen Security Solutions.

SecurityStockWatch.com: What is your value proposition in these challenging economic times?

Davin Roos: The value we provide is the ownership of the IP address so that the alarm dealer can leave any central station and take control of their customer base as they choose. As for cost we have found that our services are much less in the long run because our IP addresses are not usage sensitive and are flat rate that allows growth for the alarm dealer without incurring extra cost for that growth. Additionally by a dealer owning 2 IP addresses programmed into their IP alarm panels this provides the flexibility to sell part of their customer base by territory to another dealer without the need to change anything. In other words the dealer can divide the IP addresses and make their company more valuable to the purchasing company.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Is it fair to say that Keep Your IP is the first and only internet data forwarding service designed specifically for the alarm industry? Care to elaborate?

Davin Roos: Yes from our research we are the only IP forwarding company that was built for the alarm/security industry. We are very proud of our products and what we can offer and deliver to the alarm industry. We also take provide in being the first to offer these services and will continue to improve and innovate our products for the alarm industry as technology strides forward.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Are there any "wins" or success stories you would like to discuss?

Davin Roos: When asked this question what comes to mind, is the WIN that Keep Your IP has created and pioneered the concept of Secure IP Forwarding for the alarm industry and that we are putting the power back in the hands of the alarm dealers for alarm signals. This new technology will change the way alarm panels communicate to central station receivers for today and years to come. “The true winners will be the alarm dealers”.

SecurityStockWatch.com: What resources are available for your customers on KeepYourIP.com ?

Davin Roos: We are thankful to be members of SIA, ESA, CAA, and the IP User Group, and with participation we are getting the word out on our services. We understand that our products are new and it will take a lot of educating to bring awareness to the alarm industry about what we do. If you go to our website you will be able to learn more about our services and the true value we bring at KeepYourIP.com. KeepYourIP will also be hosting another booth at ISC West and ESX so that we can meet and discuss the value of our products and services. Another option we have been exercising is we are partnering up with Central Stations on a reseller program so that we can get the central stations to deliver value to their existing alarm dealers and just add KeepYourIP to their portfolio of services. We have been seeing a lot of success with this new campaign from both the involvement of the Central Station as well as the alarm dealer.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Are there additional RMR opportunities if you are a central station? What's the next step in getting started?

Davin Roos: Yes there are RMR options because of the reseller program that we put in place The Central Station will be able to resell our services at a significant discount so that they can make the monthly residual. We have 2 platforms and the first platform doesn't have any commitment so they will be able to capitalize no matter how many they sell. We found that the Central Stations like this model because of its ability to just add KeepYourIP as another line item on their alarm dealers invoices and not have to worry about the support not to mention it also prevents the dealer from jumping ship with an outstanding invoice.

SecurityStockWatch.com: KeepYourIP seems to have a blue chip group of technology partners including companies such as GE, Honeywell, and Bosch, just to name a few. Please tell us more about your key strategic partnerships and industry affiliations and memberships.

Davin Roos: The manufacturers are not necessarily our partners, but we have done our internal testing and have alarm dealers today using our services with these manufacturers. As for strategic partnerships we have some of the largest Central Stations on board with the reseller program and many more with contracts ready to move forward. We are proud to be members with SIA, ESA, CAA, and IP User Group and have seen much success as well as full participation and assistance in the marketing and growth of KeepYourIP.

SecurityStockWatch.com: Thanks again for joining us today, Davin. Are there any other subjects you would like to discuss?

Davin Roos: Thank you for your time and I would like to conclude that as the movement of technology increases and the improvement of the alarm industry equipment continues, IP will be more of a need not just for control, but for cost and availability as well as a more reliable and secure way of connectivity.