2020 was a volatile and disruptive year for many businesses, including alarm response.

As people worked from home and offices were forced to close, alarm response changed.

Alarm companies realized they had to be strategically agile and flexible and respond to customer’s needs.

One of the critical themes going forward is that technology will play an increasingly important role as dealers and monitoring stations continue to find ways to deliver value-added services to their clients.

New and innovative technology will drive alarm response productivity, better service, transparency, and accountability.

To better understand how the Canadian alarm response industry was impacted in 2020, we analyzed our data to understand what happened. It was an interesting exercise because it revealed small but fascinating changes.

Among the findings:

• Commercial dispatches climbed from 33.1% in the first quarter to 46.6% in the fourth quarter. As employees worked from home, intruders shifted their focus to commercial establishments. In response, alarm companies provided customers with more security and video surveillance equipment.
• The food industry generated the most activity; 21.4% of all dispatches. It was followed by retail (21.2%) and offices (16.8%). It was interesting to see auto dealers at 9%, which reflected a heavy inventory of high-value vehicles, tires, and parts in open spaces.
• Dispatch volumes for residential and commercial customers bottomed out in April 2020 and then started to climb. Commercial dispatches peaked in December, while residential dispatches were highest in August.

To learn more about the Canadian dispatch industry in 2020, download our free white paper.