Ongoing growth at Canada’s leading third-party alarm monitoring wholesaler
In the highly competitive domain of security and intrusion detection services, Lanvac Group’s representatives were back at the annual Security Canada East trade show at the Laval Sheraton last month promoting new products and offerings from the Montreal-based firm.
The company, Canada’s leading third-party wholesaler of alarm monitoring, monitors alarm systems for burglary, fire and medical emergencies, and has a sister company, NBG Telecom, which sells alarm products to Lanvac dealers or to any other alarm services retailer for that matter.
The company’s most recently-established division is FindMyAlarm.com.
At past Security Canada East gatherings, Lanvac had announced new undertakings, such as the Lanvac.Mobi web app for Lanvac clients to run system tests, check for signal history, request reports and even create or modify new or existing customer accounts.
Enhanced safety for seniors
For last few years, NBG was distributing the Libris 2 Personal Emergency Response Communicator (now superseded by the Libris Aura) from Numera exclusively in Canada. For vulnerable seniors and other at-risk persons, it came to be regarded as a comprehensive mobile safety and wellness solution that featured fall detection, GPS location, 4G/LTE support and a 48-hour battery.
Worn around the neck or on a belt, a button activates a medical event alarm which goes to the Lanvac central monitoring station, and a two-way voice call is automatically placed to a human operator at Lanvac. Along with the alarm signal, the user’s GPS coordinates are also automatically sent to central.
New this year, according to Stephanos Georgoudes, a member of a family who have been deeply committed to Lanvac for decades, Lanvac has opened a second alarm monitoring station, located in Montreal North, to serve the island of Montreal.
ULC-certified monitoring
“We’re the only alarm monitoring company in Canada that has two ULC-listed monitoring stations,” Georgoudes said, referring to UL Solutions Canada which is mandated to issue reliability certifications after testing facilities and equipment.
Lanvac’s stations are redundant, serving as back-up in case one or more fails, while the company has additional stations, including one in Toronto. As well, Lanvac’s monitoring stations are located within buildings the company owns, adding a strong element of security to their operations.
This year, Lanvac is promoting an updated two-way voice medical monitoring pendant, the Libris Aura, which improves on the aforementioned Libris 2 which had been around for more than a decade.
“It’s smaller, the battery’s life is a lot longer,” said Georgoudes, noting that in addition to distributing the Libris Aura, Lanvac also provides full monitoring, while each unit transmits GPS location coordinates in the event of an emergency.
FindMyAlarm.com
In the meantime, Lanvac Group’s FindMyAlarm.com (also another recent addition) is tailored to the needs of end-users, so they can locate local alarm companies should they ever feel a need to compare and switch to another firm.
Although FindMyAlarm.com was designed to promote alarm companies dealing with retail customers, the web portal holds the potential to build a bridge between retail clients and the Lanvac name.
“We created FindMyAlarm.com so that they can find a company closer to them that can serve them better,” Georgoudes explained. “And, of course, those companies are connected with Lanvac.”
With Security Canada conventions also taking place in western and central Canada this year, the gatherings are always a time for security experts from across the country to focus on building and renewing relationships with hundreds of professionals deeply involved in Canada’s security services industry.
Deep roots in Montreal
Lanvac was founded by brothers John and Bill Georgoudes. Raised in Montreal’s Park Extension district – which was at one time home for most of the city’s Greeks – they turned their initially small burglar alarm business into a national contender.
Lanvac’s first monitoring station was in Parc Extension, in the basement of a building at the corner of Durocher and Jean Talon. Bill got his elementary education at Barclay School on Wiseman Ave., while John attended Strathcona Academy in Outremont.
Bill received his secondary education at the former William Hingston High School, which has since become the area’s most important community centre. John attended another legendary secondary school, Baron Byng High School, which became famous internationally after Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler wrote about it in his narrative fiction.
