| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fire detection, Fire suppression, Security systems, Communication systems, Video surveillance, Access control, Radio frequency identification, Electronic article surveillance |
| Founded | 1874 |
| Headquarters | Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. |
| Key people | Naren K. Gursahaney (President, ADT Worldwide) John Koch (President, ADT North America Residential & Small Business) John Kenning (President, ADT North America Commercial) |
| Parent | Tyco International |
| Website | http://www.adt.com |
ADT Security Services, originally American District Telegraph, now also known as simply ADT, is a division of Tyco International and a worldwide supplier of electronic security systems, fire alarm systems, communication systems, and integrated building management systems.
Contents |
There were many small telegraph delivery companies in the United States in the 19th century. In 1874, 57 district telegraph delivery companies affiliated and became "American District Telegraph". With the increase in telephone usage in the late 19th century, ADT's messenger business slowly declined in popularity. ADT tried branching out and developing their signaling business while still maintaining their telegraph business as primary income source. ADT incorporated into Western Union in 1901. ADT separated its messenger business from its main signaling business at this time. In 1909, Western Union and ADT came under the control of AT&T. ADT began to expand into new areas such as fire alarms and burglar alarms between 1910 and 1930, but was kept separate from AT&T's Holmes alarm business. ADT became a publicly owned company in the 1960s.
In 1964, ADT was found to be a monopoly in restraint of trade. It was shown to provide almost 80% of the central station alarm service in the United States. In some cities, such as New York City and Memphis, Tennessee, they were the sole provider. They were also found to have forced out of business competitors by lowering prices below cost. They would charge national accounts very low prices in cities with competitors and much higher prices where no competition was available. ADT was forced to adopt a national price list, which could not be varied, to help establish Central Station Competitors in cities without competition, and to pay fines and triple damages to the federal government, customers, and local competitors.
In 1977, the UK's Lord Ashcroft had bought under-performing outdoor equipment maker Hawley Goodall, and transformed it through acquisition into a business services group, registered in Bermuda. In the early part of 1987, Hawley bought the Indianapolis-based Crime Control Inc., fourth largest company in the U.S. security market, for $50 million. Later in the year, it bought ADT. This purchase transformed Hawley into the leading security services business in the United States, and resulted in the majority of its revenues coming from the North American market. As a result of the acquisition, Hawley changed its name to ADT Inc. and decided to refocus its business around security services. At the end of 1987, the company sold its North American-based facility services business to Denmark's ISS A/S.
By the mid 1990s, ADT surpassed the 1 million customer milestone. In 1997, ADT was purchased by Tyco by means of a reverse takeover, thus allowing Tyco a Bermudan tax status. Lord Ashcroft joined the board of Tyco, although he had quickly disposed of a large amount of his Tyco stock taken in payment for the purchase of ADT.[1]
In May 2010, ADT acquired competitor Broadview Security for $2.0 billion dollars. Broadview's services were transitioned to the existing ADT brand.[2][3]
During March 2011, ADT opened a $1.5 million integrated solutions center (ISC) in Colorado. The ISC is more than 6,500 square feet (600 m2) and features three show rooms open to the public. The purpose of the ISC is to educate the public on home security systems. [4]
On September 19, 2011, Tyco announced that it would split into three companies, ADT being one of the three.[5]
ADT first entered the United Kingdom in the late 1950s with the establishment of Electric Protection Services Limited based in London and introduced central monitoring in the mid-60s at the request of several leading banks, despite not opening a central monitoring station of their own. The 1970s and 80s brought steady growth.
In the mid 1990s, ADT Inc was acquired by Tyco International at the same time Tyco also bought up the UK firm Thorn Security. In 1997, ADT Fire and Security plc was formed from the merger of three of the UK’s largest security firms: ADT, Thorn Security and Modern Security Systems.
ADT provides monitored burglar, fire and video surveillance systems. ADT has branches in 50 different countries, with over 62,000 employees. ADT had gross revenue of $8 billion in 2008.
ADT has branches covering the United States, Canada and Latin America, as well as 21 countries in Europe. ADT UK and Ireland has 23 branches employing around 5,500 people. ADT Europe has annual gross revenues of at least $2.6 Billion. ADT has branches in seven Asian countries, one branch in South Africa, and branches in Australia and New Zealand.
ADT is the largest security company in the United States, serving over 8.3 million customers. As of 2004 ADT holds 35% market share of the North American market.[6] and has eight monitoring stations, six in the United States and two in Canada.
ADT is the UK’s leading security company, helping to protect over 250,000 UK family homes and 160,000 businesses across the country. ADT UK has also a specialist vehicle division tasked to create and maintain CCTV and riot control vehicles for police forces around the country.
In 1989 ADT Fire and Security was granted a 45 year contract to maintain the security of the British and American Governments.
ADT Security also has an authorized dealer program. Under this program, independent dealers offer security system installations which are then monitored by ADT. Some ADT Authorized Dealers use similar Honeywell/Ademco products as installed by ADT, while other dealers utilize GE/ITI or DSC products.
Whether a customer purchases ADT monitoring services directly from ADT or through an authorized dealer, a 36-month monitoring contract is required, except in California, where the term is 24 months.
ADT was successfully sued by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on 2007 for violations of the Telemarketing Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act and was required to pay $2 million to settle the charges. ADT subsidiary Alarm King and Direct Security Services were similarly charged and paid from $20,000 to $25,000.
In early 2010,Tyco International announced that it was acquiring Brink's Home Security Holdings, (operating as Broadview Security) and was merging the company with its ADT brand name in a transaction valued at $2.0 billion.[7] The transaction, which was finalized and closed mid 2010, combined the #1 and #2 security companies in North America, adding Broadview's 1.3 million customer accounts and $565 million in annual recurring revenue to ADT's existing customer base of 7.4 million accounts and $7 billion in annual recurring revenue.[8]