The Death of Dead Zones: Telguard's Groundbreaking TG-7FM Multi-Carriers Communicator the Perfect Solution to Overhead Fire Protection's Challenging Installations

- Daren Hargett, Overhead Fire Protection

Overhead Fire Protection opened its doors in 1979 as a company focused on designing, installing, and maintaining fire sprinkler systems for commercial clients. Headquartered in Sparks, NV, the company has established a solid reputation grounded in top-notch customer service for clients throughout northern Nevada and northern California.

 

Over the last decade, the company has expanded its fire protection offerings, particularly in the alarm panel and alarm communicator space. While fire alarm communicators still represent just a modest eight percent of Overhead’s business, they’ve identified this market as critical to their growth strategy.

 

Overhead’s expansion into the alarm communicator market has coincided with a period of transition in the industry, as more and more customers are moving away from POTS connections towards cellular. While this creates an opportunity to equip new and existing customers with the superior reliability and affordability that cellular can provide, it can be challenging to implement these solutions in geographic areas where cellular service is ever-changing.

Overhead Fire Protection has installed more than 40 TG-7FM units in the first month since the product launched — even in mountainous zoned where single-carrier solutions used to fail

As the costs of POTS connections continued to rise, Overhead saw more and more customers looking for a new solution that would be both more affordable and reliable. Many customers began exploring Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connections as an alternative to POTS.

 

“The problem with VoIP,” noted Overhead Service Technician Terrin McCoy, “is that because of the digital nature, the alarm signals can be scrambled or distorted. That can lead to unwanted false signals and a greater risk that the monitoring receivers won’t correctly translate or even receive the alarm signal in an emergency situation.”

The obvious solution, Hargett noted, is cellular, but in the mountainous and rural region Overhead operates in, the cellular landscape is constantly changing.

 

“We’ve had many scenarios where we put a communicator in for one of the major carriers, and it would perform very well for six months, and then all of a sudden, that service would drop and we’d have to go back out and replace it with a communicator for a different carrier.”

 

While cellular connections were clearly the best solution for affordability and eliminating the headaches that came with older POTS connections, matching the reliability became a moving target as cellular service would ebb and flow between the major carriers. flow between the major carriers.

- Brook Richards, President, Overhead Fire Protection

Telguard’s new Multi-Carrier technology takes cellular reliability to new heights

Overhead Fire Protection is a long-time Telguard customer, exclusively using Telguard alarm communicators because of their straightforward installations, Telguard’s robust online portal for programming and troubleshooting, and U.S.-based tech support. But, like all alarm communicators on the market at the time, each device was specific to one of the major U.S. cellular carriers

 

That changed when Telguard developed the new TG-7FM sole path communicator for commercial fire, the industry’s first and only offering featuring Multi-Carrier technology designed to work seamlessly with all three major U.S. carriers. The TG-7FM automatically switches between carriers depending on signal quality, ensuring the user always has uninterrupted and optimized cellular reliability.

 

“The new Multi-Carrier units have been a great offering,” Hargett notes. “We’ve installed around 40 of them already, including many in areas that had been challenging installs for us in the past where we’d need to add costly external antennas to ensure a quality signal. These Multi-Carrier units work great and are such a nice addition to the Telguard line.”

 

Adding the new TG-7FM to its arsenal has also helped Overhead grow its business, particularly in one of its core market segments: schools. The company has long been a trusted partner to school districts in the region in providing comprehensive fire safety solutions, and the Multi-Carrier functionality of the TG-7FM has opened doors to additional new business.

 

Brook Richards, the president and owner of Overhead Fire Protection, highlighted their experience with the Douglas County School District, one of their most recent large-scale implementations of the TG-7FM communicator. “That’s a challenging geographic area where we really needed this new option. We weren’t comfortable just putting in a Verizon or AT&T communicator and then crossing our fingers. This new product has worked really well for us.”

 

“Ultimately, these new communicators save us time and money, make us more efficient, and provide a better experience for our customers who are much less likely to experience problems down the road,” Richards added.

Thanks to the new TG-7FM communicators, Overhead Fire Protection and their customers have benefited in a variety of ways:

 

Unmatched coverage and reliability: The TG-7FM works seamlessly with all three major U.S. carriers, transitioning between them automatically to optimize signal and reliability. You can rest assured that your alarm communicator is always active and connected to the best coverage available.

 

Hassle-Free Installations: Like all Telguard communicators, the TG-7FM offers true drop-in functionality. They are universally compatible with any panel and simple to install with nothing more than a basic screwdriver. Plus, thanks to the Multi-Carrier technology, you’ll receive the best signal right out of the box without needing external antennas or more complicated installs.

 

Increased Efficiency: With one communicator supporting all three carriers, Overhead Fire can save time and money. There is no need to stock or source separate communicators for separate carriers and no more return trips to customers to swap out one communicator for another when one cellular service starts outperforming another.

 

Better Support: All Telguard products are backed by award-winning, U.S.-based tech support.

 

Business Growth: The TG-7FM makes it easier for Overhead’s customers to transition from POTS to cellular, capturing revenue that may otherwise have gone to local telephone providers, and the Multi-Carrier technology facilitates expansion into previously tricky regions for cellular. Taken together, this product leads to stronger customer relationships, more referrals, and more repeat business.