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Brink’s Home Security. In a little more than twenty years, Brink’s Home Security has grown steadily to become the second largest residential alarm company in North America.

Building upon the heritage of the Brink’s brand – a name synonymous with safety and security – and deploying highly effective mass marketing, Brink’s Home Security has developed a base of more than 920,000 subscribers across the United States and Western Canada. In 2004, the company grew its customer base by more than 87,000, a net growth rate of over 10%. Brink’s Home Security has attracted and maintained a quality subscriber base by targeting customers with solid credit histories who value the high quality service the company provides.

The key to Brink’s Home Security’s strong growth has been a commitment to outstanding service, from sales and installation through monitoring and customer care. Called “Creating Customers for Life,” this commitment permeates every element of customer interaction, enabling the company to achieve industry leading customer retention rates and consistently strong financial results.

Outstanding Service, Right from the Start

At Brink’s Home Security service begins at the very first contact with a potential customer and continues throughout each step of the process. The company’s 3,000 dedicated employees – from sales consultants and skilled technicians to monitoring and customer care representatives – are totally focused on ensuring customer satisfaction and building loyalty.

Getting the relationship off to a solid start requires the design and installation of a quality security system followed by effective customer orientation. Brink’s Home Security’s consistent adherence to strict guidelines for installation and false alarm reduction, as well as standards of quality for customer service, has made it the only national security company to earn the Installation Quality (IQ) Certification. This prestigious designation is awarded by the Installation Certification Board, an organization of police, fire, insurance, security and state regulatory professionals. Brink’s Home Security works to increase satisfaction among new residential and small business customers by providing a hands-on tutorial at the time of installation, a handy orientation video for future reference and online self-service capabilities.

Brink’s Home Security responds quickly and professionally to alarms and customer calls from its Customer Monitoring Center in Irving, Texas. This state-of-the-art facility is home to both highly trained monitoring representatives and customer care specialists. Together, they provide “peace of mind, 24 hours a day” through their dedication to rapid response and quality service around the clock.

The Brink’s Home Security team is supported by robust information systems and online tools to efficiently handle a variety of inquiries. For example, the MyCustomer system allows representatives to quickly reference important information such as account details, equipment features and diagnostic tools to efficiently respond to customer inquiries. MyBrinks.com, a convenient and easy to use web site for customers, offers online bill payment, account management and answers to commonly asked questions. This customer service option combined with a telephone-based voice response system became increasingly popular with Brink’s Home Security subscribers in 2004 with more than 25% of inquiries being handled through these convenient self-service options.

In 2004, Brink’s Home Security was recognized for customer satisfaction excellence under the J. D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program^SM. This distinction acknowledged the company’s strong commitment to providing an outstanding customer service experience and followed a detailed audit of recruiting, training, quality assurance and other key aspects of service.

Expanding to Serve a Growing Market

Low interest rates and a strengthening U.S. economy are driving robust real estate and single-family home construction markets while stimulating small business growth as well. At the same time, market penetration of residential alarm systems in existing homes remains relatively low at less than 30%. Brink’s Home Security continues its significant investment in new subscriber acquisition, technology and security solutions to serve these growing markets.

In 2004, Brink’s Home Security committed nearly $120 million in capital to its business with more than 90% of the capital outlays supporting new customer installations. Investments were also made in information technology and training that support Brink’s Home Security’s best-in-class service capabilities. To accommodate anticipated growth and further strengthen its service and back-up capabilities, the company is planning to construct a second monitoring and customer care facility outside of Texas in 2005.

Historically, Brink’s Home Security established its position as a leading monitored alarm company by building its subscriber base organically through its own branches primarily by retrofitting existing single-family homes. Today, growth is also coming from the providing of security solutions through other channels and in additional markets.

Home Technologies offers home builders a bundled home security and low-voltage wiring solution. The company continues to work closely with a majority of the nation’s top home builders in an expanding number of markets to install wiring and cabling that interconnects telephones, televisions, computers, sound systems and home theaters – in addition to security systems.

Brink’s Home Security has also increased its very successful dealer network, which is used to expand the company’s geographic reach and leverage its national marketing programs. For several years, qualified dealers have been utilized in markets where the company does not have a branch office. Today, there are more than 100 highly trained dealers in 120 markets across North America that accounted for more than 15% of installations for Brink’s Home Security in 2004.

An important initiative in 2005 will be the continued expansion of the company’s presence in the small business and commercial market segments, led by a dedicated Brink’s Business Security team.