by Jessica Barnes | Mar 14, 2023 | WHIRC News
Rockford, Minn. (March 14, 2023) — WH International Response Center (WHIRC) recently received its Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) listing as a Central Monitoring Station for the 30th straight year, dating back to 1994. This means WHIRC has met or exceeded quality, safety and training standards set by UL. WHIRC is committed to exceeding UL’s standards to ensure continuity of quality service to its customers.
“At WHIRC, we’re more than alarm monitoring,” said WHIRC Technology & Dealer Manager Ashley Raisanen. “We provide collaborative solutions and reliable support for 24/7 monitoring.”
To learn more, visit WHIRC’s website at whirc.com or call (800) 858-7811.
WHIRC is a leading national central station monitoring partner for residential and commercial security, alarm, video and personal emergency response system dealers. WHIRC’s headquarters are located in Rockford, Minn.
by Jessica Barnes | Mar 10, 2023 | WHIRC News
WHIRC is excited to announce an update to the online bill pay portal! Starting on March 30, the online payment portal will have a new look and feel. The new payment portal will also offer a Quick Pay option, allowing you to make an electric bill payment without having to take the time to log into your account.
There is nothing you need to do as a result of this change. Your login information is not changing, your payment methods will be saved, and the payment site URL will not change.
View some before and after comparisons below:
If you have any questions, please give our team a call at (800) 858-7811. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have!
Check out the new payment portal for yourself at billing.whe.org. Thank you for being a customer!
by Jessica Barnes | Feb 20, 2023 | WHIRC News
As we kick off 2023, the 3G sunset is in the rearview mirror and we can put our full attention and resources towards growth. Video is the fastest growing sector of the security market and can bring high value to your customers. Did you know that now you can add recurring revenue to your video services?
With our video health monitoring, video verification, and structured remote guard tour offerings, WHIRC can help you achieve your revenue goals. We have direct integration with multiple video platforms like OpenEye, and soon we will be offering Digital Watchdog. For video systems that without direct integration, we have the Universal Connector which translates email communications from the video system into alarm signals that we can act on.
WHIRC is committed to providing reliable and custom monitoring solutions for you and your customers. As reliability from traditional phone lines continues to decrease, installing a new communicator, either cellular or Internet Protocol, ensures alarm signal continuity. Replacing traditional phones lines will decrease the time that it takes to report a signal and minimizes signal interruption. Let us know if we can assist with transitioning your customers.
WHIRC is excited to expand our offerings in 2023! Keep your eyes peeled for the 2023 WHIRC Dealer Symposium coming this summer. We hope to see you there!
by Jessica Barnes | Feb 8, 2023 | WHIRC News
2022: THE END OF ANOTHER SUNSET!
With the end of 2022 we also welcomed the end of the 3G technology sunset and with that, additional opportunities for the industry. Despite ongoing procurement challenges, 2022 brought with it new markets and monitoring services, some traditional and some innovative. In 2022, WHIRC launched video health monitoring with OpenEye, expanded our video verification offerings, and completed automation enhancements. WHIRC has made many improvements throughout our system including adding an additional ISP connection for signal traffic, increased our already robust cyber security, and increased receiver capabilities to anticipate the changes in new product offerings. WHIRC is committed to helping you maintain and grow your business with excellent products, service, and monitoring support.
2023: EXPANDING THE POSSIBILITIES!
In 2023, we will offer even more communication methods for you and your customers such as two way texting, and automated notifications. In addition, we will expand our video monitoring capabilities to offer health monitoring through Digital Watchdog and various video platforms. These capabilities provide additional monitoring opportunities for you to grow your recurring revenue. We are also committed to providing you additional resources and training opportunities as a valued partner of WHIRC. Our focus is and will continue to be reliability, customer service, and expanding technology.
We are grateful to have you as a partner. We look forward to 2023 and our continued service to you!
by Jessica Barnes | Jul 6, 2022 | WHIRC News
WHIRC is partnering with Advocates for Health to bring Outdoor Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Smart Monitored Cabinets to central Minnesota. Advocates for Health was co-founded by Joel Vogel and Rich Feneis in 2018. The idea came from Joel’s personal experience with a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and Rich’s desire to have AED’s accessible to his friends and neighbors. Rich began to research emergency medical services response times in his area and realized that if he did not have a readily available AED, the chance for survival from a SCA would be close to none. If an AED is used within one minute, the person has a 90% chance of survival.
Each AED cabinet is manufactured to withstand Minnesota’s extreme weather. Some features include:
- Steel housing treated to withstand heat, cold, moisture, and saline.
- Hardwired
- Rechargeable backup battery
- Americans with Disabilities Act compliant
- LED illuminated
- Camera for photo bursts
- Call button that is connected to the WHIRC monitoring center
The sensors monitored by WHIRC monitor:
- Cellular connection
- Power
- Temperature
- Door opening/closing
- If the AED is removed from cabinet
Once we receive a signal the AED was removed, we call 911 dispatch. We also send automated text to nearby residents or business owners who are on the “neighborhood watch team” to provide help while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
As of December 2021, Advocates for Help have installed over 100 AED Smart Monitored Cabinets. Visit their website to donate towards the installation of Outdoor AED Smart Cabinets and to inform communities on the importance of AED and CPR. To learn more about WHIRC’s monitoring service, visit our monitoring page or call (800) 858-7811.
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by Jessica | May 2, 2022 | WHIRC News
The security industry is the middle of it third technology sunset in the last 10 years. This means another piece of technology needs to be deployed to your current customers. The replacement units are dual path, so even if there is another cellular sunset in the future, these devices have Internet Protocol (IP) backup. With hopefully 10 years before the next sunset, these dual path products have the capability to stay connected even if the cellular technology changes.
WHIRC is well prepared to monitor this technology. We have assigned specific IP addresses to increase our redundancy for signaling and upgraded our receivers, adding additional capacity for future growth.
ResearchandMarkets predicts significant growth in the number of cellular connections for home and small business security systems, with year-over-year growth forecast through 2025. What is WHIRC doing to support that? We stay relevant in the industry, are proactive and supportive by identifying any outdated equipment and help in getting the end user updated.
WHIRC is committed to staying ahead of manufacturers and products by ensuring our technology is the most current. The WHIRC sales team attends training sessions to stay current with what is coming in the industry. This allows us to reliably support your monitoring needs 24/7/365.
In addition to supporting the phase out of legacy equipment, WHIRC can help you to gain other efficiencies from your business. We offer after hours answering support services to assist your customers when you are away. For example, if there is a beeping that will not stop, we’ll get a technician on the phone to help them take care of the issue until you can roll a truck to conduct repairs. We also offer custom reports, including signal reports showing communication failures. These trouble reports can let you know which accounts are in failure so you can make them a high service priority.
As always, WHIRC is here to monitor your systems, but we are also here to support your business by offering collaborative solutions and reliable support you can count on!
Message from Business Manager Ashley Raisanen
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