With financial backing from Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), Sydney security company, SecureNet Monitoring, is winning impressive international orders by incorporating advanced communication technology linking alarms, video cameras and mobile phones to revolutionise traditional alarm monitoring systems.

SecureNet used EFIC Headway, a financial guarantee from EFIC to a participating bank, to access additional working capital finance from HSBC. EFIC’s assistance was vital to SecureNet winning a major contract with one of the United Kingdom’s biggest electricity and gas utilities, which also wanted to make security technology available to its customers to protect against property crime.

SecureNet provides existing and new entrants in the security monitoring industry a solution for residential and small to medium-sized commercial property owners to self-monitor their alarm and video systems (including motion sensors and cameras that can immediately stream high-quality video pictures to the owners’ mobile phones and computers). The systems also integrate back into operator services within existing control rooms. This results in superior customer service and flexibility for the end user and new revenue streams for SecureNet’s distributors.

“We’ve developed a more efficient system that can eliminate human error (by operators) in monitoring and puts greater emphasis on customer service,” said SecureNet managing director, Andrew Wilson, an electronics engineer with more than 15 years’ experience in the security industry.

“Depending on call backlogs, it can take a traditional monitoring centre 10 to 20 minutes for an operator to respond to an alarm. With our system, customers are alerted via their mobile phones with streamed video that can confirm whether the person or persons on their premises are authorised to be there or not.”

SecureNet’s advanced monitoring solution is now distributed in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, China, Scandinavia and Australia, with interest also now coming from South Africa and elsewhere in Europe.

“We are supplying a turn-key solution, that is both our monitoring software platform and alarm hardware systems, to our customer in the UK, Scottish and Southern Energy,” said Mr Wilson. “They are placing high volume orders to purchase alarm equipment, hence our need for support with working capital. The support of EFIC Headway made all the difference in the end.”

EFIC Headway enables eligible small and medium-sized exporters to access additional working capital from their participating bank, without the need to provide added security.

HSBC, NAB, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, BankWest, Bank of Queensland, Bendigo Bank and St.George distribute EFIC Headway.