The story behind the story of Alarmtech: To take a line from Golden Girls—picture it: London, 1985. Bob Hoevenaars founded Alarmtech. Bob, a young electrical engineering graduate of UWO, had a vision to be the finest independent provider of electronic detection systems for residential and commercial accounts. But, the story doesn’t start there— it starts the year Bob was born in London, Ontario....

1. The story behind the story of Alarmtech...

2. It really is Bob Hoevenaars story, but Nancy Hoevenaars
does play a role in the business day to day.

3. Bob was born in London ON — the second youngest of
six children. His parents were Dutch immigrants who
came to Canada for the opportunities it provided. They
bought a modest house near the university grounds so
their children could easily attend school there. In the
meantime, Nancy was born three weeks after Bob and
lived less than a block from him, the second of two
children.

4. Bob as a child with his family

5. Bob and Nancy were playmates before they started
elementary school. The next picture is in Nancy’s
backyard at about four years of age. They went their
separate ways when they started school. As Bob was
Catholic and Nancy was not, their paths did not cross
much during their school age years.

6. Bob and Nancy—age 4

7. Bob’s family is one of high achievers and like his
siblings, Bob excelled in math and science. He studied
Electrical Engineering at Western, graduating in 1984.
Just before he started university, he and Nancy
reconnected as volunteers within the Scouting
movement, and began to date. Nancy also attended
Western, where she studied psychology and then
attended teacher’s college.

8. Bob’s U.W.O. Graduation

9. Nancy and Bob were engaged to get married on June
2nd 1984, just a month after finishing their degrees. It
was a bit of a recession in 1984 and there were no
teaching or engineering jobs to be had, so Nancy held
onto her job at a drugstore and Bob signed up to work
construction.

10. Bob & Nancy’s Wedding Photo

11. Nancy’s strict father gave her a small budget for the
wedding and since Bob/Nancy had stupidly set a date
prior to starting their summer jobs, they did not have two
nickels of their own to rub together to supplement
anything not covered in Nancy’s father’s budget.

12. Wedding Photo w/ Nancy’s Parents

13. It’s all a big laugh now about how Nancy’s gregarious
father-in-law kept sending back a guest list much larger
than the number allowed by her budgeting father,
eventually driving Bob/Nancy to forgo fresh flowers, cake
& even to borrow a wedding dress. Bob’s dad ended up
paying for the table wine & bar tab as he wanted one
bottle of wine per person & Nancy’s dad was prepared to
provide one bottle of white & one bottle of red per table!
As you can image, they also had different ideas about
how big the bar tab would be!

14. Wedding Photo w/ Bob’s Parents

15. In the fall of 1984, Bob found work at Federal White
Cement in Woodstock. The job was meant to be about
25% electrical engineering, but Bob found that was not
the case. He did not like the job at all. In the meantime,
Nancy’s brother thought that the alarm industry was an
up and coming opportunity. If Bob would be the brains,
Nancy’s brother would be the sales person and a third
friend would take on the installations.

16. Federal White Cement Website

17. Alarmtech Security Systems was founded in July of 1985
by these three partners; each put in $1500. The
business operated out of a bedroom in the house
Bob/Nancy were renting and after building a plywood
sign to fit Nancy’s brother’s station wagon and
developing a logo for advertising, Alarmtech was ready
to do business.

18. Alarmtech’s First Vehicle

19. Bob and partners had a booth in the Western Fair that
fall and work started to trickle in—and trickle is all it did.
Within two years, Nancy’s brother and the third partner
had left the business and Bob was on his own to slowly
build a team and define a brand.

20. Bob’s First Business Card

21. Alarmtech has always positioned itself as a consultative,
transparent and customer focused service provider. Bob
has held fast to the ideal of “the right equipment installed
in the right way.” In the early days, all equipment had to
be hardwired, meaning two installers might spend two
full days in a home, fishing wires through the walls to
allow for devices to be installed. Even though labour was
much cheaper then, residential systems routinely cost
between 1 and 2 thousand dollars.

22. What Our Customers Say!
“I have been an Alarmtech customer almost from its
beginning. I think they moved once. I have moved twice.
The focus has stayed the same... providing security and
peace of mind. Great local company that actually cares
about their customers.”
–D. Peterson

23. What Our Customers Say!
“I have been an Alarmtech customer almost from its
beginning. I think they moved once. I have moved twice.
The focus has stayed the same... providing security and
peace of mind. Great local company that actually cares
about their customers.”
–D. Peterson

24. The development of reliable wireless devices, coupled
with the invention of long-lasting lithium batteries, has
made security installations more affordable than ever.
Alarmtech’s focus on education for their team of
customer service providers, installers and sales
consultants has set them apart from much of their
competition.

25. What Our Customers Say!
“I have been an Alarmtech customer almost from its
beginning. I think they moved once. I have moved twice.
The focus has stayed the same... providing security and
peace of mind. Great local company that actually cares
about their customers.”
–D. Peterson

26. “This was a new build and after having difficulties with
the alarm company, recommended by the builder, my
husband and I contacted Alarmtech. We received great
service from getting a quote through to the installation.
Everyone at Alarmtech was professional and responsive
to all our questions. Furthermore, we love the ability to
control the alarm using our cell phones.”
–V. Dokter
What Our Customers Say!

27. The alarm industry is unregulated, meaning anyone can
operate a security company and does not have to
undergo any training or certification to do so. CANASA,
the Canadian Security Association, offers training and
Alarmtech puts all of their installers through this
program. In fact, Bob is a national instructor for CANASA
and helped develop the online training program currently
in place.

28. Bob is a CANASA Guru

29. The security industry has changed in radical ways.
Rather than the consult/design procedure that was once
the standard, pre-set packages are offered online with
little money down, but higher monthly fees. Alarmtech
has adapted to this new kind of consumer by offering
choices between upfront costs and lower monthly fees,
and bundled installations that allow for the consumer to
have work done without much of an investment up front.
Alarmtech always tries to consult, but sometimes people
just want to pick a package!

30. Alarms consist of three components:
1. Hardware
2. Installation
3. Monthly Monitoring Fees
Industry Pricing Is Confusing

31. Over the 33 years that Alarmtech has been in business,
the company has expanded its offerings to include
camera installation, access control, smart home wiring,
automation and lifestyle installations.

32. Access Control

33. Camera systems, or CCTV systems as they are called,
are more and more common and affordable as every
year goes by and video quality continues to improve
year over year. Incorporating access control allows
restriction of access to certain areas, certain people or
certain hours.

34. CCTV—Camera Systems

35. Alarmtech Systems for Life rebranded to allude to the life
safety and lifestyle aspects of their installations. A
security system is a terrific foundation upon which you
can build remote notifications of events, environmental
detection such as smoke, CO, temperature alerts, sump
pump failure alerts, etc.

37. Alarmtech provides best-in-class, customized
electronic security solutions to residential and
small-medium sized businesses throughout the
London, Middlesex, Elgin region through superior
technology, highly qualified and trained staff and
relentless focus on delivering and exceptional
customer experience.
Alarmtech’s Core Purpose

38. This focus on customer satisfaction has resulted in
customer loyalty and the winning of awards such as
Best of London, Consumer Choice award and an A++
rating with the Better Business Bureau.

40. Besides involvement with Neighbourhood Watch and
Crimestoppers, Alarmtech has enjoyed supporting
the YMCA Children’s Safety Village and also
Lifewater Canada.

41. Children’s Safety Village

42. Through those years, Bob and Nancy have enjoyed
raising a family together. Their older daughter
Danielle is the Associate Director at Westland Art
Gallery in old south. Their younger daughter Jocelyn
is in third year classical voice at Western University.
They are following Jocelyn to Italy this summer to see
her perform in a student opera! It’s okay that
Bob/Nancy spread this news around, because they
have a monitored alarm system protecting their home
while they are away on vacation!

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45. Like us already? Really like us? Review Alarmtech on
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next seasonal draw.
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46. Contact Alarmtech For More Info.
To reach one of our consultants and receive your
complimentary quote contact us at:
www.alarmtech.ca
Phone: 519-434-3996
Email: systemsforlife@alarmtech.ca
Online Form: alarmtech.ca/contact-alarmtech/

47. Alarmtech Office