The verdict in three sentences
An electronic security company with 25 technicians managing 2,600 remote monitoring subscriptions can no longer run contracts, certified maintenance and call-outs with a generic quoting tool and three spreadsheets. A custom business application links the installed base, contracts, technician scheduling, alarm verification and direct debit billing in a single database. At Kolonell, this kind of project costs 3,810 to 22,870+ EUR (2,500,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA) depending on complexity, delivered in 3 to 5 months, everything else being set in the quote.
A subscription business, not just installations
An alarm installer's revenue increasingly comes from recurring contracts. With 2,600 subscribers paying 30 to 90 EUR excl. VAT per month (around 35 to 105 USD), an average of about 48 EUR, the company bills roughly 125,000 EUR of recurring revenue a month. Each contract carries obligations: annual maintenance required by the installer's certification (APSAD in France, NSI in the UK, UL listing in the US), contractual response times, and alarm verification instructions passed to the monitoring centre.
When this information is scattered, the consequences are concrete: missed maintenance visits, putting the client's insurance cover at risk; technicians sent without the site history; cancelled or suspended subscriptions still debited, or the reverse.
| Indicator (2026 estimate) | Without business software | With business software |
|---|---|---|
| Annual maintenance done on time | 75 to 85 % | 98 % |
| Weekly scheduling time | 1.5 days | 3 hours |
| Direct debit rejections | 3 to 4 % | under 1.5 % |
| Time to invoice a call-out | 10 to 20 days | next day |
| Annual churn rate | 8 to 10 % | 5 to 6 % |
| Kilometres per technician per day | 140 km | 105 km (optimised routes) |
The modules that matter
| Module | Content | Complexity |
|---|---|---|
| Installed base and sites | panels, detectors, cameras, serial numbers, floor plans, encrypted access codes | simple |
| Contracts and subscriptions | plans, prices, annual indexation, renewals, cancellations | medium |
| Certified maintenance | automatic schedule, reports signed on tablet, PDF certificates | medium |
| Call-outs and alarm verification | alarm events from the monitoring centre, tickets, on-call rotas | complex |
| Technician scheduling | routes, skills, geolocation, offline mobile app | medium |
| Billing and direct debit | mandates, debit files (SEPA, BACS or ACH), dunning, accounting export | medium |
The interface with the monitoring centre is what moves the budget. If the centre provides an export or API for alarm events, automatic ticket creation is quick to set up. If each event arrives by email or file, a dedicated parser is needed. Software limited to installed base, contracts and maintenance stays in the simple bracket (3,810 to 6,100 EUR). Adding mobile scheduling and direct debit moves it to the medium bracket (6,100 to 10,670 EUR). Real-time alarm feeds and on-call management belong to the complex bracket (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR).
Off-the-shelf or custom?
SaaS tools for security installers charge, as a 2026 estimate, 40 to 90 EUR (45 to 100 USD) per user per month. For 25 technicians and 5 office staff, that is 14,000 to 32,000 EUR a year, with no guarantee your verification instructions or subscription plans are handled properly. Custom software needs an upfront investment, then application maintenance of 53, 114 or 183 EUR per month depending on service level, with hosting in your region set in the quote.
Typical schedule: 3 weeks of scoping with the technical manager and accounts, 2 months for installed base, contracts and maintenance, 1 month for the mobile app, then 2 to 4 weeks migrating the 2,600 existing contracts and testing with two pilot technicians.
What decides the bracket in practice is less the number of screens than the number of external systems: the monitoring centre, the bank for debit files, the accounting package and sometimes the manufacturer cloud of the alarm panels. Listing those interfaces in the first scoping week gives a reliable estimate early.
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Mini case study
Sophie runs an electronic security company in Reims. She finds that 15 % of annual maintenance visits happen more than two months late, and churn reaches 9 % a year. Bringing churn down to 6 % keeps 78 subscribers a year (3 % of 2,600). At an average of 48 EUR a month, that is 78 x 48 x 12, or 44,900 EUR of recurring revenue preserved every year.
Scheduling adds to it: 1.5 days a week reduced to 3 hours frees around 50 days of admin work a year. For a medium-bracket project around 9,000 EUR, payback comes in under three months on churn alone.
FAQ
Can we migrate our 2,600 existing contracts?
Yes. Migration runs from your spreadsheets and current tool, with checks on debit mandates and renewal dates. Plan 2 to 4 weeks depending on data quality.
Does the technician app work offline?
Yes. Maintenance reports, photos and signatures are saved offline and synced later, which helps in basements and rural areas.
How are client access codes protected?
Codes and instructions are encrypted, visible only to authorised technicians and logged on every view, in line with GDPR.
Does the software handle annual price indexation?
Yes. An indexation rule (for example 2.5 % on 1 January) applies automatically, with a notification letter generated for each subscriber.
Let's scope your project. Contracts, certified maintenance, call-outs and direct debit billing: we define scope and timeline with your technical manager. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
