The History of ADT
You have to go back as far as the nineteenth century to find the birth of the company we know of today as ADT; or ADT Security Services, Inc. as it's officially known. The company's window stickers and lawn signs that are seen all across our country, and wisely displayed, have more behind them then your home or office. They also have a long and surprisingly varied history.
It's very difficult for us, living in these
times of worldwide Instant Messaging, to really understand how geographically
isolated people and communities were in the past. If you wanted to get a message to someone
across town, across the country, or even across the ocean, you had to walk,
ride or float it. There just weren't any
other options. That is until Mr. Samuel
F. B. Morse created the telegraph. And we
have Mr. Alfred Vail to thank for taking the idea of the telegraph and making
it commercially viable through the use of his electromagnets. You could now send news, or personal letter,
with the speed of electricity. Imagine!
The new invention sparked the creation of many new telegraph businesses, each operating and serving its own particular region of the country. These individual enterprises were known as 'district' companies. In 1874 the owners of 57 different 'district' telegraph delivery companies made the decision to become consolidated, and the new American District Telegraph Company was born.
So what does all this talk about the
telegraph have to do with security you might ask? Searching for ways to capitalize on the new
technology, ADT developed Call Boxes in the 1890's. These devices now made it possible for
businesses to install multi-signal electric protection systems that allowed
watchmen to send specific signals to the ADT monitoring office, letting them
know all was well. If the district
office failed to receive the scheduled signal, it was assumed something was
wrong and they could dispatch assistance.
The new business of security monitoring was now a reality.
ADT was incorporated in 1901 and became a
subsidiary of Western Union. Since each
of the original 57 telegraph companies had developed independently, and
operated very differently from each other, it was at this point the new signal
business was separated from the messenger services. It is the signal operations that grew into
what we see today.
Just like its development of the Call Boxes, the company was always working on new and improved ways to provide security. During the war years, as men were called to duty, demand for better systems increased drastically. New technologies that would not only detect problems that occurred, but would signal an alarm automatically, were created.
1974 marked the 100th anniversary of ADT. Micro-computers now did the work of the outdated Call Boxes, and the first solid-state devices were now being installed. The first ADT automated Central Station was introduced which was later to become its integrated Customer Monitoring Centers network.
The 1980's saw the fist use of the proprietary
CentraScan computer-based system with the introduction of ADT's Safewatch
network for individual homes. Later in
the decade the company was purchased by the Hawley Group, Ltd., and took the
new name of ADT Security Systems, Inc.
The name was once again changed in 1996 to ADT Security Services
Inc.. In 1998 Tyco International Ltd. acquired
the company.
During the 1990's the company added its one millionth customer. Historically speaking this is a milestone reached by very few service providers of any sort, and is a testament to the company's willingness to innovate and grow. Now the next time you notice that ADT lawn sign, or window sticker, you'll know a little more of what is really behind it.
