Commercial Intrusion Detection & Burglar Alarm Systems for Massachusetts & New Hampshire
R&D Life Safety Systems designs, installs, monitors, and services intrusion detection systems for commercial and institutional buildings across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. That means perimeter protection on the doors, windows, and overhead doors people actually break in through; interior detection placed for how your space is really used; central-station monitoring with a call list that stays current; and the user-code management and training that keep the system armed every night instead of bypassed. We take over existing burglar alarms as often as we install new ones — and we tell you up front which is the better path for your building.
When to call
Sound familiar?
- You had a break-in — or an attempt — and your owner or insurance carrier is now asking what the alarm system covers and whether it was armed.
- The alarm false-alarms so often that staff have stopped arming it, or the police department has started charging for the dispatches.
- Your alarm panel still communicates over a copper phone line that the carrier is retiring, and nobody has told you what replaces it.
- An employee with a keypad code left months ago and nobody knows how to delete the code — or who else still has one.
- The company that installed the system is gone, unreachable, or answers only through a national call queue that starts over every time.
- You're fitting out a new building or tenant space and need perimeter and interior coverage designed and priced before opening day.
- You manage several sites with mismatched alarm systems, separate monitoring bills, and no single record of who can arm what.
Scope
What we do
Included
- Perimeter detection: door and window contacts, glass-break detection, and overhead-door contacts on loading docks and drive-in doors
- Interior detection: motion detectors selected and placed for the space — racking, forklift traffic, HVAC airflow, and after-hours cleaning all considered
- Panel and keypad installation, replacement, and reprogramming, including partitioned systems for multi-tenant or multi-department buildings
- Cellular and IP communicator upgrades for systems losing their phone line
- Central-station monitoring — new accounts and takeovers of existing monitored systems
- User code, partition, and call-list management, documented so access changes are a phone call, not a project
- Service, repair, testing, and battery replacement on existing systems, including systems other companies installed
Not included (and who we coordinate with instead)
- Guard, patrol, or keyholder response services — the central station follows the response plan you set, and we help you build a call list that works
- Consumer and DIY alarm products — we install and service commercial-grade equipment we can support for the life of the system
How it works
What happens when you call
- 1
Talk to a person
Call 617-207-2777 or send a request. You'll talk with someone who can ask the right questions — what the building is, what's happened, what equipment is already on the wall. If we miss the call, we call back.
- 2
Walk the building
We look at every way into the building — doors, windows, roof hatches, dock doors — and just as importantly at how your people open, close, and move through it. An alarm designed around real operations is one that actually gets armed.
- 3
Design and quote
You get a written scope: zones and devices by location, panel and keypad placement, communicator path, monitoring arrangement, and what happens to any existing equipment. If reusing your current panel makes sense, the quote says so.
- 4
Install and prove it
We install, program, and then test every zone through to the central station — not just at the panel. Signals confirmed, entry and exit delays set for how your staff really come and go.
- 5
Train the people who use it
Arming, disarming, what each keypad message means, how to cancel an accidental dispatch, and who to call when something looks wrong. Most false alarms are opening-and-closing errors — training is the cheapest fix there is.
- 6
Keep the records current
User codes, partitions, zone lists, and the monitoring call list are documented from day one. When staff turn over or contacts change, updating the system is a quick call to a company that already has the paperwork.
Where this applies
Facility types we work in
- Warehouses and distribution facilities
- Office and commercial buildings
- Municipal buildings and public-housing properties
- Schools and institutional buildings
- Industrial and manufacturing plants
- Retail and mixed-use properties
- Contractor shops and equipment yards
Systems & platforms
Our team works with security and access platforms including DSC, Vista, Mercury, Brivo, ExacqVision, Eagle Eye, and Avigilon.
Why R&D
What working with us is like
Designed to stay armed
A burglar alarm that cries wolf gets left off — and an alarm that's off protects nothing. We place detection for how the building actually operates, set delays for how people actually enter, and train the staff who arm it, because the goal is a system that's on every night, not one that looks good on a proposal.
Takeovers handled honestly
Most commercial panels can be taken over, reprogrammed, and re-pointed to new monitoring. Some are locked out or genuinely at end of life. We tell you which situation you're in before you sign anything, with the reasoning in writing.
A phone number that gets answered
An intrusion alarm generates questions at inconvenient moments — a zone that won't arm at closing time, a signal nobody understands. When you call R&D you reach a person, and if we miss you, we call back. That's the standard the company is built on.
Records worth having
Zone schedules, user-code assignments, and monitoring call lists kept as documents, not tribal knowledge. When a keyholder leaves or an auditor asks who can disarm the building, the answer is on file.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can you take over a burglar alarm another company installed?
Usually, yes. We work on common commercial platforms and can typically reprogram an existing panel and move it to our monitoring. Some panels are proprietary or installer-locked, and some are old enough that reprogramming costs more than it's worth — we identify that up front, before you commit. Start with the panel make and model on the inside of the can, and we'll give you a straight answer.
How do we stop the false alarms?
Start with the causes: most false alarms come from opening-and-closing errors, doors that don't latch tight, motion detectors that can see something HVAC or a fan moves at night, and low batteries. The fixes are unglamorous — user training, adjusted entry and exit delays, maintenance, and detectors placed correctly for the space. It matters beyond the annoyance: many cities and towns charge fees for repeat false alarms or require alarm registration, and those rules are set by your local police department. We can walk your system and tell you where the false alarms are actually coming from.
Our alarm reports over a phone line that's being shut off. What are the options?
This is one of the most common calls we get. The usual answer is a cellular or IP communicator that replaces the phone-line connection, and in many cases your existing panel can stay. We confirm what your panel supports, install the communicator, and test signals through to the central station so you know reporting actually works before the old line goes away.
What actually happens when the alarm goes off?
The panel sends a signal to the central station, and the operators follow the response plan on file for your account — typically verifying, calling your contact list in order, and requesting police dispatch when your instructions and local procedures call for it. The plan is only as good as the call list, which is why we help you set it up deliberately and keep it current as people change.
Can each employee have their own code?
On the panels we install and service, yes — individual user codes, and on many systems partitions and arming schedules as well. Individual codes mean the system's history shows who armed and disarmed, and when someone leaves you delete one code instead of changing the code everyone shares. We document code assignments so managing them stays simple.
Do you cover our area?
We serve commercial and institutional buildings across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Call to confirm coverage for your specific site.
Coverage
Service area
We serve commercial and institutional buildings across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Call to confirm coverage for your site — and if you're responsible for several properties, ask about putting them under one service relationship with one set of records.
Related pages
Commercial Security Systems
Access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and intercoms for commercial buildings in MA & NH. Call 617-207-2777 — we answer, or we call back.
Learn more →Video Surveillance
Commercial video surveillance design, installation, and service for buildings across MA & NH. Cameras that record what you need to see. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Fire Alarm Monitoring
Central-station fire alarm monitoring, communicator upgrades, and monitored-account takeovers for buildings across MA & NH. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Commercial & Industrial
Fire alarm service, testing, and repair for manufacturing, warehouse & industrial facilities in MA & NH — planned around production. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Municipal & Public Housing
Fire alarm testing, repair, and BDA/ERCES support for municipal buildings and housing authorities in MA & NH. Complete documentation. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Massachusetts
Commercial fire alarm installation, testing, service & monitoring across Massachusetts. Based in Braintree, MA. Call 617-207-2777 — we answer or call back.
Learn more →New Hampshire
Commercial fire alarm installation, inspection, service, and monitoring for New Hampshire buildings, served from our Massachusetts base. Call 617-207-2777.
Learn more →Browse all services or contact us with a question.
Get a straight answer on your burglar alarm
Tell us what the keypad says, what the monitoring company isn't telling you, or what the building needs covered — and we'll tell you what makes sense next. Call 617-207-2777 or request service online.