Lower your insurance exposure. Clear the audit.

Questions buyers ask us

FAQ

Will a security system actually lower my insurance premium?

It can, and in some risk classes it is a condition of coverage rather than a discount. Property and liability carriers credit verified central-station monitoring, access control, and retention-grade video because a monitored, verified site is a measurably different risk. The National Insurance Crime Bureau tracks commercial crime and fraud losses in the tens of billions a year, which is the exposure underwriters price against. The actual credit depends on your carrier, class, and loss history, so the consultation starts from your renewal questionnaire. Tec-Tel does not promise a specific premium reduction. We build the documented stack your broker can take to the underwriter.

What does an insurer actually want to see?

Three artifacts, usually: a UL Listed central-station monitoring certificate, evidence of access control over restricted areas, and video retention that meets the standard for your class of risk. The verified-alarm record matters most. Carriers distinguish a monitored, human-verified alarm from a local siren that nobody answers. We package the certificate, the access logs, and the retention attestation the way an underwriter or loss-control surveyor expects to receive them.

How does video help with an OSHA recordable or a workers comp claim?

Retention-grade video turns a contested incident into a timestamped record. OSHA expects documented controls in hazard zones, and a workers comp claim turns on what actually happened. Footage and access logs provide the evidence either process demands. The system detects on classification (person in a restricted zone, missing PPE), not on worker identity, which most operator-side EHS and legal teams treat as fundamentally different from surveilling individuals. We document the data flow during deployment so HR, legal, and any union can review it.

What does CMS expect for senior living and skilled nursing?

CMS conditions of participation and state survey rules drive overnight coverage, restricted-area control, and incident documentation. A surveyor wants proof that the right areas were monitored during the right hours and that incidents were captured and acted on. We scope coverage to the specific hours and zones the rule names, keep detection privacy-bounded to common areas and never inside resident rooms, and produce the incident records the survey asks for.

How does this satisfy HIPAA or PCI physical-access requirements?

HIPAA's Security Rule requires physical safeguards over areas holding protected health information, with documented access control and audit capability. PCI DSS and the FTC Safeguards Rule carry parallel duties for cardholder and consumer data. In each case the auditor wants two things: who reached the restricted area, and the record that proves it. Access control with a timestamped audit trail and retention-grade video over those areas produce exactly those artifacts. We map the install to the named control in each standard so nothing is missing at audit time.

Do we need new cameras to meet these requirements?

Usually not. The monitoring and analytics layer is camera-agnostic and runs on an existing fleet, so meeting a requirement is rarely a rip-and-replace order. Where a camera, reader, or retention setting falls short of the standard your underwriter or auditor holds you to, we flag it in the consultation and quote only that gap. Most sites need zero or single-digit replacements to clear the requirement.

Can the install be grant-funded?

For eligible operators, often yes. Nonprofits, schools, houses of worship, and ports can fund a compliance-grade stack through programs like the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which awards up to $150,000 per site for eligible nonprofits, plus state school-safety and port grants. The grant application and the insurance questionnaire ask for many of the same controls, so we scope the build once to satisfy the grant scoring, the insurance credit, and the compliance audit together. The grants library has eligibility and deadlines for each program.

Who produces the documentation, us or you?

We do. One accountable team designs, installs, and documents the system to a single spec across every site, then hands you the certificate package, access logs, retention attestation, and incident reports formatted the way underwriters and auditors expect. When the broker or surveyor calls, there is one point of contact, not a chain of subcontractors passing blame. The documentation is part of the deliverable, not an afterthought.