London homeowner keyholding Case Study
Mrs Goldsmith spends most of her time abroad and after having an alarm installed needed to ensure two keyholders were within 20 minutes of her home. However, she didn’t want to ask her neighbours or elderly mother to take on the responsibility or potential stress involved.
“CMS Keyholding was recommended to us by another of the company’s customers as a reliable and trustworthy organisation. We needed to arrange a keyholder very quickly, and CMS Keyholding ensured everything was in place within 24 hours,” says Mrs Goldsmith.
“They have since dealt very efficiently with three alarm activations and were also able to let our guests in when we were delayed abroad recently. We’ve found that the services provided by CMS Keyholding are crucial, not only to provide an emergency response service, but as an essential complement to our lifestyle.”
The alarm activations dealt with by CMS Keyholding were:
- An alarm fault – CMS identified a sensor fault and stayed on site while an engineer attended and replaced it under warranty.
- Accidental alarm activation by the cleaner – CMS reset the alarm and showed the cleaner how to use the system.
- False alarm caused by a spider on a sensor – CMS identified the sensor that activated and removed the cause.
Homeowner on Holiday
A devastating incident involving the loss of his valuable and much prized fish collection prompted Mr Joseph Harlow to invest in the services provided by CMS Keyholding.
Mr Harlow takes up the story:
“The alarm went off in the middle of the day with no known cause whilst I was on holiday. Both my keyholders were at work. My friend took time off work and went to the house and phoned me up but I told him, as long as there is no sign of a break-in just leave it and get back to work. I was happy to leave it until I got back.Unfortunately, when I got home, I found that the power had gone off and that all my fish (I am a keen collector and have several tanks full of valuable fish) had died because the water was no longer being aerated. I was devastated and the house stank of dead fish, it cost me thousands.”
Mr Harlow had not realised that his alarm had activated due to the power failure. His alarm company then recommended CMS Keyholding to ensure nothing similar could happen in the future.
“CMS would have investigated and resolved the situation which would have saved my fish. I use CMS now and have a lot more peace of mind – I know that whatever happens somebody who knows what they are doing will deal with the situation. In fact when I am away, I also get CMS to check on the house on a regular basis and also feed the fish while they are there.”
Central London Estate Agent’s Head Office
Facilities Manager, David Ryley, describes the services provided by CMS Keyholding as an “absolute necessity”.
“We have used CMS Keyholding for several years at our W1 head office building. The layout is complex and CMS has a copy of the site plans and instructions for the various equipment that we have on site relating to the premises.
“All alarm activations and other emergencies have been dealt with efficiently without the need for me to attend.”
Mr Ryley also praises the non-emergency services provided by CMS Keyholding:
“Having a company familiar with our premises is crucial. We use CMS Keyholding to provide out-of-hours access for tradespeople and also to check the building every night, ensure all staff have departed, the lights are off and all security measures are in place. These services have been of great benefit to keeping my working hours manageable.”
Other benefits of the CMS Keyholding service highlighted by Mr Ryley include:
- Full written report provided by CMS Keyholding after each emergency call-out.
- All-inclusive fixed cost contract making budget management easy.
- Fewer false alarms ensuring no loss of the police response service.
- No complaints from neighbours about alarm noise.
