By Christine Graf
World War II veteran Raymond Mahoney, Sr., was working as a Glens Falls City fireman when he founded Mahoney Alarms in the 1950s. On his days off, he operated the alarm business out of his basement. Nearly 70 years later, his son, Kevin Mahoney, serves as president of the company which is headquartered at 15 Cooper Street in Glens Falls.
Mahoney can’t say for sure exactly when he started working for his father at the family business. He remembers riding his bicycle to repair telephone pole alarm boxes when he was a teenager.
Mahoney Alarms is a true family business, and its staff of 49 employees includes Mahoney’s sister, Colleen McGuirk, his cousin, Benjamin Chapman, and his son, Kyle Mahoney.
“It’s a family business, and it’s treated as a family business,” said Mahoney. “We have very, very long-term employees, and they are as much of a family member as my own family.”
“The bulk of our long-term employees have been here for at least 20 years. This is a tremendous advantage for customers because you have a consistent flow of information.”
The majority of the company’s suppliers are also family businesses, and unlike most of its competitors, Mahoney Alarms maintains a large, well-equipped stockroom.
“If you have a problem with an alarm at your house, you want it taken care of when the problem happens, not in 2 weeks when the part comes in,” said Mahoney.
The company also has its own central station for monitoring alarms. It is manned by company employees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
“Most companies send their information to a general central station,” he said. “Because we have our own central station, you are talking to the people who take care of your alarms any time there is an issue.”
According to Mahoney, his company also has its own in-house engineering and technology support staff.
“With most alarm companies, you don’t have that benefit. When a technician goes out and gets stuck with something, he has no place to go. He has to wait for someone from the manufacturer call him back. It’s a tremendous advantage for us. We are a real service-based company.”
Mahoney Alarms installs residential, commercial, and industrial alarm systems. The company’s business is split evenly between the three sectors.
“We do top to bottom,” said Mahoney. “We design, we sell, we service, we install, and we maintain monitoring. The bulk of our customers have been with us for years and years and years. Our customers have become our friends.”
Each one of the systems they install is custom designed to meet the specific needs of each customer.
“Each home and each office is different, so you design each and every one to be special to you,” he said. “Everything we do is built to the specific and unique needs of the customer. There are a million things you can put into your house to watch it.”
For example, he said customers can incorporate access control into their systems. With access control, doors are not operated with keys. Instead, they are opened with key fobs or other types of sensors.
“We do systems that have hundreds of doors or systems that do one or two doors. Businesses love it.”
Homeowners who spend weeks or months away from home during the winter can choose to incorporate water and temperature sensors into their systems. Water sensors are installed into floors to detect leaks, and temperature sensors are used to detect dangerously low temperatures.
“Think of the damage that can happen to a home if your furnace has a problem” said Mahoney. “If you are away for a few weeks and have a furnace problem, your house is going to be a block of ice when you get home. And, now you are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to your home.”
Mahoney Alarms also offers security systems, fire systems, carbon monoxide detection, and medical pendant systems for the elderly or infirmed.
“People think of alarm systems as security systems, but they are truly home systems. Alarm systems can keep an eye on so many things for you. It’s total peace of mind,” he said.
When it comes to alarm system technology, Mahoney said systems are becoming more reliable, more intuitive, and more efficient.
“Our products are unique, and we use cutting edge technology. Every year, things get a little better. Some of these technologies are coming so fast that instead of having a life cycle of what used to be 5 years, the life cycle can now be 6 months. It’s exciting to see the new things that are coming out.”
For more information, visit mahoneyalarms.com.