Hay River (Feb 06/06) - A Hay River businessman has seen one of his sideline operations grow over the last few years.

Doug Swallow's main business is MSS Ltd., a safety supply company, but about 10 years ago he created a division called South Slave Alarms.

Doug Swallow, the president and co-owner of MSS Ltd., stands in front of the video surveillance system his business has installed through its own South Slave Alarms. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"For myself, what started out as a hobby on evenings and on weekends turned out to be a busy part of the business," says Swallow, the president and co-owner of MSS Ltd.

The sideline has grown because the number of break-ins has increased in Hay River over recent years.

In the past, a break-in was not common, and when it did happen, intruders were often looking for liquor, Swallow explains.

"Now with the advent of street drugs, people are more desperate to find merchandise to support their habits," he said. Swallow estimates South Slave Alarms has installed more than 60 monitoring systems at homes and businesses.

Depending on the needs of the customer, the security systems can monitor for intrusion, fire, high and low temperatures and floods.

Some people are very proactive and realize the possibility of a break-in, Swallow says.

"Other people don't want to admit vulnerability," he notes.

Installing a system can vary from $800 to $2,500, depending on the number of doors and windows, and the number of devices on the system.

While South Slave Alarms installs the system, the monitoring is done by a separate company, Counterforce, based in Toronto and Vancouver. Monitoring works out to less than $1 a day.

South Slave Alarms also offers a rental system that can monitor for intrusion and low temperatures. It costs about $150 a month, plus monitoring.

It also offers video surveillance, both VCR and digital, mainly for commercial customers. So far, it has installed four or five in Hay River.

Swallow notes South Slave Alarms was the first and still is the only alarm system company based in Hay River.

In the beginning, most customers were businesses involved in alcohol or retail sales which wanted alarm systems at the urging of insurance companies.

"That's what drove the business to us," Swallow says.

As for residential customers, he says, "It was very hard to sell a residential alarm."

Swallow notes that after three years of operation, South Slave Alarms had installed only several systems, including his own and his business partner's.

Back then, the systems were more focused on low-temperature alarms to protect a house from freezing if a furnace failed when people were not at home. Swallow can list instances in which monitoring his own home has protected his property.

In one instance, one of his children stoked up a wood furnace and forgot to turn the damper down, and the heat sensor picked up the danger.

"I went home to the fire department at my door, but everything was fine," Swallow recalls.