History

Originally Bureau Electronic Network Security (BENS), we began operations in February 1994 in Ultimo, Sydney Australia. Prompted by the sale of the TNT Group 4 monitoring division to Honeywell, we identified the need to continue providing the level of service that the Group 4 clients were used to, as there was considerable displeasure with the buyout. Once our monitoring centre was operational, we quickly started picking up bureau business and had 1000 customers by the end of the year.

In 1997, we needed more office space, and moved from Ultimo to Sydney Markets. The move was successful with no interruption to the monitoring services provided. In 1999, BENS went online, providing many basic online services to its bureaus on the internet via the BENS website. Over the years, numerous other online services have been added to satisfy the ever-changing needs of our clients.

In 2005, construction began on BENS Grade A1 Monitoring Centre in Auburn. Construction completed at the end of 2005, and we successfully transitioned into our new premises without any disruption to monitoring services. Grade A1 accreditation was awarded to BENS in September 2006.

2007 brought the Controlroom website for clients and live feeds of alarm events to all of our web services. The customised Controlroom website featured bureau branding and offered clients access to their own sites, information and live feed of alarm events.

BENS released catchClip video verification service in 2012. Using push-technology, it allowed for video clips to be captured upon event and sent to the cloud for operator viewing. This release also coincided with our first app, catchClip Notifier, offering notifications for alarm & video events as well as the ability to view clips.

In 2021, BENS matured its range of location based services with Tagger (Personal Duress Location Device), Security Check-in (on-site attendance logging), and Netstar (vehicle monitoring). These events could also be paired with the new AlarmCircle app for viewing location events in an embedded Google map.

Over the years, we have continued to operate with the same basic goals; to provide friendly, reliable monitoring paired with industry leading services.