How South Africa’s Olarm enables people to control your alarm system from your phone

Olarm, a home and business security startup, provides users with easy control over their alarm systems via its app.

The Olarm app allows users to remotely view and control their alarm system from their smartphone, just like a traditional key panel, but it also includes additional features such as alarm status such as arming, disarming, and bypassing zones. Users can also invite trusted family members, friends, or employees to use the app.

Meanwhile, Olarm PRO is a multi-network communicator that connects alarm systems to monitoring software and the Olarm mobile app. So far, the startup has collaborated with over 500 South African security firms.

Serial entrepreneurs Mark Slingsby and Rob Gilmour, along with technology mavens James Roberson and Robert Henshilwood, co-founded the startup in Cape Town in 2015 with the goal of giving customers more control over their alarm systems.

“At the time, the solutions available were impossible to install and did not work very well.” One solution only emailed you when the alarm went off, and it required complex port forwarding on your home router. “We set out to create a seamless, awesome customer experience while also delivering a great product to customers,” Slingsby told Disrupt Africa.

The team combined their expertise in hardware engineering, software development, and internet connectivity to launch the first Olarm communicator, which was well received by both consumers and security firms. The next-generation Olarm PRO, which was released in early 2021, introduced Wi-Fi to the security communicator space, introducing a third network in the device to further improve its resilience to network and power outages.

Olarm’s design philosophy is based on usability.

“We have radically simplified the installation experience for both the installer and the monitoring company, saving them time on-site and improving the customer experience,” said Slingsby.

While some local security companies provide their own apps, they are not dual network capable and are frequently unstable. Olarm PRO ensures uptime and availability by utilizing Wi-Fi and dual-SIMs.

“Olarm intelligently transforms an existing alarm.” “The advantage is that it is not a costly alarm system upgrade, but rather a simple installation of an add-on device,” Slingsby explained.

Olarm, which was funded by Slingsby and Gilmour, has a large customer base, with over 500 install partners and security companies relying on it to enable hundreds of thousands of users. The startup is now looking to expand internationally, with serious interest expressed in a number of countries.

“Olarm has traditionally only supported the South African market, but thanks to our Wi-Fi and international roaming SIM solution, we are now available globally.” “We are currently expanding our distribution network and partnerships to reach beyond our local borders,” Slingsby explained.

“We sell our devices as cheaply as possible in order to lower the barrier to entry.” We put in a lot of engineering effort to keep electronics production costs as low as possible. Unfortunately, the silicon shortage has thrown a few curveballs, but our hardware engineering teams have risen to the occasion, and customers have not experienced any supply disruptions.”