The History of ADT and ADT Alarm Systems

            You’ve heard about ADT as the forefront of security and monitoring technology but what you might not know is the humble origins of ADT as a Telegraph Messenger Service.

If you’ve heard about ADT as the forefront of security and monitoring technology for over 125 years, then you should know as well that their security systems are highly sophisticated, and that ADT offer unparalleled service and their superior ADT alarm systems are what you've come to expect.

But what you might not know is the humble origins of ADT as a Telegraph Messenger Service. So how would an ADT alarm system fit in the picture? Read on and follow the path the ADT alarm system took in history

Though the American District Telegraph (ADT) is formed through the affiliation of 57 district telegraph delivery companies in around 1874, it is with the advent of advanced Call Boxes and multi-signal electric protection system in the early 1890s that ADT became a preeminent security protection company. Before, ADT function much as their name implies, telegraph service. These call boxes (electric signal devices) allow interactive communication between customers and ADT. And as an outcrop of the business and to further the development of the call boxes innovation, ADT started providing security and protection services to a varied clientele. Therefore, you can safely assume that the parent of ADT alarm system would be the call boxes.


These multi-signal Call Boxes allowed watchmen at businesses to do more than just signal for police or fire department assistance, they also allow watchmen to send a specific signal to the ADT office, at designated times, to let the monitoring office know that all was well. And if a district office didn't receive its scheduled signal, ADT protocol was always to assume something is amiss, and help was promptly dispatched.

It was in 1910 to 1930, under the leadership of AT&T that ADT began to really shed its telegraph messenger service roots to concentrate fully on signal, security and protection service. In a very short time, ADT became synonymous with emergency call systems. It was also this time when the respected line of ADT alarm systems went out of production.

When war broke out, the resulting domestic manpower shortage drove the demand for better ADT alarm systems that would not only detect problems, but signal an alarm automatically. In essence, a cry for an automated ADT alarm system was made. Because ADT provided a unique integration of systems and services, it was a logical step for the company to create these automatic systems. As a result, automated ADT alarm systems such ass the Teletherm automatic fire detections system, the Telewave automatic intrusion system surfaced.

The following decades ADT continued the technological breakthroughs of the century, introducing a whole slew  ADT alarm systems such as the wireless Safewatch® systems, including the Plus RF and the Custom RF models; the state-of-the-art integrated Focus® system line, and a variety of access control and closed circuit television (CCTV) products.