Our History

A step into the future

By the late 1800s, the telegraph was king of communications. Telegraph Call Boxes were installed in many homes and businesses, allowing customers to call for a carriage, doctor, police or fire department or even a security watchman. A group of 57 Baltimore telegraph offices joined together to form the American District Telegraph Company, now known as ADT.

Inventions and Innovations

The early decades of the century saw ADT become first a part of Western Union, then AT&T. Within a corporation committed to technology research, ADT focused on its signaling business, helping make the company synonymous with emergency call systems.

World War II encouraged a major ADT breakthrough -- alarms that signaled automatically -- to better protect families left home and secure supply factories running around the clock.

24-hour protection

As ADT celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1974, we had just opened our first automated Central Monitoring centre in Houston, Texas. ADT was among the first companies to inaugurate Central Monitoring, which today is one of the features customers value most in an ADT security system.

Continual innovation

The 1980s marked the introduction of the advanced computer-based Safewatch® systems, including wireless versions that are neater and quicker to install.

ADT Today

In Australia, ADT is committed to providing ongoing reliable, quality service and innovative products to all our customers. From protection of the average Australian home and corner shop to the provision of sophisticated security systems for major commercial facilities such as banking institutions, airports, large corporations and government agencies, ADT provides security solutions tailored to the individual risk.