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AT A GLANCE

CHeKT and TetherX, question by question

The 9 questions an integrator asks on a site walk, answered for both platforms.

Question CHeKT TetherX
Do I need a recorder on site? The Video Control Panel is a monitoring bridge, not an NVR. It can read compatible camera or recorder streams, but a full recording history still needs separate local or cloud recording and storage, such as camera SD cards, an NVR or a service such as OpenEye. OpenEye’s Virtual Bridge connects its recording platform to CHeKT; CHeKT’s cloud event clips do not replace that recording layer. TetherX provides recording, viewing, search and monitoring through one system and one app. TetherBox records locally, with optional TetherX cloud recording, so no existing recorder or third-party cloud video service is required. It can also work alongside either where needed.
Which devices you can connect Supports ONVIF or RTSP sources. Check the particular camera, audio and playback functions required for the job. 1,000+ integrations across 17,000+ device models, plus ONVIF and RTSP sources. Check model-specific recording, analytics and control support.
Who monitors your alarms The Monitoring Portal supports video verification and response through a monitoring centre. Customer-only alerts are also supported. Choose professional monitoring through an existing TetherX control room, run a smaller control room with your own team, or monitor your sites directly as an end user. You can also keep an existing monitoring provider.
What you can still do when the Internet drops The physical Bridge retains triggered events for upload after connectivity returns. Any continuous recording depends on the configured recording device. Keeps recording and keeps working. Recording, doors and alarms run on the TetherBox on the local network, and the console picks up where it left off when the link returns.
What gets sent over my Internet connection? The Bridge uploads event video and requested live views. Include Video Vault services and viewing demand when sizing the connection. Thumbnails, metadata and events, plus the clips an operator opens. Any camera your integrator sets to record to the cloud uploads on top of that; the rest record to the TetherBox alone, so a thin line still records every camera.
Where the AI runs Camera or AI-server detection runs on site. Additional cloud AI verification uses third-party providers Calipsa or Actuate and is charged through a monthly dealer/service plan. Some plans include an allowance; Video Vault Plus AI provides unlimited filtering. TetherX supports existing camera and device analytics, optional paid Calipsa cloud verification, or its own AI running locally on the TetherBox that records the video. Native TetherBox AI is included in the platform licence, with no separate monthly AI charge.
Who you buy it from Sold through security dealers and integrators. Alarm.com announced a majority-stake acquisition in February 2025. Through the professional channel: an installer, security distributor or control room.
What you actually pay for Quote the deployment and service plan. Video Vault Plus and Plus AI offer unlimited-use options; older reseller activation tariffs are not a universal current price list. An annual platform subscription by channel count, from £100/site/year. Include optional cloud recording, analytics and monitoring services in the project quote.
Where your recordings are stored Video Vault keeps event clips in the cloud, including disarmed activity where configured. Full continuous playback uses camera SD recordings; the published service is not a continuous 24/7 cloud archive. On the TetherBox at site by default. Cloud recording is optional per camera, into a UK, EU, US, Canadian, Indian or Australian region the customer picks.

CHeKT column built from: CHeKT Video Vault: recording and storage, CHeKT Video Vault plan launch, 3 March 2025, CHeKT customer web-app guide, CHeKT product FAQ, CHeKT Bridge bandwidth and parallel recording, CHeKT Cloud AI configuration, CHeKT optional on-site AI server, OpenEye Virtual Bridge configuration, Alarm.com acquisition announcement.

RECORDING BEYOND THE ALERT

Keep the footage between events

A delivery dispute or missing item may never trigger an alarm. Check where the complete recording is stored, including outside monitoring hours.

CHeKT: cloud events, SD playback

Video Vault stores event clips, including disarmed activity where configured. Its full continuous playback reads camera SD recordings. The unlimited plans concern events and AI usage, rather than an uninterrupted cloud recording.

Read CHeKT’s recording description

TetherX: replace the NVR and camera SD cards

TetherBox records independently of alarms and monitoring schedules. Choose local and cloud retention per camera: keep a small amount locally and more in the cloud, retain most footage on site, or combine both. TetherX brings the recordings together across your sites in one app.

Explore local and cloud recording
ONE APP FOR EVERYDAY SECURITY

Bring the rest of the site into the same app

A mixed-vendor site can leave the customer with CHeKT for monitoring, a recorder app for footage, and separate apps for doors, alarms and other equipment. Adding another vendor adds another place to look.

TetherX brings supported video, access and intruder systems together across sites. Review an incident, find the recording and share the evidence from one app.

Recording and management in the platform licence

from £100/site/year

Includes licensed local recording, remote management and native TetherBox AI on supported hardware. Bring supported alarm and access systems into the same platform. Hardware, storage, optional cloud recording, specialist analytics and professional monitoring are quoted to suit the site.

See TetherX platform pricing
CHEKT AND TETHERX

Choose around the way your team works

Both platforms offer mobile and web access, footage review and export, and event-triggered audio and relay actions on supported equipment. The differences below concern the recording architecture and how your team works across systems and sites.

CHeKT

Strengths

Keep a familiar operator workflow at a monitoring centre already using CHeKT.

Backed by the publicly listed Alarm.com group, with integrations into group video platforms including OpenEye.

Trade-offs

The cloud event library does not provide the full history between events; continuous playback depends on the camera recording source.

Confirm the web, timelapse and AI entitlements in the selected dealer and service plans.

TetherX

Strengths

Continuous recording on TetherBox replaces an NVR or camera SD cards and keeps footage between alarms and outside monitoring hours.

One app for supported video, access control, intruder alarms and sites, replacing separate day-to-day vendor workflows.

Cross-site footage search, visual review, sharing, health monitoring and video-wall views on the same platform.

Trade-offs

Local recording needs suitable TetherBox hardware and storage sized for the cameras and retention.

A phased deployment uses TetherX for its recorded footage; keeping all playback inside CHeKT requires an additional, unsupported Profile G integration.

PLAN THE CHANGE

Prove it on one site before moving the rest

Keep the monitoring service your customers trust while improving their recording and everyday security tools.

Map the existing workflow

List the cameras, recording locations, retention, customer apps and monitoring arrangements. Identify which parts of CHeKT the team needs to keep.

Test real work

Record a complete day, find and share a clip, and test an alarm through to the responder. Check concurrent streams, playback access and what happens when the connection drops.

Keep a clear division of work

Train the users, agree which platform handles each task and confirm the recording history they can access. Retire old storage only after the replacement is working.

Planning a monitoring workspace? Combine live cameras, maps and event queues with TetherX video walls.

WHICH ONE FITS

Pick the one your site points at

Find the column that describes the job in front of you.

Choose CHeKT if

  • Your monitoring centre already runs CHeKT and its operator workflow meets the contract.
  • Your customer is satisfied with the CHeKT app and the recording sources behind it.
  • A supported CHeKT or OpenEye deployment matches your cameras and service requirements.

Choose TetherX if

  • You want an end-to-end platform with recording, alarms, access control, a control-room interface and video walls in one package.
  • You want to choose the balance of local and cloud recording per camera: minimal local retention with more in the cloud, mostly local recording, or a mix.
  • You want one app and a common recording and investigation workflow across sites with mixed equipment.
PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

Plan recording, playback and monitoring together

Yes. Keep CHeKT and the monitoring team that already knows it. TetherX can feed alarm data to CHeKT while TetherBox provides the continuous recording store. Customers use TetherX to find footage and manage their supported systems across sites.

If you later choose to consolidate the monitoring workflow too, TetherX can run the control-room workflows. That is an option, not a condition of improving your recording and customer experience.

CHeKT’s CHeKT Video Vault stores event clips in the cloud for review and sharing, and can play back recordings from compatible camera SD cards. It does not replace the recording layer of a complete VMS: full continuous history still needs camera storage, an NVR or a separate recording service. Cloud event clips, including disarmed activity, do not provide every moment between events.

TetherX provides the complete VMS, including recording, live viewing, cross-site search, playback and evidence sharing. TetherBox supplies the recording function, with flexible local retention and optional cloud recording per camera. You can use it as the end-to-end system or alongside your existing recorder, cloud service or CHeKT monitoring setup.

Yes. TetherX gives customers one app and browser interface for their supported cameras, recordings, doors, intruder alarms and sites. They can find footage, review incidents and share evidence through the same system.

CHeKT also offers customer mobile and web access, as its CHeKT web-app guide explains. On a mixed-vendor estate, customers may still need other camera/NVR, access or alarm apps. TetherX brings those supported systems into one everyday workspace, while your monitoring centre can keep CHeKT if preferred.

Ask for a quote covering the devices, storage, AI services and monitoring response you need. CHeKT's published Video Vault plans include unlimited cloud events without overage charges on Plus, with unlimited AI filtering added by Plus AI. A historical per-activation tariff does not describe every current plan.

TetherX uses an annual platform subscription by channel count, from £100/site/year. Cloud storage, optional analytics, monitoring services and hardware should be included in your project quote. Compare the same retention and response requirements on both sides.

Yes: TetherBox provides the continuous recording store, so you do not need to rely on an SD card inside every camera. It can replace an NVR too. An existing CHeKT Bridge can continue monitoring compatible camera streams while TetherX handles recording and review; test the camera stream limits and network setup during the change.

Customers review the new recordings in TetherX. If they specifically need to play those recordings inside the CHeKT app, that is a separate integration requirement: TetherX does not provide a supported Profile G server for CHeKT to read. Keep old storage until the replacement recording is verified.

TetherX can feed CHeKT events from analytics available on connected cameras and recorders, events verified by TetherBox AI on site, and events verified by Calipsa in the cloud. Your monitoring centre can keep its existing CHeKT response workflow while TetherX handles hybrid recording and wider site management. Your integrator configures which events are forwarded and checks the response on a pilot site.

Alarm-data forwarding and recorded-video playback are separate. Full TetherX recording history is reviewed in TetherX; serving that history into the CHeKT app through ONVIF Profile G is not a supported feature.

TetherBox software runs at each site, but you do not need to buy a separate appliance. Run it on a suitable existing server or PC, or deploy it on a dedicated TetherBox appliance or mini PC.

A standard CHeKT installation uses its RVM Bridge hardware. TetherBox combines the recording, connectivity and native AI functions on the hardware you choose.

OWNERSHIP

Who owns CHeKT, Alarm.com and the regional ADT businesses?

Alarm.com is a publicly listed security technology company and owns the controlling stake in CHeKT. The ADT brand operates through regional businesses with different owners. The table below shows the companies, territories and relationships.

Company or businessOwnership and relationship
Alarm.com Holdings Listed on Nasdaq as ALRM and owned by its shareholders. Its 2026 proxy lists BlackRock and Vanguard among the largest shareholders. Alarm.com supplies security technology through service-provider partners. Alarm.com proxy
CHeKT Alarm.com acquired an 81% stake on 10 February 2025, announced the following day. Its June 2026 filing continues to report that ownership. Alarm.com filing
OpenEye Also part of the Alarm.com group, with an 89% equity interest reported in the same 2026 filing. This explains the group connection behind the OpenEye/CHeKT integration.
ADT Inc. in the US A US security company listed on the NYSE as ADT and owned by its shareholders. Alarm.com provides platform services for its ADT Command and Control offering under a service agreement. Alarm.com service relationship ADT annual report
Intelligent Monitoring Group (IMG) An Australian public company listed on the ASX as IMB. It owns security and monitoring businesses, including ADT in Australia and New Zealand. IMG’s monitoring businesses use CHeKT technology within their service offering. IMG annual report
ADT Australia and New Zealand Acquired by IMG from Johnson Controls on 1 August 2023. IMG’s FY2026 report lists the Australian and New Zealand ADT subsidiaries as wholly owned.
ADT UK Residential IMG announced an agreement to acquire the business and UK ADT brand rights in July 2026. The latest public issuer reports checked for this review still describe completion as pending. The transaction covers the UK residential business. ADT transaction announcement
Johnson Controls’ UK commercial security business Johnson Controls retains this business and its ADT operations in Latin America under the announced transaction.

How the businesses work together. Alarm.com and ADT Australia announced a technology partnership in 2016, before IMG acquired the Australian business in 2023. Separately, IMG’s February 2025 investor presentation names the CHeKT mobile app within its video-monitoring offer. These partnerships connect technology platforms with regional security and monitoring services. Alarm.com/ADT Australia partnership · IMG video-monitoring presentation

Reviewed 10 September 2026. The UK transaction status reflects the July announcement, IMG’s FY2026 report released on 27 August, and its announcement index checked through 8 September. The ownership and transaction details above are specific to the named businesses and territories.

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Across the partner network

TetherX partners hold the accreditations security-procurement buyers and insurers filter on. Coverage varies by partner.

NSI 9 ISO 9001 7 SSAIB 5 SafeContractor 5 BAFE 4 CHAS 4 ConstructionLine 4 Cyber Essentials 3 NICEIC 2 ISO 14001 2 ISO 27001 1

Counts reflect partners currently in the TetherX directory holding each accreditation.

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[1] About this comparison. Information about other vendors is drawn from their public product pages, datasheets, integrator forums (Reddit, vendor user groups), public CVE databases (NVD, CISA), publicly-listed LinkedIn company pages (headcount, headquarters, founding year, leadership transitions and corporate ownership signals) and customer conversations - accurate to the best of our knowledge as of Q2 2026. Pricing, features, security posture and policies change. A vendor may have shipped a fix, dropped a price, added a region or changed an architecture since this page was last reviewed.

If you believe anything here is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us and we will review and correct it. Trademarks and product names belong to their respective owners and are referenced here for identification only.

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