Security Information and Management Systems Inc. (SIMS), Plano, Texas, announced two new services. First, all stations on basic software support will now have secure offsite storage for their databases automatically backed up nightly to SIMS’s Disaster Recovery Center in Dallas. Second, a complete backup station facility is now available on 15 minutes notice, should one of SIMS’s centrals declare an emergency.

SIMS says that providing disaster recovery options for more than 1,000 centrals is a monumental task, but recent advances in receiver and telephone technology coupled with the explosion of high speed internet access across the country now makes this possible. Current technology demonstrates that an emergency backup central station can be up and running in as little as 15 minutes.