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The Vast Video Monitoring Opportunity

Welcome to the first SDM Monitoring TODAY supplement dedicated solely to the topic of video monitoring in all its forms!

SDM’s Video Monitoring TODAY is for companies that provide their dealer or end user customers with video-based monitoring services such as video-verified alarms, event-based video monitoring, interactive video surveillance, and video guard tours. With a particular focus on the application of video surveillance technologies in central station monitoring, Video Monitoring TODAY features perspective from industry experts, profiles of leading companies, coverage of trends and issues, and relevant news.

This first issue is dedicated to fully exploring the opportunity that video monitoring presents to dealers and integrators, whether you have your own central station or use a third-party service.

In the cover feature “Video Monitoring Goes Mainstream,” which begins on page 8, author Deborah O’Mara writes that seeing is believing. “For the security industry, video monitoring today adds intelligence and accountability to the validity of signals coming into central stations, with local police, Public Service Answering Points (PSAP) and fire often mandating verification of an alarm prior to dispatch.”

Sureview’s Jason Caldwell gets down to details in “How to Turn a $30 Monthly Customer Into a $100+

Monthly Customer,” explaining why the low-hanging fruit is in plain sight, creating a low entry cost for many customers and minimal labor costs for security integrators. “You should be able to walk down any main street or industrial boulevard in the country and have a core solution to offer nearly every business on that street,” he writes in the article beginning on page 17.

To give you a selection of real-world examples, SDM also spoke with five dealers — Kastle Systems featured on this month’s supplement cover), Allstate Security Industries, Viewpoint, Rapid Security Solutions, and YourSix — who are currently offering video monitoring to find out how and why

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they got into it, what challenges they faced and what lessons they can impart to others. “Profiles in Video Monitoring” begins on page 13.

Finally, guest columnist Lou Chavez, principal engineer with UL’s Life Safety Technologies division, discusses the impact of the ever-present cyber security issue on video monitoring in “Who’s Monitoring the Monitors?” on page 6.

We hope you find this issue of Video Monitoring TODAY informative and useful. If you have suggestions or comments please contact me at hodgsonk@bnpmedia.com.

KEYWORDS: security as a service security systems

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Karyn Hodgson is a veteran security industry journalist.. As the Editor-in-Chief of SDM, Karyn is responsible for the overall editorial direction of the magazine, its supplements, newsletters and website. She works with the SDM editorial staff to develop content that helps security dealers and systems integrators operate successful businesses. Karyn represents SDM at trade shows and conferences, and directs exclusive research such as the SDM Industry Forecast, the SDM 100 and The Top Systems Integrators Report. She also manages SDM’s Dealer of the Year and Systems Integrator of the Year Award programs. Karyn has an MSJ in Journalism (magazine publishing) degree from Northwestern University, and more than 30 years’ experience writing for and about the security industry. Contact Karyn with article ideas.