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Each company’s costs to create an RMR customer and the length of time each customer remains performing is critical to determining the value of any customer base. A company’s attrition performance speaks to the strengths of the respective management team and the level of customer care that each base has experienced over time.

The features and functionality of video management systems (VMS) have grown tremendously in the last couple of years, and there are more and more advancements coming today and in the future.

When it comes to access control products and systems, whether the end user is a small 5- to 10-door business or a multi-city enterprise, chances are they ultimately will use only a small fraction of the feature-rich products that are available to them. It is far more important for the system to fit seamlessly into the larger business and its goals.

Businesses and other organizations have taken an increased interest in emergency communications systems (ECSs) in the wake of several tragic shootings. And as the security industry considered the requirements for an optimal ECS, it was a logical choice to use fire panels to control the system.

Sometimes it’s good to be wrong. In late 2012, security systems integrators and dealers forecasted that their total annual revenue would improve only slightly — 1 percent, on average — during 2013.

UL’s relationship with the alarm industry spans more than 90 years. At the outset, Underwriters Laboratories was asked by both the alarm and insurance industries to develop a means for defining alarm services and uniform performance of equipment.

There are a lot of new technologies and services entering the security industry that affect monitoring. From apps and smartphones to managed access control, personal emergency response (PERS) and live video monitoring, central stations are tasked with making the technologies a valid industry offering.

Central station automation software is becoming more sophisticated, often adding functionality similar to what has been pioneered in other industries. For example, scripting capability built into new central station software prompts operators to ask the right questions in much the same way that “wizard” functionality helps people use other types of software.

More than half (56 percent) of Americans have smartphones today, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And that number most likely is higher among people who have security systems.