Featured Stories - Articles - Page 53

Life Safety: Do You Read Me?

Intelligibility is an increasingly important element for commercial fire systems. What dealers need to know about the requirements — and how to meet them.

Joan Engebretson

September 24, 2012

Security dealers are rethinking the way they design and install commercial fire systems in the wake of new intelligibility requirements for emergency communications for those systems. Here’s what dealers need to know about the new requirements, what tools exist to help in meeting them and what to do when complying with requirements just isn’t a viable option.

Industry Acquisitions

SDM’s 2011 Dealer of the Year Sells for $2B

Sabrina Gasulla

September 20, 2012

After months of speculation SDM previously reported on, Vivint, SDM’s Dealer of the Year in 2011, along with 2Gig Technologies and Vivint Solar, has been sold for a price tag of more than $2billion. Todd Pedersen, chief executive officer of Vivint, joins SDM for an exclusive podcast to discuss the details of the acquisition. Plus, Imperial Capital’s Jeff Kessler discusses the details and implications of the transaction and valuation.

Staying Connected Via Apps

The key to apps is managing the differing mobile platforms and features needed to keep everyone happy.

Heather Klotz-Young

September 7, 2012

There is no end in sight to the skyrocketing growth of mobile apps. Mobile apps specifically add portability — a key benefit that enables consumers to monitor and control their systems from any place, via any device, at any time. Today more and more end users also expect apps. According to recent research reported on by ClickZ more than three out of every four consumers surveyed believed that every single

Where’s the Gain in Security Cloud Computing?

As cloud services gain traction and can exchange data freely, security professionals predict the industry will have access to better products, lower costs and greater margins.

Derek Rice

September 6, 2012

Like the vast majority of people, you’ve no doubt heard a lot of talk about “The Cloud” in the last year or two. The concept is by no means a new one. If you use an online email provider such as Google or Yahoo, you’re using the cloud. In fact, many people have been using the cloud for well over a decade (Google’s empire was built on the cloud); it just didn’t have a catchy name until recently.

Beyond Security: Business Solutions for IP Networks

‘Solution’ sales are becoming more of a reality with the growth of IP networks.

Greg Peratt

September 6, 2012

The security and video surveillance market is changing as all areas of the enterprise embrace the capabilities of networking. The surveillance market looks a lot different than it did several years ago when analog technologies were the norm and most security systems operated independently.

Upgrade the Easy Way

Now integrators can fork-lift IP device upgrades without pulling new cable, thanks to new technologies that use coax cables for IP and PoE transmission.

Dave Engebretson

September 6, 2012

Arecent groundswell in the development of coax-based Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (PoE) transceivers is providing a revolutionary opportunity for security integrators. These devices provide a simple way to upgrade and update video surveillance, access control, intercom and other system types by connecting the latest in IP-enabled devices to coax cables that were previously installed within the past 20 years.

Jump, Jive & Wail

SDM and its sponsors hosted the seventh annual SDM 100 Gala, featuring a fun 1940s theme and music.

September 6, 2012

Jump, jive and wail — the Hollywood glamour of the 1940s and swing dancing — were themes of the seventh annual SDM 100 Gala, held June 28 in Nashville. The Gala is SDM’s annual black-tie event held to recognize the success of the largest security companies in the industry, as ranked on the SDM 100.

From There to Here

Understanding the speed, distance, and bandwidth requirements of today’s sophisticated security networks requires a leap in understanding of complex integration of hardware, firmware and software.

Derek Rice

August 16, 2012

As video surveillance continues its shift away from legacy analog systems to IP, there is a corresponding shift in the types of transmission equipment and technologies that are necessary. In other words, there are several different roads video can travel to get from “there” (the camera) to “here” (the head-end).

Why Central Stations Are Upping the Ante

Amidst revolutionary change in the security industry, many wholesale monitoring companies are investing heavily in new facilities and technology upgrades. But where is the expansive growth to come from?

August 15, 2012

Security dealers still may be experiencing losses or plateaus in areas hit hard by the economic recession such as new construction markets, but savvy dealers are seeing increases in other markets, such as video monitoring and verification, mobile applications and services, and personal emergency response systems (PERS). In many cases, successful sales and recurring monthly revenue (RMR) growth is coming from the existing customer base.

Mobility & The Network

As the use of mobile devices as home automation controllers grows, so does the ESCs’ need to “own the network.”

Heather Klotz-Young

August 10, 2012

More and more end users want to use their mobile devices for both personal needs and control of electronic systems in their homes. Successfully using mobile devices that way demands a robust and reliable network configuration for connectivity and roaming throughout the house, bringing the home network front and center for today’s electronic system contractors (ESCs).