Featured Stories - Articles - Page 60

Master of The Value Add

Security Networks, an SDM 2011 Dealer of the Year Honoree, is experiencing strong growth with strategies that maximize the ‘value add’ for its ever-growing affiliates and end users.

Heather Klotz-Young

December 1, 2011

There is value in reliability. There is value in new technologies. There is value in services that make life easier. There is value in quality customer service. There is a whole list of ways that Security Networks, West Palm Beach, Fla., continues to provide value for its affiliate dealers and the end users the affiliates serve.

Success From The Inside Out

Over the past year, Protection 1 did an ‘internal rebrand’ — changing its processes and service from the inside out, resulting in a remarkable transformation that deserves recognition as an SDM 2011 Dealer of the Year Honoree.

Heather Klotz-Young

December 1, 2011

Every year, Protection 1 sets an internal theme. In 2011, the theme was “Unstoppable,” which evolved from a paraphrase of a Thomas Edison quote that says, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves,” describes Jamie Haenggi, chief marketing officer, Protection 1, Romeoville, Ill.

Specialty Monitoring: Think Inside the Box

What else can you tie to your customer’s security alarm panel box that will provide more value for them and more revenue for you?

Linda Pohle

November 12, 2011

Specialty monitoring alerts customers to changes in critical environments that take those environments out of desired/normal conditions. These changes typically involve temperature, water, humidity, pressure, flow, and power. In order to offer specialty monitoring successfully, experienced dealers and integrators recommend “thinking inside the box.” Think about what else you can tie to your security alarm panel box that will provide more value for your customer and more revenue for you.

Fire alarm control panels are finally catching up with newer communications technologies, and having network and cellular connectivity also unleashes new capabilities.

Designed for Today’s Communication Technologies

Joan Engebretson

November 12, 2011

The fire alarm business has always been driven largely by code requirements — and for years that meant every fire installation had two phone lines to help ensure that alarm signals would be received by the central station.

Innovation Delivered

November 1, 2011

The concept of delivering innovative solutions involves more than just providing security. It positions Diebold, SDM’s Systems Integrator of the Year, as an organization that meets customers’ needs beyond physical and electronic security, both operationally and financially.

Be a Profit King on Enterprise Projects

Integrators talk candidly about what makes a successful — and lucrative — enterprise-level access control project

Karyn Hodgson

November 1, 2011

Enterprise-level access control projects are just like any other access installation only larger, right? Wrong. Playing on the enterprise field requires a whole new level of skills, training, planning and follow-through to be profitable. The stakes are higher, not only for the integrator, but for the end user as well.

5 Power Problems & How to Solve Them

Questions from security dealers and answers from power experts aid in setting up a reliable security system — and restoring failed power equipment back to fully functional.

Joan Engebretson

November 1, 2011

Security dealers don’t typically spend much time thinking about power supplies. Nevertheless, they are a critical part of an intrusion protection or fire alarm system, helping to ensure that the system will function even in the event of a power outage. This article focuses on some of the most common technical questions when it comes to security and fire alarm system power.

‘Check’-ing in on Notifications

Putting alarm and non-alarm notifications in the hands of end users — anytime, anywhere — adds value and raises questions.

Heather Klotz-Young

November 1, 2011

Click, click, click. Today’s new alarm systems let customers in both residential and commercial settings use a simple click of a mouse to select notifications to be sent to them via texts, emails or phone calls. In addition to receiving alarm event notifications, they also can choose from an ever-growing list of non-alarm notifications.

A number of perceptions about PTZs exist within the marketplace. Many of these were valid at one point, and some do continue to be true today. However, there are several misperceptions that should be addressed.

Adjusting PTZ Perceptions

Derek Rice

November 1, 2011

As the industry continues to shift from standard definition to HD and megapixel video, “digital zoom” has become a major selling point. With a high-definition camera, you can continue to record an entire scene while zooming in digitally to examine a specific object or area more closely. With that in mind, there may be some in the industry who are wondering whether there’s still a place for pan tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras in security installations. Based on research and conversations with several dealers and integrators, that seems to be true, and there are a lot of reasons for that beyond digital zoom.

The Business Intelligence Value-Add

There is a never-ending stream of data being collected by security systems across the world. Extracting business intelligence from that data is showing growing potential — adding value to security systems.

Heather Klotz-Young

October 12, 2011

Think of the countless access control systems around the globe recording every entry and exit; the innumerable cameras silently collecting video; the point of sale systems recording billions of transactions. There is a flow of raw data constantly streaming from them all. That non-stop data collected from security systems can be converted into information, including business intelligence.