his year’s SentryNet dealer conference and cruise was held on board the Carnival Elation, an 855-foot long cruise ship sailing from its home port in Mobile, Ala. to sunny Cozumel in Mexico April 28 to May 2. As the exclusive media sponsor for the conference, SDM was present to report on the event and continuing education classes, talk to dealers, pick up on upcoming trends in the monitoring space and learn company news.

“If FedEx knows where your package is, we should be able to tell you where your technician is,” said Jamie Haenggi, chief marketing and customer experience officer at Protection 1. With that line of thinking, Protection 1, Romeoville, Ill., ranked the second largest electronic security company in the United States in the SDM 100, announced the nationwide launch of Tech Tracker^sm, a service that notifies customers when a service technician is on the way, to growing customer accolades.

The Seattle Times reported this week that The King County Library System is removing security cameras from its libraries, citing patron privacy concerns in handing over video surveillance to police departments. The usual paranoia over government-sanctioned surveillance is present in reader comments on the news article, but so are a majority of disapproving comments from area readers. Combined with displeasure from the Des Moines Police department quoted in the article, the decision seems to be getting little support from the King County community.

This spring has been a heartbreaking year with so many fatal tornadoes. I grew up in the Midwest, so tornado warnings and hunkering down in the basement during tornado season are something I grew up with. 

The House Subcommittee on cybersecurity, infrastructure protection, and security technologies approved a seven-year extension of the rules overseeing chemical production facility security. The measure now moves to the full Homeland Security Committee.

The internet is once again calling Schneider’s bluff as new reports surfaced today that the French global company is exploring options to buy out Tyco International. 

To many people, the name ADT is synonymous with residential security — much like Coke and soda (or pop if you’re from the Midwest).  The company, however, has a $2 billion a year commercial security unit, which is proactively building cutting-edge solutions for business and government customers.

Texana Security is taking steps to educate its customers on just who they’re trying to keep out. 

HID Global, an ASSA ABLOY Group brand, expanded its focus on green products and partner solutions for commercial and government organizations worldwide.