Monitoring

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The success of the 2011 SentryCon cruise (pictured here) and the outcry of their dealers have swayed them to book cabins and meeting space on the Carnival Elation once again.

See the full list of companies that offer monitoring services./p>

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.

I have been involved with the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) for approximately seven years and am honored to be named president. The CSAA has a proud history of representing its membership on a wide range of issues that impact the monitoring industry.  

Ted Stoler, East Central Station manager and assistant vice president for Vector Security, Warrendale, Pa., is the winner of the 2013 CSAA Central Station Excellence Award for Manager of the Year. Stoler has 35 years of security experience under his belt, 19 of which have been spent at Vector.

Redundancy via three central stations along with broader product offerings and services for dealers and a deeper opportunity for dealers nationwide to share best practices are just a few of the key benefits that Mace Security International, Cleveland, Ohio and Security Partners, Lancaster, Pa., believe will result from a partnership joining the companies’ three central stations

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.