Articles by Joan Engebretson

It’s becoming increasingly commonplace for third-party central stations to offer video monitoring services — sometimes known as managed video services — such as remote video guard tours, video verification of alarm signals and video escort services. But often these services represent a relatively small percentage of the third-party central station’s total revenues.

How people communicate with one another has undergone enormous changes in the last few years — and as a result, the home phone line that for decades was a cornerstone of customers’ alarm systems has begun to seem like an endangered species. According to the Federal Communications Commission, about two-thirds of U.S. homes now have a broadband connection such as DSL or a cable modem. And increasing numbers of Americans are also using that connection to support voice service using VOIP. Combine this with the near-ubiquity of cell phones and we now have a situation where many households have no traditional telephone. 

The convergence of logical and physical access control has taken longer than some stakeholders had expected. 

Before there were video analytics there were outdoor intrusion detectors — photobeams, motion detectors and the like. 

Advances in surveillance video equipment and widespread availability of broadband connectivity such as DSL and cable modems have made possible a range of video monitoring options. How do these options impact a dealer’s operations? What is required to support them? How should they be priced? And how profitable are they?