NFPA just released a new product via an online demo called NFPA LiNK. The product is a digital version of the National Fire Protection Association’s standards, and allows users to access, research and share standards and changes to help them do their jobs better, while cutting out the guesswork for compliance.

Recurring revenue within the alarm industry has been the lifeblood of alarm dealers for decades. On the integration side of the physical security industry, however, many security integrators have historically had little or no recurring revenue.

Security systems integrators work in a plethora of vertical markets, implementing diverse security and safety systems to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers. To meet these needs and exceed client expectations, integrators’ suppliers play a large role.

This year’s Monitoring Center Excellence Awards looked a bit different than usual. While the awards have historically been announced live at the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) annually held in the summer, due to COVID-19 the in-person awards were canceled, along with ESX.

Last year was a year of revenue growth for many security integrators ranked on the 2020 Top Systems Integrators Report. For some, it was their best year of revenue growth in company history, and for others, the market was flat yet steady.

In this issue, SDM presents the annual Top Systems Integrators Report, which ranks security integrators by their North American systems integration revenue of the previous year (2019). This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Top Systems Integrators Report, which was first launched by SDM in 1996.

Cloud-based video services can make a security integrator’s life easier in terms of installation, customer service and maintenance.

The video surveillance market is ripe with opportunity, according to sources. Many security integrators and manufacturers realized strong revenues for 2019 and are even more optimistic for 2020.

Hiring, training and staffing at a monitoring center comes with a host of challenges. Finding reliable, entry-level staff with the right personality profiles that are willing to work any shift, any day of the year is one.

Since 2006, The Monitoring Association (TMA) has been recognizing the top performers in monitoring with its TMA Monitoring Center Excellence Awards (previously called the Central Station Awards). The Excellence Awards, hosted by TMA and co-sponsored by SDM Magazine, recognize exceptional personnel and monitoring centers in the industry (both TMA members and non-members) that are certified by an approved Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL).