Articles by Maggie Shein

On February 14, 2014 as SDM previously reported, Illinois Representative Timothy L. Schmitz (R) introduced House Bill 5683 (HB5683), an amendment to the Fire Protection District Act to allow the adoption of ordinances regulating the supervision and monitoring of fire alarm systems maintained within a district.

Since recreational marijuana sales became legal in Colorado on January 1, 2014, the state has seen a number of break-ins and burglaries.

ADT announced several new and innovative product features, partnerships, and industry firsts at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that continue to push the company beyond the bounds of traditional alarm systems.

The 2G communications sunset has already begun with reports of cellular carriers shutting down service of 2G towers (GSM and GPRS technology) in certain areas of the country. Many dealers have already been affected by these incidents — forcing them to upgrade customers as service is shut down.

DICE Corp., Bay City, Mich., held its 9th annual Users Group Conference (DUG’12) in Frankenmuth, Mich., August 6-8. Among the usual array of product enhancements and updates, this year’s conference focused on a few hot industry topics, as well as peer-to-peer discussions.

The “green movement” has permeated the security industry on a number of levels from corporate and internal sustainability initiatives to green products and customer offerings. Manufacturers, dealers and integrators are playing their part in the movement with everything from simple, cost-cutting initiatives to documented corporate sustainability policies. Motivations involve a combination of corporate responsibility, the bottom line, and the ability to do business with customers that require a commitment to reducing the carbon footprint.

The home security market has been a rapidly changing environment over the past several years, with self-monitored offerings cropping up everywhere as well as a host of large, national cable companies coming into the picture with connected lifestyle services that include energy monitoring and home security. There have been moves from outsiders into the home security space before, with national and regional telecom and cable providers entering (and exiting) the marketplace, but the current market seems ripe for newcomers who can tap into their large, existing customer base and add on security, entertainment and energy management options to their customers’ existing bills. 

The Alarm Industry Research & Educational Foundation (AIREF) represents the electronic life safety, security and systems industry, under the auspices of the Electronic Security Association (ESA). Since AIREF’s beginnings in 1977, foundation members have been focused on improving education in the alarm industry as well as conducting research that public safety officials can use to better protect and serve the community, and dealers, distributors, manufacturers and monitoring stations can use to increase acceptance of their products and improve public relations.