An assisted living community consisting of several buildings, one of which was used as a residential personal facility for the elderly, experienced a tragic fire. The sprinkler system was protected by a fire protection monitoring service, which had merged with the defendant.

When SDM put out its inaugural issue in January, 1971, the security industry as we know it today did not exist. There were no trade shows, no systems integrators, no DIY systems and no reliable publications to turn to for information.

When I first entered the security industry in 1973, alarm communications were performed by Direct Wire, McCulloh and some high security applications using voice-grade telephone lines configured in “open window” and later “closed window” bridges.

At last, 2021 is here — I can’t be the only one happy to leave 2020 in the dust! The year brought so many changes to the business of monitoring, our heads haven’t stopped spinning. With the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unemployment numbers that unfortunately came along with it, providing peace of mind has never been more important.

To say 2020 was a bit of a roller coaster ride is perhaps an understatement. At this time last year, most security integrators anticipated a strong 2020, only to be thrown into turmoil late in the first quarter by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this month, we thought it would be fitting to look back at the first Sales Stars column Brian Offenberger wrote for SDM back in 2015.

Many years ago I reported on a case decided in California. Fireman’s Fund had paid various claims for burglary or fire losses and filed a lawsuit against alarm companies that had contracts with the plaintiff`s insureds, claiming subrogation to losses arising from property damage incidents sustained by insureds.

People expect certain things when they visit your company website.

When you don’t provide them with what they need, they can become upset and annoyed. This usually causes people to leave your website for the competition.

A recent case was filed by an insurance company as subrogee against an alarm company in Florida under the choice-of-law rules. The insured contracted with the alarm company to provide monitoring of its business facility.

Soupergirl is the brainchild of former stand-up comedian turned soup maker Sara Polon. After reading Michael Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Polon decided to get involved in the local food movement.