Custom Alarm is a security company out of Rochester, Minn., that offers fire inspections, connected security, video surveillance, access control and interactive services. Melissa Brinkman’s father Leigh Johnson founded the company, and she came to work at the family business in 1998 after spending several years in management positions in the hospitality industry. She held various positions at Custom Alarm, from marketing, to sales manager, to customer services manager, before being promoted to CEO in 2014. Here, Brinkman talks about the company’s 50^th anniversary, working at the family business, why she’s so passionate about customer service, staffing and more.

Unmanned systems (drones and robots) are more popular than ever with the emphasis on remote everything during the ongoing pandemic. Here, Aaron Heiner Simpson, president and CTO of our 2020 Integrator of the Year Stone Security, discusses the emerging technologies.

Kastle Systems, SDM’s 2015 Systems Integrator of the Year and No. 7 on the 2019 SDM Top Systems Integrators Report, recently launched a comprehensive, integrated Covid-19 safety program called KastleSafeSpaces for offices spaces and other clients looking to safeguard the health and safety of people returning to the workplace. Haniel Lynn, CEO of Kastle Systems, says that the company’s approach on integrating technology with new processes is based on four major shifts he sees happening in the marketplace now amid the coronavirus pandemic, and into the future. Listen as Lynn sits down with SDM to discuss these four pillars of safety and security and how systems integrators and managed security services providers can meet these needs across the country.

In the past month, the COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed life as we know it. So how are security businesses coping? In this exclusive roundtable, we speak with John Loud, CEO of Loud Security; Bert Bongard, CEO of LVC Companies; Woodie Andrawos, president of NMC; and Jim Patterson, president of Robblees, about navigating the security industry in this difficult time.

The world we are living in today feels vastly different from the one we were living a month ago. Cities are locking down, businesses are closing and it’s uncertain where things are going from here. Here, Alan Stoddard, vice president and general manager of situational intelligence solutions at Verint Systems, talks about organizations looking for real-time ways to leverage security technology for identifying issues and threats, and keeping employees safe during this pandemic.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a core component of video surveillance and other security applications, making its way into smart homes everywhere. Here, Alula’s Vice President of Product Development Dave Mayne talks about these advancements, and the privacy issues that can potentially come along with them.