Welcome to 2020! In our January issue we present our Annual Industry Forecast for 2020. We also present sales and marketing ideas for the new year, as well as an array of the latest products.
January also features our special supplemental issue “Monitoring Today”.
The ‘20s are here and security integrators have come roaring in with expected revenue growth of 19 percent this year, in the wake of 16 percent last year.
Security integrators expect their brilliant business performance of 2019 to continue into 2020, according to results of SDM’s Industry Forecast Study, a report published each year since 1982.
At the end of one decade and the beginning of another, security lock and hardware vendors reflect on the technologies that shaped the past 10 years, and those that will shape the short- and long-term market of the future.
They say that hindsight is 20/20. So as we go into the year 2020 it seems fitting to reflect back, while at the same time looking ahead at the most influential trends that shaped — or will shape — the security lock and door hardware market.
Today’s megapixel cameras provide a number of benefits, including their ability to enhance situational awareness by expanding areas of coverage with fewer physical cameras, which can also significantly reduce overall costs associated with both equipment and labor.
When publicly held security dealer Monitronics filed for bankruptcy in May 2019, then came out of it several months later, it had a ripple effect on the entire security industry.
Milestone Systems, a provider of open platform video management software, has released a troubleshooting assistant for partners and customers using Milestone XProtect video solutions.
An issue recently arose in California where a police dog was used to seize and retrieve a suspect. The plaintiff fled into a thicket of bushes during a police chase.
ES2, an independent manufacturer of high performance audible and visible warning devices for life safety applications, published a new version of its website, with an intelligent product finder search function.
Growing older certainly has its advantages — I am but four months from Medicare and can’t wait to dramatically reduce my healthcare insurance costs. But there are other things that make life more complicated as I get older.
2020 looks like a great year in the smart home industry. Electronics are flying off the shelves, delivery trucks are full and professional installation is at an all-time high.
One of the most important things to any security salesperson is customer acquisition. Here are three of my favorite ways to find new prospects. They aren’t for the weak at heart, but they sure do produce results.
By now, you have probably heard about Google’s BERT, and if you are like most of the people calling our office, you are concerned about what the October 24 update means for you and your website.
Masonicare is Connecticut’s largest not-for-profit integrated senior care continuum. With residential living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation, senior hospital, home health care, homemaker companion and hospice and palliative care, Masonicare cares for thousands of patients and residents every day.
AXIS Q6075 and AXIS Q6075-E PTZ network cameras are Axis’ first with 40x optical zoom and offer superior light sensitivity with Lightfinder 2.0, which captures low-light images with more saturated colors in demanding light conditions and sharper images of moving objects.
Telguard’s two new power product lines — the TG-UPS power supply and the TG-PP power protection lines — support residential and commercial installations.
Cobalt Iron Inc., a provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, announced IronClad Partner Advantage (IPA), an all-new program for Cobalt Iron channel partners.
Pivot3, a provider of intelligent infrastructure solutions, is providing its hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) software platform to Lenovo Datacenter Group (DCG) to deliver integrated edge computing solutions optimized for mission critical smart city and safe campus environments.
Resideo Technologies Inc. launched the Resideo Home app, which will make whole-home monitoring possible for the four critical networks of the home — water, air, energy and security.
Access control solutions within multi-tenant commercial properties pose unique system management challenges for property managers and tenants alike, as well as for the systems integrators who install and support them.
SureView Systems, a provider of physical security software automation, has developed a new API that will allow AI technology to seamlessly integrate to its Immix software suite to reduce the number of false or nuisance alarms that hit a central station operator queue.
COPS Monitoring, a provider of wholesale professional alarm monitoring services in North America, announced the migration of its Generations monitoring software platform to jBASE from ZumaSys.
There is much to learn from the panel Giacalone led at TMA’s annual meeting, which covered the opportunities available when leveraging modern technologies while winding down older technologies.
This year at TMA’s annual meeting in Napa Valley, I led a panel on telecommunication opportunities available through leveraging modern technologies while holding on and winding down older technologies to support legacy systems and communications.
State and local associations play an important role in speaking for the electronic security industry at a local level, as do local dealers. SIAC was created to provide support and outreach for these efforts.
The electronic security industry’s national business is subject to regulation by 18,000 local public safety agencies and the government bodies that provide oversight to their activities.
Protecting life and property is the founding principal of the alarm monitoring industry. For over a century, our services have provided for the early detection of fire, intrusion and other life safety events.
Nine years after its 2011 launch, The Monitoring Association’s (TMA) Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) service is slowly — but surely — creeping into monitoring centers everywhere.
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.
When it comes to running a top-tier monitoring center, the people component is perhaps the biggest factor that can make the difference — in some cases in life or death; but also the overall customer experience.