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.
While 2020 didn’t live up to expectations and 2021 Industry Forecast respondents reported a topsy-turvy year, the majority remain hopeful for a strong 2021, with the COVID-19 vaccine in sight and pent-up demand for security products and services.
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.
Communication — both with end users and emergency personnel — has always been an essential part of any monitoring business. The methods through which monitoring centers communicate, though, have become incredibly varied.
Jacqueline Brogan, 2020 Central Station Manager of the Year of Alarm Detection Systems, discusses how to communicate with your team to ensure a positive work environment.
January 13, 2021
Jacqueline Brogan, central station manager at Alarm Detection Systems in Aurora, Ill., is The Monitoring Association’s 2020 Central Station Manager of the Year for her work in leading a team of more than 20 operators. She first joined the team in 2012 as an operator, then became a customer service representative in 2015. She returned to the central station in 2019 to take on her current position.
False alarms have long troubled video monitoring stations. With stations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, La. and Chicago, Ill., Acadian Monitoring Services did better than most in the industry, estimating only two of three alarms received were false.
It has been a long and arduous year since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on January 31, 2020, issued its declaration of a public health emergency related to COVID-19. As the virus pillaged its way around the world, it caused commercial establishments within many segments to quickly shut their doors.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove widespread stay-at-home orders, 2020 was shaping up to be a challenging year for larger security dealers. As SDM reported last year at this time, at least two banks that had been major lenders to those dealers had either stopped making new loans or had begun imposing terms that were less favorable to the dealers
Thomas Paine, an early American philosopher, once said, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Although these insightful words were written in reference to the American Revolution, they embody the sufferings of so many people today, due to the proliferation of COVID-19.
Interface Security Systems released a new business text messaging app that allows its restaurant, retail and hospitality customers to communicate with their patrons via SMS and MMS text messages.
There are two unshakeable facts that determine the direction of the security industry. The first is that digital communications have redefined the concept of business risk.
With the COVID-19 outbreak and various levels of lockdown, I’ve had a lot of time to read books and watch television. One of the technologies being heavily advertised is the 5G wireless technology, which is supposed to revolutionize cellular and internet connectivity.
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.
Marketing in the security industry is hard. The buyer's journey is beset by a range of shiny objects, competing offers, fear, uncertainty, doubt, budget shifts and cuts, priority shifts, urgent and important fires to extinguish, as well as various other threats to goals and timelines that disrupt the process.
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.
The IX-EA is a surface mount, weather-resistant IP video door station equipped with a 1.23-MP fixed-color camera that can be programmed to call up to 20 different stations with three different call level selections.
The HID ELEMENT portfolio delivers optimal card personalization and accommodates projects that require high-resolution UV ink printing, laser engraving or both.
Central station redundancy and its significance is essential to understand. A select group have maintained redundancy over the years, although UL hasn’t mandated redundancy until recently.
Traditional security and the smart home are the same. There — I’ve said it. Our industry likes to see them as different, but for someone growing up now, without any preconceptions of alarm systems, they all just look like a lot of gadgets for the home. So what does this mean for the smart home and traditional alarm monitoring?
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.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents numerous unprecedented challenges to the monitoring industry and those with a stake in the protection services it provides. Not the least of these is operating in a regulated environment, under standards that did not fully anticipate the impact of public health mitigations.
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.
False alarms have long troubled video monitoring stations. With stations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, La. and Chicago, Ill., Acadian Monitoring Services did better than most in the industry, estimating only two of three alarms received were false.
Jacqueline Brogan, 2020 Central Station Manager of the Year of Alarm Detection Systems, discusses how to communicate with your team to ensure a positive work environment.
January 13, 2021
Jacqueline Brogan, central station manager at Alarm Detection Systems in Aurora, Ill., is The Monitoring Association’s 2020 Central Station Manager of the Year for her work in leading a team of more than 20 operators. She first joined the team in 2012 as an operator, then became a customer service representative in 2015. She returned to the central station in 2019 to take on her current position.
Communication — both with end users and emergency personnel — has always been an essential part of any monitoring business. The methods through which monitoring centers communicate, though, have become incredibly varied.