Underwriters Laboratories Inc. has concluded its investigation of UL Product Incident Report 2019MS-940, which was requested by Jeffrey Zwirn, president of IDS Research & Development. 

The 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place last week, Jan. 6-9, in sunny Las Vegas, and while most physical security companies save their unveilings for March, when the security industry gathers in the same Sin City for ISC West, CES provided an interesting look at what sort of security products are appealing to the consumer right now — especially in the smart home. 

ADT Inc. just announced that it acquired Defenders, its largest independent dealer and only authorized premier provider, for a purchase price of approximately $381 million (based on ADT’s closing stock price of $7.45 on January 3, 2020).

Kirk MacDowell, an executive with a 39-year career in the electronic security industry, has been selected as the new chairman of the board for the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC). SIAC is the industry’s liaison with law enforcement for dispatch reduction and alarm management issues. SIAC’s model alarm ordinance, developed in conjunction with national law enforcement leaders, is being adopted nationwide.

What began as a collective effort on the part of eight forward-thinking security industry leaders on a cold night in 1949 has grown and evolved over seven decades to become The Monitoring Association (TMA), the internationally recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies, security systems integrators and providers of products and services to the alarm industry. 

Shiver Security Systems and Sonitrol of Southwest Ohio, a commercial and residential security company based in Dayton and Cincinnati, acquired four new companies servicing Southwest Ohio: 995 Security, Security Services Center, Wilmington Security Systems and Apex Alarm Company. 

Visit Atlanta-based Telguard, a provider of security, life safety and communications, at ISC East in booth 113 to learn about their two new power product lines which support residential and commercial installations: the TG-UPS power supply and the TG-PP power protection lines.

The Monitoring Association (TMA) will reopen a review of the TMA CS-V-O1 standard, Alarm Confirmation, Verification and Notification Procedures. This standard defines methods by which false notifications for signals received from security systems can be greatly reduced. It has been proven that confirming and verifying an alarm signal by a supervising station will drastically reduce false notifications.

The New Jersey Electronic Security Association (NJESA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding with a gala dinner on Oct. 5 at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City. The association paid tribute to the “Pioneers of the NJ Security Industry” for their dedication and commitment to the industry though the years.

ADT, a smart home security provider serving residential and business customers ranked No. 1 on the SDM 100, has taken another step to enhance its owned and operated professional monitoring services by acquiring I-View Now, a video alarm verification service.