a supplement to monitoring resource -...

MONITORINGRESOURCE

June 2011A supplement to

www.SecurityInfoWatch.com

Climb the Ladder to Monitoring Success

It’s No Secret!Central stations get ‘enhanced’ with technology

Central Station Profile: C.O.P.S. MONITORING

FREESupplement

Guide

C E N T R A L S T A T I O N & W E B - B A S E D

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR01-Cvr.indd MR1 5/19/11 4:21 PM

Visit http://sdi.hotims.com and indicate #750

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR02-16-full page ads.indd MR2 5/19/11 4:21 PM

EDITORIAL EDITOR

Deborah L. O’Mara733 S. Hamlin Ave.

Park Ridge, Ill., 60068Tel: 847-454-2730 Fax: 847-384-1929

[email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITORNatalia Kosk847-454-2705

[email protected]

ART DIRECTORElizabeth Barbieri

[email protected]

PRODUCTION MANAGERTina Kennedy631-963-6253

[email protected]

GROUP AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Wendy [email protected]

PUBLISHERCarol Enman

800-547-7377, ext. [email protected]

is a publication of Cygnus Business Media

3 Huntington Quadrangle, Suite 301N

Melville, N.Y. 11747 USAPhone: 631-845-2700 Fax: 631-845-7109

Visit SECURITY DEALER & Integrator on the Web at

www.SecurityInfoWatch.com

MONITORINGRESOURCEGuide

MONITTORINGC E N T R A L S T A T I O N & W E B B A S E D

TABLE OF CONTENTSJune 2011

AD INDEXAdvertiser Name Page # Web Site URL Tel#

Acadian On Watch MR13 www.acadianonwatch.com (888) 558-9911

Affiliated Central MR16 www.affiliatedcentral.com (800) 296-9000

Alarm Watch MR14 www.alarmwatch.com (209) 384-3305

C.O.P.S. Monitoring MR8-9 www.copsmonitoring.com (800) 367-2677

EMERgency 24 MR2 www.emergency24.com (800) 877-3624

Security Central MR11 www.security-central.com (800) 438-4171

United Central Control MR5 www.teamucc.com (888) 832-6822

MR-4 | RMR/CS-WEB MONITORINGThe Challenge of a Lifetime

Now more than ever central stations have to

prove their worth to customers with enhanced

monitoring technology and added value.

MR-8 | C.O.P.S. MONITORING PROFILE

MR-10 | INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVESThe Key to Monitor Your Success

Central stations and alarm professionals weigh

in on the state of the monitoring industry.

This index is supplied as a service to our readers. The publisher assumes no liability for omissions or errors.

MR-3www.SecurityInfoWatch.com | MONITORING RESOURCE GUIDE | June 2011

“Everything these days is about RMR and add-ing it. As an industry, we have to remember that there is no RMR until the initial contract is signed

and that typically means a security system.”—Mark Hillenburg, Digital Monitoring Products (DMP)

p.MR-4

p.MR-10

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR03-TOC(2).indd MR3 5/19/11 4:22 PM

MR-4 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com | MONITORING RESOURCE GUIDE | June 2011

he role of the central station is under at-tack. Think about the manufacturers of such technology as eight-track players

or slide rules. Both made a great product that consumers loved until the day new technology—CDs and electronic calculators—left their entire industry on the bypass of industrial life.

Monitoring stations must stay current with technology to survive in today’s competitive business climate. Central stations need to un-derstand market opportunity available to them. And while a majority of them do and are using software platforms and other capabilities that enhance their ability to monitor customer safety, some are still hanging onto their old-school roots and not giving in to change.

“Getting past the current decade will be a chal-lenge,” explained Hank Goldberg, vice president, Secure Global Solutions (SGS), Irvine, Calif. “We are in the very early stage of the ‘next genera-tion’ and there are few companies rising to the challenge. People are yelling, ‘the sky is falling’

because they are losing their digital dialer. That’s not news. It’s been going on for 10 or 15 years as the phone companies are moving further out and less can be done with the dialer.”

Having spent the last 40 years in the central sta-tion software business, Goldberg knows about slow change and lack thereof. But he confi rmed that there are clear changes in service delivery in the current phase of the industry. “As market technology starts to change, the more interesting changes will be new and creative services,” Gold-berg continued. “Face it, the fundamental tech-nology is becoming obsolete,” he stated.

However, as far as today’s customers are con-cerned, Lindsay Grauling, vice president of Oper-ations, Vivint, Provo, Utah, would disagree. “Cen-tral stations are what our customers want,” she stated. “Today’s customer wants the premises to be safe and sound.” She argued for today’s cen-tral station in their ability to serve clients with professional services. “With a central station we provide around-the-clock protection. Our cus-

RMR/CS-WEBMONITORING By Curt Harler

The Challenge of a LifetimeNow more than ever central stations have to prove their worth to

customers with enhanced monitoring technology and added value

T

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR04-7-EnhancedMonitoring.indd MR4 5/19/11 4:22 PM

MR-6 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com | MONITORING RESOURCE GUIDE | June 2011e 220011002 111111111111

tomers have peace of mind with our monitoring, knowing we can dispatch immediately in case of an emergency,” Grauling continued.

Simon Morgan director of Technology, SureView Systems, Tampa, Fla., agreed that change is coming but he sees a long life for the central station. “The central station remains the fi rst line of defense,” said Morgan. He confi rmed that new solutions will allow a company to offer the same services and better solutions with half the manpower. DVRs, audio and video will be tied to a central platform in the control station or private command center.

“The advent of mobile tools lets the central station engage the customer in a way that they never could before via real-time alerts and video cameras to look at their site,” he confi rmed.

So what do customers crave? “Video, video, vid-eo,” said Matthew Riccoboni, director of Marketing, OzVision, Melville, N.Y. “Customers desire the abil-ity to see their assets and/or employees live and on historic video. Providing the customer with the ability to look in with LiveView from any device (iPhone, iPad, Droid, and Blackberry) at any time without having to manage complex systems and installations is in high demand. Central stations that provide video alarm verifi cation services com-

plete the value-added package.” He confi rmed that among the key services users want are video alarm verifi cation, continuous off-site video recording and LiveView from any device.

Change happens; it’s here in the industryThere is no question that technology has

changed with the advent of virtualization and self-service. And with that shift, more people are whispering what they won’t question out-loud: Why do we need central stations when custom-ers can provide the service for themselves via their smartphones?

The driving forces include communications but equally important is the consumer, who is the one driving the marketplace. “How does the user want to receive product and service?” asked Goldberg. He confi rmed that he is certain the apps will come as “software is a response to the need of the visionaries—people creating new consumables and salable product.”

With the off-set of the Apple app, now cus-tomers expect to be able to consume all sorts of things via applications. YouTube provides a way to manage and consume video. Banking has a host of apps to manage fi nances. Security

BUILDING FOR INTEGRATED SOLUTIONSSystems integrator and residential solutions provider

ADT Security Services Inc.’s Integrated Solutions Center (ISC), Aurora, Colo., provides commercial customers will see the latest IP-based, networked security technology and services in an environment that realistically simulates their own industry.

Located within ADT’s customer moni-toring center, the 6,500-square-foot ISC has three vertical mar-ket showrooms. Two are permanently set up to exhibit the latest security technology in retail and bank-ing. The third area can present simulations of ADT’s other major vertical markets: chemical, education, food defense, government and healthcare.

With ADT’s Physical Security Information Management

(PSIM) system, customers can see the Proximex solution (a recent ADT acquisition announced at ISC West 2011) that joins and correlates information from disparate security

systems into one centralized environment. It is connected to IP video management ac-cess control systems that include AD Video Edge and Victor and Cisco VSOM and IP megapixel cameras.

Other select services at ADT’s ISC include remote video capabilities, video guard tours, unattended de-livery, video escorts, video suspicion assistance and

video alarm verifi cation. Customers will not, however, be able to run simulations back on their own network.

“It is our experience that customers won’t allow us ac-cess into their network to be able to do this,” said Bob Tucker, ADT director of Public Relations.

RMR/CS-WEBMONITORING


MR-7www.SecurityInfoWatch.com | MONITORING RESOURCE GUIDE | June 2011wwwwwwwwwwwww ..SSSe

needs to take technology and drive it to provide customer services, Goldberg confi rmed. He sees the day in the near future when the secu-rity panel will allow customers to monitor their blood pressure. He dismissed the old industry fi xation on keeping data compartmentalized, under lock and key. “You can have complete se-curity and complete access to it,” said Goldberg. “We need to see that the open connection is not a dialer. You just have points of data and that information can create business-to-business or business-to-consumer solutions.”

The creative forces that beThe integration of video, audio, access control

and traditional alarm services provide a higher value, both to the consumer and the provider, than traditional alarm services alone, Morgan noted.

“In our business, our software is squarely fo-cused on allowing the central station to offer the next generation of monitoring and value-added services,” said Morgan. Customers have busy lives and a lot of other things to focus on than security. “There truly is a value in 24/7 monitoring by the central station. Customers like to know someone is keeping an eye on their assets whether they are awake or not.”

Grauling agreed, confi rming that “real-time technology is a growing trend” and that technol-ogy is important to future success. With Vivint’s two-way monitoring capability, the company is able to interact with their customers in the same sense that customers are able to interact and reach out to the company.

“The vision is always having the best connec-tion to the customer,” Grauling confi rmed. With two-way monitoring, “we ensure our custom-ers stay safe and secure,” she added. “As Vivint moves further into the home automation space we look forward to various ways central sta-tions can improve our customers’ experience.”

Beyond the initial value add Yet while Goldberg confi rmed that it is too

early to tell what will happen in the market, se-curity integrators and dealers should be think-ing about it today so their business is positioned for tomorrow. He looks at several smaller fi rms as potential industry leaders.

For OzVision, the central station is a must for

applications like loss prevention, employee theft, employee monitoring and general monitoring. “Self monitoring provides the next level of se-curity required by businesses,” Riccoboni said. “The central station is the independent observer that can, without prejudice, alert the authorities during or after hours should the person, with or without the iPad, be involved in the situation that

is unfolding,” he explained. “The central station still has a specifi c advantage in providing emer-gency response management services.”

To that end, central stations should strive to be-come more integrated with the law enforcement, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and fi re rescue teams within the areas that they cover. Systems within the central station should be integrated with the emergency dispatch and emergency (EMS and police) so they can share data seamlessly to re-sponding personnel (alarm data and video).

“Utilizing cloud-based solutions eliminates the barriers to achieving this integration,” Ric-coboni pointed out. On the other end, local law enforcement groups are beginning to be outfi t-ted with smartphones which allow the central station operator to send information directly to the responder.

But while Goldberg doesn’t have a simple an-swer or “a great punch line” to what will happen for central stations, as an industry maven who has seen many products come and go, he is cer-tain that a decade or two from now, this change will be a non-event in the industry.

“The challenges are clear,” said Goldberg. “What the industry’s response will be to those challenges is unclear.”

“We are in the very early stage of the ‘next generation’

and there are few compa-nies rising to the challenge. People are yelling, ‘the sky is falling’ because they are los-ing their digital dialer. That’s not news.”—Hank Goldberg,

Secure Global Solutions (SGS)



Your Foundation for Growth

Yesterday ● Today ● Tomorrow

Monitoring Americafrom

New Jersey,Florida, Arizona,

and now

Tennessee

Security Fire PERS 2-Way Video Environmental, Process, & Custom Monitoring

Specializing in all of your monitoring needs

C.O.P.S. MonitoringCentral Station Profi le

800.367.2677www.copsmonitoring.com

C.O.P.S. MonitoringP.O. Box 836Williamstown, NJ 08094

Additional Sites:Boca Raton, FLScottsdale, AZNashville, TN

Phone Number:800.367.2677

Fax Number:856.629.4043

Internet Address:www.copsmonitoring.com

Areas Served:U.S., Canada, Caribbean

Number of Years in the Central Station Business:34 years

Number of Accounts:Over 500,000

UL Listings:Yes

Number of Branches:4 Central Stations

Number of Employees:Over 300

Operator’s Average Years of Experience:4.1 years

Dealer Services/Support:• Account executives• 24/7 dealer support• Dealer technical support• Secure dealer & subscriber web access• Secure mobile dealer web access• Private labeled subscriber web

access (Branded with dealer’s logo and information)

• TeleMax dealer messaging center for emergency & other calls

• Subscriber billing

Newest Services Offered:• Opened 4th active redundant & load

sharing UL CS in Nashville, TN• Added 2 disaster recovery servers in

the SuperNAP in NV• Expanded POTS alternatives (IP,

cell, radio)• Specialized fire monitoring• Enhanced PERS capabilities• Video monitoring services• Bi-lingual (Spanish) services• Green invoicing & reporting

New Services Planned for 2011• Subscriber web access “dashboard” view & pass code / notification list maintenance• Linking of pass codes, notification list, user details on subscriber accounts• A 5th 24/7 UL CS location • Dealer Access enhancements• Additional POTS alternatives

Scan code to visit

our website

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR08-CopsProfile.indd MR8 5/19/11 4:22 PM


here’s no question that central stations and monitoring professionals will have to adapt to new technolo-

gies to keep up with the competitive market. It’s survival of the fi ttest all over again and the ones that change with the time are those that will survive. This month, we went to a number of leading monitoring pro-fessionals, central stations, alarm in-stallers and dealers and others to fi nd out what they see as the future for central stations and the monitoring industry to be? What are they uti-lizing today as far as central station technology? And how do they see the benefi ts of recurring monthly revenue (RMR) today be-ing applied to their company or the monitoring industry? Here’s what they had to say.

Kenny Savoie, director of Opera-tions, Acadian Monitoring Services, Lafayette, La.—The role of the cen-tral station was rather simple in the

past— handle some subscriber calls, help with some basic technical support, answer alarms, contact keyholders and dispatch police, fire or ambulance. Now, central stations must focus on where the market and technologies are heading. They must know their dealers needs and keep it as simple as possible for their dealer base, which are busy running their own business. They have to take the initiative and do the R&D

on new technologies and see which ones make

the most sense. The trick is selecting the right ones that are a fit for both your customer’s needs and your business plan. The b i gge s t

challenge currently facing both the deal-

er and central stations is the migration off of ana-

log Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines. In many cases, this is hav-

ing a negative effect on the alarm industry and dealers and integrators, in particular. We are certainly aware of this and are planning on our future with solutions being implemented that can alleviate these concerns, the additions of RF-radio, Internet monitoring, GSM, wireless video verification and IP video monitoring. Acadian is capable of supporting an array of alarm formats that do not require a standard phone line. We are ramping up our network capabilities between our redundant centers to dual band BGP proto-cols over two different ISP service providers with 100 MB capacity to support our IP initiatives for the future.

The latest core services we released are host-ed services. We currently offer a hosted video platform and a hosted access control platform,

INDUSTRYPERSPECTIVES By Natalia Kosk

The Key to Monitor Your Success

Central stations and alarm professionals weigh in on the state of the monitoring industry

T Secure Global Solutions’ (SGS) Network

Navigator (via a Virtual Private Network) creates a permanent tunnel available to a

company to connect instantly to all sites over port 443/tcp with a single user sign-on. The second service offered is monitoring. Once a connection is established (plug the device in and wait for the blue light heartbeat) access is controlled through the SGS 24-hour Network Operations Center (NOC).

Visit http://sdi.

hotims.com 171.

sdi 0611 RsrceMntrngGuide pMR10-15-RemoteMonitor (FINAL page for online supplement).indd MR10 5/23/11 3:39 PM


INDUSTRYPERSPECTIVES

where we provide Web portal, cloud access for the customer and/or dealer to be able to access a particular account or service.

David M. Koenig, CPP, partner, Capital Lock, Madison, Wis.—Cen-tral stations have to

change their traditional mode of operation to deal much more commonly with video issues and lifestyle-type things in the residential market, such as interactive services. Adding multiple paths like cellular and IP allow transmission of those lifestyle-type ser-vices. Contract central stations have to help their dealers understand how they can make sure their RMR is not eroded—certain people will think they can have all the data sent to their smart phone and they are done. Central stations will have to help their dealers understand how they can turn what could be perceived as a threat into an opportunity. There has got to be some creative thought put into how dealers maintain their cur-rent base and add to it and be ready to respond to the smart phone objection.

Tony Wilson, president of Criticom Monitoring Services (CMS), Long-wood, Fla.—By far, interactive services will have a steady increase. With a rise

in end-user technology—such as smart phones and iPads—central stations may become less op-erator-centered and may place more emphasis on technical aspects such as allowing the customer to view their monitoring sites in real-time; or view-ing motion-controlled areas in their home or busi-ness when movement is detected. 2011 has been a diffi cult year across all industries but we’ve been fortunate to have our RMR on the rise. To profi t from RMR, we reinvest in our employees’our best asset’making sure all employees are current on training and certifi cations. They keep us at a com-petitive edge by providing customers with excep-tional customer service.

Jacky Grimm, director of Security Solutions, Diebold, North Can-ton, Ohio —As security continues to evolve, the central station will become

an even more critical source of intelligence. First, we will

continue to vet rapidly changing technol-ogy. That means extensive testing before new tech-nology is ever deployed—veri-fying that it per-

forms as expected, is interoperable with other systems and doesn’t expose end-users to logi-

cal risk when operating over a net-work. Second, we will deliver data that enables more effi cient business operations. That means continuing to leverage security equipment to deliver business-related information, such as HR, marketing or energy data. Such insight gives security a more valuable business role and extends the ROI of security investments.Those investments include all of the central sta-tion technologies we utilize today, from video management to VMS systems, access control to alarm management systems. Our offering must keep pace with evolving security needs and the availability of new features and functionalities.

Through the RMR model, security integrators like Diebold are making those new features and functionalities more accessible. We have offered outsourced services for the better part of a decade to make managing a security program and deploy-ing new technologies easier and more fl exible. This model transforms the security investment from a capital outlay to a predictable, monthly op-erating expense that will only increase in popular-ity with budget-conscious end-users.

Mark Hillenburg, executive di-rector of Marketing, Digital Mon-itoring Products (DMP), Spring-fi eld, Mo. —At our forum and in

other areas of the industry, you hear of alarm dealers that are completely abandoning phone lines and moving to one of three solutions: ra-dio; Internet network communication; or cel-lular/GSM. But each one of these three options has their own set of pitfalls that go with them.

Bosch Security Sys-tems’ Conettix D6200 central

station receiver software includes a GSM/VoIP compensation mode and features

digital signal processing technology that enhanc-es the performance of receivers when interpreting these signals by more than 75 percent. Visit http://

sdi.hotims.com 172.



With AES, the good news is that you own your network; the bad news is you own your network. If a tower gets struck by lightning or gets blown over, you have to bear the cost of replacing that—no one else is going to share that responsibility. With Internet and network communication, this is really the choice for a commercial environment. The diffi culty comes in a residential application where there is no IT infrastructure. Quality of service guarantees that often times the DSL or broadband routers are not battery-backed up so that creates some complication for the homeown-er for residential security. Cellular looks like the odds-on favorite to be the solution of choice but it doesn’t have 100 percent coverage across the U.S. From our perspective, GSM is the best solution for a residential site (has the best forward-path, speed and bandwidth); IP is the best answer com-mercially.

Everything these days is about RMR and add-ing it. As an industry, we have to remember that there is no RMR until the initial contract is signed and that typically means a security system. With

that initial secu-rity system sale, there is a con-tract and than that security is sort of the backbone of what we do. Only then do you get to add on additional services—video or being able to arm/disarm my control panel from my cell phone.

Kevin McCarthy, national sales manager, EMERgency24, Des Plaines, Ill.—Technol-ogy is the driving force behind our industry. Today’s customers are more tech-savvy and in-volved with their security systems than ever before because they are able to control them via their personal phones, iPads or other digi-

Micro Key Solutions’

Mobile Virtual Operator applica-

tion is designed for installing technicians

in the fi eld to test the zones and to receive instantaneous status updates without having to call in and speak to an operator or use older

phone technology. Visit http://sdi.hotims.

com 173.





tal devices from anywhere. End-users are able to use their alarm systems for more than se-curity. By actively checking their account his-tory, a system owner can see if the kids made curfew, determine what time the maid arrived and ascertain if certain areas of the premise

have been accessed. All of that information is available in

real-time. Not only can today’s systems do ev-erything traditional systems can do, they now can send video clips and al-low end-users to

check into pro-tected areas via the Internet.

While the breadth of ser-

vices increases,

prices will tend to trend downward. The reason is that there are viable options for that tech-savvy user that ably replace the traditional system. For the next generation or two, we know there will always be a market for central-station services because we are always available; we are always awake; and we are always ready to serve. As con-nected as society is becoming, a person cannot monitor their system like a central station can. Ours is a service that allows you to travel worry-free, sleep soundly at night and live life to the full-est. Should there ever be an emergency, we will be watching and reacting accordingly, 24 hours a day.

Tim LeBlanc, president, General Monitoring Services (GMS) Cen-tral, Long Beach, Calif.—There is al-ways going to be a need for monitor-

ing. We’re losing POTS lines but radio and IP are fi lling the gap. From a central station standpoint, we’d rather see the dealer opt for radio because it generates more revenue for us and it’s more reliable at this point. And while I see video moni-toring slowly expanding over the next fi ve years, I don’t think it’s going to be the big boom every-body is looking for. Dealers are not up-to-date on the technology. If you went to the ISC West show, there were just aisles and aisles of video platforms out there but most of them are propri-etary—and that doesn’t do anybody any good. The dealers are going through a real learning curve right now and they are looking for some-thing that is inexpensive, easy to install and easy to maintain. The other thing we see is that the alarm company today has to become more pro-fessional in what they are doing. Even if you’re a small company, you have to protect your assets, make sure your contracts are right, that you are carrying the proper types of insurance and that you have got the proper exit strategy from the industry when you decide to get out of it. It’s a constant education program.

We’ve been growing at a nice steady pace and we attribute it to the fact that we keep up with the central station technology. If a central station isn’t keeping up with the technology, the dealer can’t expand and grow and so they start to look else-where. You have to make an annual investment in technology. There’s just no way around it.

DMP’s SCS-VR Virtual Receiver is a

software solution that runs on serv-ers operating as a virtual receiver for

network IP and cellular IP alarm communica-tions. UL1610-classifi ed, it can be used as the primary receiver or backup to existing hardware receivers. It is NIST-validated for its AES encryption to be used

for high-security applica-tions. Visit http://sdi.

hotims.com 174.




Keith Burke, operations manager, Grand Central Station, Hayward, Calif.—The future of the security industry will see a convergence of multiple technologies that

will allow central stations to supply a higher level of service to our clients. The continued trend of afford-able IP-based video and analytics coupled with Uni-versal Video interface products like Immix will play a key role in enhancing our monitoring services. Video products will give central stations the ability to col-lect more accurate information and disseminate that information to responders, which will heighten police response procedures and expedite dispatches.

Virtual operators, guard tours and alarm verifi cation will become increasingly important in the future. In the past, all video events had to be handled by a live opera-tor which was very cost-prohibitive. With the products that we integrated into our central station—like Check Video, Immix by Sureview and Video Iq—we can have the analytics do 90 percent of the work by program-ming very specifi c parameters into the edge devices. Once the equipment has performed its job, our opera-tors can complete the process by utilizing our Univer-sal Video Interface to view hundreds of CCTV products with a singular look and feel. These video products will open new markets for alarm companies that will signifi cantly increase RMR opportunities.

While we support all types of both GSM and IP-based services, we see the industry moving primarily towards radio monitoring in the near future. We re-searched all available communication options includ-ing IP-based monitoring, GSM technology and two way radio and concluded that radio technology is the most reliable and cost-effective transmission means. Both GSM and IP-based monitoring services are cost-prohibitive because of high monthly fees and pres-ent multiple points of failure whereas once a radio network has been established, the monthly costs are minimal and radio (in our case AES) allows multiple paths of communication.

Rick Charney, sales manager, Stealth Monitoring Inc., Dallas—Central stations need to take a more proactive approach to security monitoring and eliminating false

alarms. Proactive video monitoring is the value-added service that we specialize in because that’s what our customers are demanding. Partly due to the poor eco-nomic conditions, our clients are having problems with losses and property damage and want a cost-effective solution, regardless of the hardware and technology

being used. Stealth offers interactive and proactive monitoring which can often reduce and deter crime before it happens. Central stations also need to devel-op strong relationships with the police departments in the communities they serve. The ability to see a crime in progress and convey that information to the local authorities in real-time enhances the credibility of the central station, reduces false alarms and saves the cus-tomer considerable amounts of money by not having to pay to replace or repair property damage. To be proactive in security monitoring, central stations need to combine human intelligence, technology and video analytics to respond to incidents before or during an occurrence and provide the best possible information to the authorities. They should also be able to moni-

tor a wide range of surveillance platforms so that any equipment a customer might already have can be in-tegrated into security solutions offered by the central station. Constant evaluation and additions to existing monitoring platforms and feedback to manufacturers based on actual security situations will result in the development of improved systems for the central sta-tions and its customers.

Steven Coppola, Statewide Central Station, Staten Island, N.Y.—I see lim-itless opportunities for central stations and their alarm dealers today. For central

stations to prosper in this uncertain economy, they need to have both the technology and the people to help their dealer base grow. We continue to seek RMR opportunities from multiple avenues including managed and un-managed access control; expand-ing our remote interactive video services; and our two-way voice products and services. We greatly increased the RMR of many of our alarm deal-

“To be proactive in security moni-toring, central stations need to

combine human intelligence, tech-nology and video analytics to re-spond to incidents before or dur-ing an occurrence and provide the best possible information to the

authorities.”— Rick Charney, sales manager, Stealth Monitoring Inc.



ers (as well as our central station) when we began offering remote interactive video solutions.

Much of our focus recently has been multi-system integration. We find our alarm dealers are almost always combining access control, security systems, fire alarms, CCTV and even intercom systems to create one integrated system. Interactive moni-toring is another must for a central station facil-ity to remain competitive into the future. Uses for this technology are limitless, and the cost can be easily made attractive to the end-user by the alarm dealer, as he/she shows the client the many ways this technology can solve problems and pre-vent crimes (not just report and dispatch).

One of the technologies we are using more of is integration from access control systems that allow our central station to monitor door forced opens, door left opens and access deni-als, just as we monitor a normal burglar alarm system. Some access control systems are serv-ing as both access control and security sys-tem. If a door is forced open without swiping, we consider it an alarm and take appropriate action. There is no need to add an alarm sys-tem to some access control systems.

Of course, video verification technology is becoming more in demand as budgets of local law enforcement in many municipalities become strained and laws are enacted to raise revenue via fines and penalties. Other interac-

tive monitoring solutions we provide are our Video

Doorman and Safe Lobby applications.

These provide the end-users with safety and conve-nience, are eco-nomical, combine multiple systems

and give our secu-rity staff the abil-

ity to interact remotely with building staff, ten-

ants and visitors for a fraction of the cost of on-site personnel.

Scott Haugland, chief operating officer, Sureview Systems, Tampa, Fla.—We see the

future of centra l s t a t ion s a nd t he

monitoring industry as explosive growth of video. More end-users

are speci f ica l ly request ing video monitoring due to increased security concerns, high man-guard costs or video veri-fication requirements by law enforcement. As a result, we continue to improve and advance our Immix product line to meet our custom-ers’ demands. The new Immix Cloud product will be released in Q3 this year. The Immix Cloud product provides a platform for our cus-tomers to establish their own private cloud, enabling them to offer advanced video moni-toring services, customize those services and allow end-users to view their video via IPhone, IPods and Androids. Immix Cloud has been architected for the explosive growth of video-monitored and video-verified sites connected to our extensive customer base.

Lindsay Grauling, vice president of Operations, Vivint, Provo, Utah— We are always listening to our customers input and needs and central stations are what they cur-

rently desire. Our primary goal is watching out for the safety and security of our customers. With a central station, we provide around-the-clock protection. Our customers have peace of mind with our monitoring, knowing we can dispatch immediately in case of an emergency. Vivint provides two-way monitoring where we can interact with our customers and our customers can interact with us, ensuring they stay safe and secure. As we move further into the home automation space we look forward to various ways central stations can improve our customers’ experience. The vision is always having the best connection to the customer. Real-time technology is a growing trend and Vivint is committed to offering the latest inno-vations and best solutions for our customers.

Linear’s DXS-LRP is part of a line of personal emer-

gency transmitters that work with the company’s PERS products. It has a long

lasting lithium ion battery; is shock- and water-resistant; and has a recessed activation button to avoid accidental transmissions. Visit http://sdi.

hotims.com 175.

av

Visonic’s RealAlarm enables central monitoring sta-

tions to accurately assess the situ-ation inside the premises in the event of

an alarm and immediately establish whether it is a real emergency or a false alarm. The RealAlarm solution includes Visonic’s NEXT CAM, a PIR motion detector coupled with a

camera in a single housing. Visit http://

sdi.hotims.com 176.



a supplement to monitoring resource -...

Documents