Alarm Continuing Education

Lead From The Front: Surveillance Cameras Solutions

In the security industry, video surveillance is by far the most eye-catching deployment. Intrusion systems alert when tripped and access control prevents unauthorized access, but no one has ever said “come look at my wall of access control panels”. The Security Operations Center (SOC) and the multitude of cameras on a video wall are always part of the tour. Video surveillance is only a tool, but it is an extremely useful tool. Video can now offer traditional security functions and with analytics, it can perform intrusion detection functions as well. This can include alerting on break-ins while giving a picture of the suspect and reducing false alarms. Cameras are being used for Identity and Access Management (IAM) functions in conjunction with access control to use facial recognition among other analytics to control access.

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Lead From The Front: Surveillance Cameras Solutions

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Investing in Security for 2021 and Beyond

The COVID-19 Pandemic is fully matured, even spawning new mutations of the virus. But the light at the end of the tunnel may be near. A year ago no one thought they would be wearing masks and eating in 50% filled restaurants in August, 2020, let alone today. The Pandemic has seen companies, small and large, suffer tremendously. Many of us have furloughed employees, possibly multiple times over the last 12 months. Our industry is strong, and resilience is something most integrators know. What does resilience look like? Integrators have to change how they do business because businesses have changed how they do business. Change is hard, but in order to be resilient, we must accept change. The last year has caused customers to realize they care less about what is being sold and more about how it will help them accomplish their goals. This is prompting technology shifts in our industry to meet those goal demands.

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Alarm Trends in the Healthcare Market

The Healthcare Market is a long sought-after vertical for many Security Integrators. While many facilities are dominated by the national chains, many regional and local security integrators are finding niches that are opening doors into this market. Healthcare brings a constant amount of new business, equipment lifecycle upgrades, and yearly support agreements. It can also bring siloed information, disparate stakeholders, and massive amounts of red tape.

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The Secure “Smart Home”

We have entered a time where many homeowners are turning their home into a “Smart Home”. Where Kleenex and Band-Aid brand have become the call brand for facial tissue and adhesive bandages; today the “Smart Home” call brands consists of Amazon, Google, and Apple. Today we have doorbells and cameras that send video to our smartphone when […]

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What is the Partnership for Priority Verified Alarm Response (PPVAR)?

Intrusion alarms offer crime prevention and emergency notification in the event of a break in, but they are also a source of nuisance alarms. Have nuisance alarms caused police officers to become complacent? Years ago, I was a police officer in a major metropolitan city. My district alone (1 of 12) received over 40 alarms in an 8 hour shift, every day. Triple that number if a thunderstorm came through the city. Not one officer ran emergency traffic to an intrusion alarm, unless there was a call from the homeowner in despair, a 911 hang-up, or some other verification confirmed the need. Alarm calls would sit in queue for at least 15 minutes and then officers had 45 minutes to arrive onsite.

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Growing as an Alarm Technician

From entry level to consummate professional, how does someone become an alarm technician? As many of us have found, the good alarm technician (both fire and intrusion) is a highly sought after asset that can make the difference for a company and their clients. For the technician entering the field, there are some up-front decisions that need to be made.
Alarm Installer or Alarm Technician?
First, a question; what is the difference between an alarm installer and an alarm technician?
Answer:
The alarm installer sees a problem, takes the defective product down, and puts a new product up, without finding out why the defective product became defective. They take that defective product down and replace it with a non-defective item until the problem is solved or they run out of non-defective products. The alarm technician finds the defective product and before installing a new product, problem-solves the defective product. They fix the issue, and then they install the new product. The following steps are a process to becoming an alarm technician for a company in the security or fire alarm industry.

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The Benefits of Cameras for Public Safety

Today there are cameras in many residences, almost every business, in a multitude of cities, and now even on some human bodies. The camera serves as the eye to the world when physical eyes cannot be present. The camera doesn’t sleep. The camera is a reactive piece of technology consisting of a lens, a processor, and an image sensor, and a way to output the captured image. The camera was designed initially to take an input and save that data to a storage device for review and / or to view real-time by a staff of operators who could then direct a response.

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The Cloud Has Changed Everything…Even Security

What does Microsoft Office365, Dropbox, Apple iCloud, and the future of electronic security systems have in common? Two simple words… “The Cloud”. What is the cloud? The answer to this question has eluded many, because there is no one simple answer. Talk to 10 different cloud providers, and you will get 10 different answers. It is not a puffy white thing in the sky where are dreams are held. The Cloud is a simply someone else’s data center. The cloud is someone else’s problem. It can be configured to hold different forms of digital media and data virtually. The data can be held in silos or combined. Storage and data can be added very quickly and extremely cost effective. 80% of the cloud is held by five companies, with Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) holding the majority.

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Why the Security Integrator is the Right Solution

We live in a world where everyone wants to hit the easy button, and generally, the cheap button. During COVID-19, pictures of home improvement stores being overrun were normal. Online retailers marked record months. Today, the world has moved to ordering everything online and has embraced the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mentality. Even commercial and industrial companies are doing more in-house work and cutting traditional trades in an effort to control quality and save money.

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Best Practices for Security Installers

Spend any time on Facebook or LinkedIn in a security integrator group and you can find pictures tagged with #cctvfail. While some are funny, and others cause you to scratch your head, the real truth is that someone was paid to install that camera. Their work is a reflection on the installer, which makes these installers look bad. The work also reflects on the integrator’s brand. Poorly installed equipment becomes an eyesore with the Integrator’s name attached. Poorly installed systems also tend to create service nightmares. For recurring revenue, security installation companies should be selling maintenance contracts, but these contracts should be more of an insurance policy. If a poorly installed system results in a large number of service visits, the customer will eventually get fed up and find another installer. Repeated truck rolls also cut any recurring revenue and can lead to a loss of revenue.

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