Cannabis creates a contrast of benevolent opposition; those that have tried it and those that have not. In addition, cannabis is deemed illegal by the federal government, but it is legal in individual states. Today, global sales are expected to reach $33.6 billion by 2025. With COVID-19, the use of […]
“911, do you need Police, Fire, or Medic? Please hold.” Then, “where are you calling from?” These are words that no one wants to hear in the middle of an emergency. Anyone who has had to call 911 wants immediate service with emergency services onsite right then. When most people […]
The security industry for many years has been split into two very distinct silos, security officers and security equipment. Interaction is typically a cursory monitoring of a property using cameras or reviewing incident data, but rarely trusted as an alternative for physical bodies. Security officers have traditionally been responsible for being a physical presence for deterrence and for being trained to de-escalate situations on behalf of […]
During the pandemic, many alarm monitoring employees discovered they were essential workers because of the need to monitor countless alarm systems across the country. Like the rest of the world, alarm monitoring companies had to quickly shift to a new strategy, and many were able to successfully do so. Read more from our blog.
April 20th, 1999, two young men walked into Columbine High School and forever changed the world. Then came April 16th, 2007 (Virginia Tech), December 14th, 2012 (Sandy Hook), and April 30th, 2019 (UNC-Charlotte); and sadly, there are many more days in recent years. School shootings are just one of the many scenarios that society has experienced as of late where mass notification […]
Companies are spending vast amounts of money every year to prevent being the next statistic of cyberattack. Security system integrators have limited options on how to approach cybersecurity for their customers. Here are some of those options.
The security industry is continually innovating to meet new and unexpected needs. This is the basis for innovation. One way the security industry has innovated is biometrics. Learn more about the history, legal ramifications, and the future of biometrics in the security industry from our blog.
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.
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.
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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