Coastal rides wave

CHARLESTON, S.C.--In an effort to continue efficient monitoring service, Coastal Burglar Alarm Company upgraded its software to Micro Key's Millennium series in September. The firm was using a DOS system, but found the software had limitations. The decision to upgrade it was made in part by the lack of support among the firm's daily monitoring duties, such as the time it took to fax opening and closing reports. "This (software upgrade) is going to take us into the next generation," said Mike Eykyn, general manager at Coastal Burglar Alarm Company, a full-service alarm company that installs and monitors 8,000 accounts. Of those 2,000 are third-party customers in eastern South Carolina. The upgrade also keeps the company aligned with technology. Now, the central has the option to e-mail opening and closing reports to its dealers. The new system also benefits employees. Technicians in the field are able to call in and place an account on test, Eykyn said. With the updated software complete, video verification will also be an added service from the central in the coming months. "When an alarm goes off, we will be able to remotely dial into the site and do video verification," Eykyn said. Eykyn will provide training to the alarm company's operators on the new system because the former DOS system had been at the central since the late 1980s. We do have operators that are older, so point-and-click is a hard thing for them, when they are used to key stroking," he said. The security firm was established in 1959, making it the city's oldest locally owned and operated security systems company, Eykyn added. "We have customers that have been with the company since its inception," he said.