Intech grows, opens Orlando office

CONCORD, N.C.--Intech Fire & Security, a commercial integrator focusing on institutional and corporate clients, opened its seventh branch office at the end of 2005. The Orlando, Fla., branch is their third in Fla. and adds to their southeastern presence, which includes offices in S.C., Va. and Ga., and their headquarters here in Concord. Founded in 1989, owner Mark Jones said his company's growth has been fueled by a demand for more access control, a portion of his business that has doubled in the past year, "and it will double again next year." He expects to soon add more employees to his current roster of 21 full-timers and 30 contracted part-timers. Intech handles engineering and installation, and partners with UL-listed Security Central, in Statesville, N.C., for monitoring services. However, Jones said customers are asking for video to be integrated with their access control, a service he said is "still not available on the market," because "it's too expensive" for a majority of smaller clients who are looking to start with 10 or fewer doors. "The lower cost, the 8-12 door systems, can not do it," Jones said, and though 64-door-capable packages from software houses like Lenel and AMAG can accomplish the task, "For an average business user, all that stuff's just too expensive right now." Lenel's general manager, David Cunningham, admitted, "When you look at the smaller markets, that's somewhere that Lenel hasn't played strongly in the past." But, he said, "there's no reason that we couldn't look at that solution." "We're going to make our own product," Jones said, if the smaller systems don't go IP-enabled. "And that will be how integrators will survive," he said. For future growth, Jones said he's looking at Texas, but will not be moving further north because of, well, the weather. "I'm a southern boy," he said. "I don't like the cold."