SW24 to surveil cable company

SW24 announced this week that it has an initial $250,000 agreement to provide a video surveillance system for cable company Mediacom in five states.

Plans are on the books for SW24 to eventually provide security for Mediacom offices, data centers and warehouse locations at more than 200 locations in 22 states, according to the company.

The deal includes system design, hardware training and installation assistance to Mediacom. Three beta sites are up and running currently in Nogales, Ariz., Des Moines, Iowa, and Middletown, N.Y.

After learning of the contract earlier this week, I had an interesting conversation with Des Smyth, president and founder of SW24 about his company. Smyth, is a former NYPD detective who started security solution provider SW24 after he retired from the force. He'd worked closely with property managers in Harlem and the Bronx as a detective with the NYPD. He liked working with these folks, and founded SW24 to help them solve the problems of managing high-rise apartment buildings and commercial buildings in New York City. The company manages 1800 front doors in the city and 22,000 cameras. in addition to apartment buildings, SW24 counts eight major hotels and two universities among its customers.

His company includes many veterans of the NYPD and FDNY.

Smyth considers his company a security company, but he points out that his customers—property managers and security directors of buildings all over the city—use his products services for more than just security, it's a business tool that helps them manage their buildings, he says.

SW24 installs cameras and access control. Its main business is video monitoring (including virtual guard tours, and other services) through its Network Operations Center and has its own proprietary software to manage that. Smyth said he believes SW24's NOC is the “single largest private surveillance network in the country.”

Smyth uses a variety of vendors including Honeywell and Keri Access systems, and cameras from Avigilon, Mobotix, Panasonic, and others. It's also getting into the residential intrusion business and is building what it's calling a fusion center as Dan reported recently.

SW24 also offers additional services such as guard services, investigation services and “criminal event management.” Not counting guards, it has about 85 employees, including 14 software developers.

 Every single customer has a maintenance agreement. Smyth said he doesn't want to deal with deteriorating equipment and the maintenance agreement ensures that the hardware and the software across the network is working and up to date, he said. “Everyone on the SW network has the latest version of the software,” he said.