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Archive: May 2006


Speak now or hold peace on NFPA 731

May 25, 2006Martha Entwistle

QUINCY, Mass.--Security integrators and installers have until tomorrow, May 26, to submit a proposal telling the National Fire Protection Association what they think should be changed, omitted or added to NFPA 731. The code is of interest to many because it's new and it regulates the installation of security systems in commercial applications. Approved last August, the code broke new ground as the "first consensus-based security installation code," said Richard Bielen, NFPA chief systems and applications...

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Easter's Lock & Access spins off two companies

May 25, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle

BALTIMORE--Late last week, Easter's Lock & Access Systems, founded here in 1953, announced plans to spin off two additional companies: Easter's Access and Security Systems, to be headed by Bryan Eiser and Tony Markowski and located in Hunt Valley, Md.; and Easter's Bank Equipment & Security, to be headed by Robert Shepherd and located in downtown Baltimore. Second generation owner Robert Easter will remain owner and president of all three companies, with Drew Jackson managing the original Lock &...

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SentryNet takes video monitoring classes on the road

May 25, 2006SSN Staff

PENSACOLA, Fla.--As the demand for video monitoring increases, SentryNet, a wholesale monitoring operation with two central stations in Pensacola, Fla., and Greenville, Miss., is focusing on educating dealers about the technology and methods of generating RMR during dealer conferences this year. Although more than 100 dealers from eight states attended its spring dealer conference in Tunica, Miss., some dealers could not make it, so SentryNet decided that every dealer should have access to this information....

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Northrop taps L-3, Identix in border contract bid

May 25, 2006SSN Staff

MCLEAN, Va.--Northrop Grumman yesterday announced it teamed with fingerprint and card scanner company L-3 Communications Titan Group, and biometrics company Identix, among others, in its bid to win a $2 billion federal contract to secure the U.S. border. The Department of Homeland Security is scheduled to award the six-year Secure Border Initiative Net contract in September. The group that wins the contract will provide DHS's Customs and Border Protection directorate with a comprehensive border-protection...

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Wayne Alarm Systems begins CSAA level II course

May 25, 2006SSN Staff

LYNN, Mass.--This week, Wayne Alarm Systems launched the Central Station Operator level II class for the full-service alarm company's dispatching staff. The company's eight supervisors with more than one year of experience at the central will take the course first, followed by its 32 operators. The course, available online through the Central Station Alarm Association web site, explores various modules that operators encounter daily, such as handling difficult customer situations. For example,...

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HID Global to buy Fargo

May 25, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle

IRVINE, Calif.--Access control giant HID Global and card issuance manufacturer Fargo Electronics jointly announced on Tuesday that both corporate boards have agreed to a deal where HID will acquire Fargo for an all-cash consideration of $25.50 per share, a total of roughly $325 million. News of the deal pushed Fargo stock up $8.48 on Tuesday to finish at $24.71, though it is subject to regulatory review and Fargo stockholder approval and likely won't close until the third quarter of this year. According...

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West Virginia adopts fire code

May 18, 2006Martha Entwistle

CHARLESTON, W.Va.--A slight increase in the square footage that commercial buildings are allowed to have before they must have sprinklers installed is the one change that West Virginia made when it recently adopted the 2003 versions of the National Fire Protection Association Uniform Fire Code (NFPA 1) and NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code. "We are definitely advocates for sprinkler systems," said State Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis. The increase in square footage is minimal, he said, roughly 2,000 square...

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A4S announce $1 million first quarter loss, but revenues triple

May 18, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle

LOVELAND, Colo.--A4S chief executive officer Tom Marinelli announced in a conference call May 17 that the company's first quarter results "show we have substantial work ahead of us," but also show the traction the company has created in the mass-transit market with its ShiftWatch high-resolution mobile video surveillance systems. While A4S announced $1,124,000 in losses, roughly double the losses of 1Q 2005, it also announced a 189 percent revenue increase, from $74,000 in last year's first quarter...

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Extreme Makeover protects family of 10

May 18, 2006SSN Staff

IRVINGTON, N.J.--Silent Knight of Honeywell teamed with installer Home Control Systems of, Bayville, N.J., and television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to provide a brand new, fire-safe home for Beverly Turner, who lost her previous home to fire. Turner, who has nine adopted children with special needs, has moved into a new three-story home with a Silent Knight 5208 fire alarm system, with expansion zones and a four-zone relay board. Home Control Systems owners John and Brenda Thormann and...

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A Bush and a Rush on bio-cards gets Digital Defense noticed

May 18, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle

OMAHA, Neb.--On Monday, May 15, President George W. Bush addressed the nation in a prime-time speech, outlining his goals for a national immigration policy. Contained within that speech was his point that "we need to hold employers to account for the workers they hire." However, he noted that employers have no way to verify that provided documents are legitimate. "Therefore," he said, "comprehensive immigration reform must include a better system for verifying documents and work eligibility. A key...

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