Archive: July 2006
Alarm.com sponsors home safety week
July 27, 2006Martha Entwistle
MCLEAN, Va.--Thanks to sponsorship from wireless, web-enabled security provider Alarm.com, this week is the first annual Home Security Week at the Home Safety Council.
HSC is a national nonprofit group, located in Washington, D.C., that seeks to reduce injuries within the home. The group has active partnerships with other nonprofit groups, government agencies and private sector corporations. It has many ties with fire industry groups and companies; the partnership with Alarm.com is its first with...
Questions remain in Mass. officer shooting during alarm response
July 27, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle
SHREWSBURY, Mass.--An unnamed alarm company has been faulted for circumstances that led to the shooting of police officer during an alarm response.
On July 14, Shrewsbury police officer Stephen Rice, 25, was shot by homeowner Mark Ragsdale while responding to a security alarm at his residence. According to Shrewsbury police chief A. Wayne Sampson, Ragsdale inadvertently set off his own alarm upon returning prematurely from a vacation, then informed the alarm company it was a false alarm. However,...
Tri-S sells off residential accounts to focus on guarding, commercial installation
July 27, 2006L. Samuel Pfeifle
ATLANTA--Tri-S Security, a provider of guards and system integration, has exited the residential market entirely, selling all of its residential accounts, along with a central station, to Security Alarm Financing Enterprises, a San Ramon, Calif. company providing alarm service and financing for alarm companies. SAFE paid $680,000 for International Monitoring, based in south Florida, one of the companies Tri-S acquired with the Cornwall Group in late 2005, and has agreed to purchase more accounts...
Guardian of Mich. picks up accounts to expand reach
July 27, 2006SSN Staff
SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--Guardian Alarm Company of Michigan, Inc. bought 1,600 monitoring contracts from Alarm Central, Inc. of Chesterfield, Mich., in late June for an undisclosed purchase price.
For Guardian Alarm, a full-service installation and monitoring firm that serves more than 75,000 customers throughout Michigan, the added accounts expand its customer concentration in the eastern part of the state.
"We liked Alarm Central because it is a lot like Guardian, but on a smaller scale," said Karen...
Gunning takes helm at NBFAA
July 27, 2006Martha Entwistle
MONROVIA, Calif.--Unveiling a national apprenticeship program for security systems installers at this October's ISC East show is among the many items on newly installed National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association president George Gunning's to-do list.
"I believe an apprenticeship program on a national basis would give the industry a more professional look and build a career path for young people" starting out in the security industry, he said.
Gunning, who assumed the NBFAA presidency on July 1 and...
Venture capital firm backs SteelBox
July 27, 2006SSN Staff
ATLANTA--SteelBox Networks, a video switching software manufacturer, received $10 million in venture funding from Sierra Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., earlier this week.
The company's footprint includes large-scale video surveillance applications and networks in terminals and mass transit venues throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
SteelBox was founded in 2003 by executives and engineering veterans of Cisco Systems, Scientific Atlanta and Nortel Networks. Richard Howes, chief executive...
Extreme CCTV acquires Forward Vision CCTV
July 20, 2006SSN Staff
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--Extreme CCTV, a manufacturer of active-infrared surveillance equipment, announced on Tuesday an intent to acquire the United Kingdom-based Forward Vision CCTV, for the equivalent of roughly $8.8 million.
Forward Vision designs, develops and manufactures intelligent mechanical pan/tilt/zoom cameras. The flagship product is the company's Mic1-400, sold mainly in the United Kingdom for city surveillance and transportation applications.
The intent, according to a press release,...
UL, industry officials warn about fake sprinklers
July 20, 2006Martha Entwistle
NORTHBROOK, Ill.--Underwriters Laboratory issued a notification on July 14, about sprinkler heads that bear a counterfeit UL mark for the United States and Canada. The sprinkler heads are also marked with the word "Globe," but are not manufactured by Globe Fire Sprinkler Corp. of Standish, Mich.
While the counterfeit of "lower end objects such as extension cords" is not unusual, the counterfeit of a product as intricate as a sprinkler head is "out of the ordinary" said Joe Hirschmugl, UL spokesperson.
Steve...
West-Tek Company Police owner killed
July 20, 2006SSN Staff
SMITHFIELD, N.C.--Donald Keith West, owner of West-Tek Company Police, a private security guarding firm, was found dead in his home, July 18, by his girlfriend. The woman called 911, but West was pronounced dead on the scene as the result of a gunshot wound. Police are treating the case as a homicide, reported NBC 17, a North Carolina television station.
West, 39, founded West-Tek Company Police in 2001. Company Police officers are armed, and because of powers granted by certification under Chapter...
Simpson rolls with Dice Corp.
July 20, 2006SSN Staff
BAY CITY, Mich.-- With more than 30 years of experience in the security industry, Mike Simpson was named president of Dice Corp. on July 17, as the monitoring automation software company steers into a new direction of growth.
Simpson's knowledge of business operations will help the company expand its reach internationally as well as in North America, Cliff Dice, chief executive officer, noted in a statement.
Most recently, Simpson was vice president of finance & administration and chief financial...