Archive: September 2007
Getting home
September 30, 2007Martha Entwistle
Normally, I'm a big fan of Jet Blue. I mean, who doesn't like to be able to watch football games in-flight on DirectTV? But getting home from ASIS on Thursday was an adventure. First, the plane was delayed out of Vegas. Rumors are that Dick Cheney was coming into town, and that disrupts everything. Then, when we get to JFK, the Blue tells 14 of us that we've missed the last flight up to Portland, so tough noogies. Sweet.
Luckily, the regional rep for DSX not only was down with the plan to fly to...
IASG sues Few family's King Monitoring Group
September 27, 2007Leischen Stelter
GREENVILLE, S.C.--Integrated Alarm Services Group, which merged with Protection One in December of 2006, has filed a lawsuit claiming federal trademark infringement against the Few family's King Monitoring Group (KMG) in South Carolina District Court.
Robert Few, who was named in the court docket as one of the Few family members previously employed by IASG and now employed by KMG, was unable to comment about the ongoing litigation. "I've been asked not to talk about this matter until it is settled,"...
Dean Seavers' vision for GE Security
September 27, 2007L. Samuel Pfeifle
LAS VEGAS--In concise and reasoned fashion, new GE Security president and chief executive officer Dean Seavers outlined his vision for his new company in a one-on-one interview here in the GE meeting room at ASIS International. "Our goals and objectives line up with GE's nicely," he said. "We're going to talk about growth."
Already an industry leader with a wide-ranging product platform generating roughly $1.2 billion in annual sales, GE Security will focus more on the end user under his leadership,...
Dedicated Micros buys Baxall from receivership
September 27, 2007L. Samuel Pfeifle
LAS VEGAS--Dedicated Micros announced here on the ASIS International show floor that its parent company, AD Group, has purchased Baxall Holdings Limited, a camera manufacturer based in Stockport, UK, which had been put into receivership under the administration of KPMG Corporate Restructuring on Sept. 3. According to Dedicated Micros, the acquisition includes the company's intellectual property, current inventory and the production equipment.
"The message," said Mark Provinsal, vice president of...
NJ likely to be first in nation to require high-rise sprinkler retrofits
September 27, 2007Martha Entwistle
SAYREVILLE, N.J.--Fire sprinkler contractors and other fire officials here on Sept. 19 rallied behind a proposed regulation that would require all high-rise buildings in this state to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers.
If the regulation is adopted, as expected, after a 60-day comment period, which began Sept.17, New Jersey will become the first state in the country with a statewide sprinkler requirement of this type.
"There are high-rise retrofit regulations in other cities, but there aren't any...
UTC Fire & Security consolidates integration brands under Red Hawk
September 27, 2007L. Samuel Pfeifle
LAS VEGAS--UTC Fire & Security celebrated here on the floor of ASIS International the one-year anniversary of its purchase of integrator Red Hawk Industries by consolidating all of its U.S. integration business under the Red Hawk Brand. UTC's legacy Chubb brand, and Initial Electronics, purchased earlier this year from Rentokil Initial as part of the Initial Electronic Security Group, will no longer be market-facing brands in the United States.
In Canada, all of UTC's integration business will be...
NBFAA/CSAA study shows member companies have varied end markets
September 27, 2007Martha Entwistle
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--The increased collaboration between the two major security associations--the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association and the Central Station Alarm Association--brought to light by the groups' plans to hold an industry educational conference and exhibit called ESX in Nashville in June 2008, was in further evidence September 17 when they released a study that highlights all sorts of information about the groups' members.
The study, conducted by EH Research here, includes annual...
Party, party
September 26, 2007Martha Entwistle
Okay, so I experienced a little of the Las Vegas nightlife last night, but look how early I'm up blogging. It's like 7:45. I'm rather impressed with myself, especially since I'm normally such a tea-totaler (the web seems ambivalent on whether there's one or two ls in that).
Anyway, thanks to Cisco for a very nice dinner at Mix, the restaurant high atop THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. The shop talk was even keeled and the view and food were top notch. Congratulations to Security Technology and Design managing...
Fun with cool technology
September 26, 2007Martha Entwistle
Great morning for seeing innovators in the industry.
1. If you haven't seen Optellios before, and you're doing a lot of large perimeter work, you might want to check them out. Basically, they run fiber-optic cable along a fence line, either woven into the fence or buried underground, and then use the fiber as a sensor that can detect any vibration and tell you where it came from within about 10-20 feet. Plus, they've got the software that makes it so as soon as the alarm comes in, the PTZ points...
New GE head introduced
September 25, 2007Martha Entwistle
Dean Seavers met the industry for the first time this morning and looked remarkably comfortable for someone on the job only three weeks. He let the VPs do most of the talking during an hour-long press conference, but led off with a nice quote from Colin Powell about not being afraid to let people under you show their own leadership capabilities. Very apropos, I thought.
Also, he addressed the Smiths fall out, if briefly, saying, "we couldn't agree on combined strategic vision."
I'll have more with...