Archive: December 2011
American Alarm gets $57k 'boost' for employee training
December 30, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
ARLINGTON, Mass.—American Alarm & Communications plans to use a new state grant of nearly $57,000 to train its employees to enhance customer service, complete projects as efficiently as possible and to gain sales skills.“We're excited,” Sheryl Gillis, human resource manager for American Alarm, which is based here, told Security Systems News. “It's a good boost for the training budget.”She said the independent security company, which has been in business about four decades...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
SDA Security: Something old, something new
December 30, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
San Diego-based SDA Security is proud of its long history, but is known for being a forward-thinking company decidedly not stuck in the past. Now, a fun, new, “silent movie” commercial about the company on YouTube celebrates both its past and its present.
SDA, one of Southern California's largest security systems providers, was started in 1930 and originally called the San Diego Burglar Alarm Company. The family-owned business changed its name in 1995 as it grew and broadened its selection...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Lack of detectors = tragic Christmas fire lesson
December 29, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
The early morning Christmas Day house fire in Connecticut that took the lives of three little girls and their grandparents is an event sad beyond all words.
And adding to the sadness is a report that the century-old Victorian mansion's smoke detectors weren't working as the blaze—which officials say was caused by fireplace embers that were improperly disposed of—raced through the wood structure as everyone was sleeping around 3 a.m.
I can't help imagining a totally different outcome if...
Toledo considering CCTV to deter crime
December 28, 2011Rich Miller
TOLEDO, Ohio—Toledo could soon join the list of U.S. cities employing CCTV cameras on the streets, supplementing traditional patrols with data-driven policing.A proposal announced by Police Chief Derrick Diggs in early December calls for a CCTV system with about 75 cameras, two trailers, security software and monitoring equipment.The project, estimated to cost $800,000 to $1.2 million, would also establish a “real time” crime center to monitor the video from the streets, according...
IMS: Video analytics market to be worth $600 million in 2015
December 27, 2011Rich Miller
While the availability of free content analysis in video surveillance devices continues to grow, the need for chargeable higher-end applications will push the market for video analytics to nearly $600 million in 2015, according to a new report from IMS Research.Features like motion detection and camera tamper, embedded in surveillance devices and offered as free by manufacturers, will be increasingly joined by applications for more sophisticated video content analysis (VCA). A clear divide will emerge...
Boyd acquires Bay Security
December 21, 2011Martha Entwistle
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—In a deal designed to bring patrolled response services to alarm customers, Boyd & Associates, a security company that provides guards, monitoring and alarm installation, on Dec. 15 acquired the assets of Bay Security & Communications of Costa Mesa, Calif.Terms of the deal were not announced.“It's increasingly important to find some way to verify alarms rather than dispatching authorities,” Dan Boyd, president of Boyd & Associates, told Security Systems News.The...
New SIAC training program takes on user error
December 21, 2011Rich Miller
FRISCO, Texas—False dispatches mean user error.In the majority of cases that's the reality, according to the Security Industry Alarm Coalition, which has found that customer errors account for up to 77 percent of false police dispatches. And while initiatives such as ECV, model ordinances and CP-01 equipment standards have cut into that number over the years, the problem continues to dog the industry.“We've broken down what the causes are and how to address them, but quite honestly we've...
Cox at home with security in Arizona
December 21, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
MESA, Ariz.—Cox Communications, one of the largest cable entertainment and broadband service providers in the country, has been offering a home security/home automation product in Tucson, Ariz., since last summer, and expects to launch it in additional markets in the new year, a company spokesman said.“We're still going through the single-market launch and evaluating the product and the customer response and interest and sales … [and] we expect to continue in additional markets sometime...
SEC charges Utah security company investors with Ponzi scheme
December 21, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
AMERICAN FORK, Utah—Wendell Jacobson, a Utah real estate magnate who with his son provided the primary startup capital for Platinum Protection, is now facing charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he and his son have been running a $220 million real-estate Ponzi scheme—using their membership in the Mormon church to make connections and win the trust of potential investors.
Wendell and Allen Jacobson no longer have any involvement in Platinum Protection, based...
Next Gen 911: On hold for the holidays?
December 21, 2011Rich Miller
Next Generation 911 is on hold, but don't blink. It will return, if not tomorrow or next week, then when Congress reconvenes in 2012.
The provision, which was attached to H.R. 3630—“The Middle Class Tax Relief, Job Creation and Let's Beat Santa Home Act of 2011”—was removed from the version of the legislation that made it through the Senate last weekend.
But it wasn't removed because senators didn't like it, according to Bob Bonifas, who has lobbied on Capitol Hill in an effort...