Archive: May 2011
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
Pinnacle “Going Beyond Borders”
May 31, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
I've written here before about the work Orem, Utah-based Pinnacle Security has been doing through its Securing Hope charitable initiative. Efforts have included Pinnacle employees traveling to Honduras to build homes and install solar panels and hook up electricity to other homes—in some cases for the first time—to meet residents' energy needs.
Now the company is reaching out to help the needy in Africa.
Pinnacle announced yesterday that through its Securing Hope program it will partner...
Atlas lends a helping hand to those affected by tornadoes
May 26, 2011Daniel Gelinas
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Although Atlas Security has not been directly impacted by recent tornadoes in the Midwest, Atlas employees are actively helping out neighbors affected by the catastrophic events.
Atlas central station operations manager Jon Adams said the company was moved to action by the May 22 tornado that hit the neighboring community of Joplin.
"Joplin is about an hour west of here … When that tornado hit, it was the first time in my five years as manager here that we were completely...
N.M. county moves to mitigate impact of false alarms
May 26, 2011SSN Staff
RUIDOSO, N.M.—A may 24 story from the Ruidoso News reports an informal consensus was reached in mid-May on amendments to an ordinance designed to reduce the impact of false alarms on the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department.
A separate $25 registration is required for each alarm site, something that wasn't clear in the past version, the attorney said. Permits expire on Dec. 31 each year, regardless of the date of issuance.
The owner of a registered alarm shall be notified when a $25 renewal...
Calculating what your integration company is worth, with and without RMR
May 26, 2011Martha Entwistle
If there's one message that PSA Security CEO Bill Bozeman likes to hammer home with PSA integrators it's this: Those who offer managed services, maintenance and service plans, and have other RMR generators as part of their business will have more, happier, and stickier customers.
Bozeman's been talking about that for many years. But, according to Jeff Kessler managing director for Imperial Capital, those with RMR, also have more valuable companies.
Kessler spoke about the economic outlook for the...
Advice from PSA-TEC 2011: Embrace change
May 26, 2011Martha Entwistle
WESTMINSTER, Colo.—What's the biggest challenge for independent integrators today? According to Bill Bozeman, “it's not the need to learn the latest and greatest technology,” and it's not learning how to sell better or more efficiently. Rather, it's understanding how to run and adapt their business models so they can run profitable businesses.
Bozeman mentioned conversations he's had with Ron Oetjen, president of Intelligent Access Systems of N.C., a tech-savvy...
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
NFPA makes antifreeze topical this summer
May 26, 2011Tess Nacelewicz
It's spring here in the Northeast and our thoughts are turning to summer (well, they would be if it would stop raining and the sun would come out). But despite the warming weather, antifreeze remains a hot topic when it comes to fire sprinkler systems.
This summer, to give you the latest on code changes impacting the use of antifreeze in sprinkler systems, the National Fire Protection Association is offering a free web updates on that subject.
The NFPA, based in Quincy, Mass, this month announced...
Protec, Inc. realignment paying off
May 26, 2011Martha Entwistle
PORTLAND, Ore.—Every Thursday morning, Protec, Inc. president Andy Schwartz and his senior staff—Bill FitzHenry, VP of sales; Patrick McGill, VP of operations; and John Barnes, VP of project management—get to the office early for a 7 a.m. pre-business-day strategy meeting.
Schwartz began holding these meetings about a year ago when he realigned the company's management team and hired FitzHenry and McGill, with the goal of updating internal systems and expanding service offerings....
Stanley buys from Verifier again
May 26, 2011Martha Entwistle
NAPERVILLE, Ill.—In its second deal with Verifier Capital in a few months, Stanley Convergent Security Solutions this week announced that it bought a book of accounts from Verifier.
“We worked with Verifier on the acquisition of these customer accounts that they owned. Most are commercial accounts using Sonitrol [technology] and there are a small number of traditional digital accounts,” Felix Gonzales, VP strategic initiatives & business development told Security Systems News.
Gonzales...
What're you doing Nov. 13-15? Get your education on!
May 26, 2011Daniel Gelinas
I got my most recent edition of CSAA's Signals (complete with it's new waveform promotional art) and was reminded that the CSAA Fall Operations Management Seminar is coming up in November.
It brings back fond memories...
(cue flashback music and scene-disolve visual effect)
I had just started at SSN in September of 2008 and was still trying to wrap my head around all the security industry's three-letter-acronyms and just exactly how the industry ecosystem worked... what it looks like... My head was...
What's PEG?
May 26, 2011Martha Entwistle
WESTMINSTER, Colo.—Dakota Security president Eric Yunag showed up a day early for the PSA-TEC conference here last week so he could meet with seven other systems integrators for a quarterly meeting of a 'PEG'.
What's a PEG? “It's a PSA-sponsored Peer Exchange Group,” Yunag explained. “The concept is about five years old and it was started as a way for PSA members to network on a closer level, to talk about business strategy and challenges with peers who don't compete and with...