Archive: August 2013
ADT installers, techs unionize in North Carolina
August 30, 2013SSN Staff
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—A group of The ADT Corp. employees in North Carolina has joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), according to that union.
Seventeen ADT installation specialists and service technicians voted in June to join the IBEW's Winston-Salem Local 342. The union says it represents more than 1,800 ADT employees who work at nearly 30 sites across the country, according to an Aug. 19 press release.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based ADT is the nation's largest security...
Sentry Security acquires Stand Guard Security
August 30, 2013SSN Staff
WHEELING, Ill.—Sentry Security, based here, has acquired Stand Guard Security, of Crystal Lake, Ill., according to the Davis Mergers and Acquisition Group, which assisted in the transaction.
The deal closed Aug. 15, according to an announcement this week from the Davis Group, based in Long Grove, Ill. All Stand Guard employees all have been offered jobs with Sentry. Mike Simon, Stand Guard president, will assist in the transition of the merger/acquisition and will continue to operate his...
With $5M, FST21 America wants to up U.S. distribution
August 29, 2013SSN Staff
SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass.—Biometric security company FST21 America has raised $5 million for facial- and voice-recognition surveillance systems, and hopes to use the money to increase distribution in the United States, various news organizations report. FST21, headquartered in Rishon Lezion, Israel, has a local office in the U.S., where it is already selling security products it says combine security and convenience. Security Director News recently reported on the installation of the FST21 SafeRise...
Burglar must pony up for victims' new security system
August 29, 2013SSN Staff
AUGUSTA, Maine—After their house was robbed, a Maine couple lost their feeling of security. They had an alarm system installed to help them feel safe. A judge has ordered the burglar to pay for his victims' security system.
Brandon M. Rimes, of Fairfield, Maine, pled guilty Aug. 6 to robbing the home of Charlotte and Del Lovejoy, his neighbors, who he and Jason Horne burglarized Dec. 6, according to the Portland Press Herald.
“I'm still upset. I'm still scared to death,” Charlotte...
University launches sprinkler ed campaign after student floods dorm
August 29, 2013SSN Staff
NEWPORT, Ky.—College student Rick Seal needed a place to hang his shirt. He opted for the closest fire sprinkler head. But when he tapped the sprinkler with his clothes hanger, the system activated, gushing water and soaking sleeping students in Seal's Northern Kentucky University dormitory.
To help prevent a repeat of the Aug. 20 incident, the university has hung posters around dormitories to help educate students and remind them to leave sprinklers and smoke detectors alone.
Northern Kentucky...
Gamewell-FCI: New touch-screen fire alarm panel simplifies use
August 29, 2013SSN Staff
NORTHFORD, Conn.—A full-color, touch-screen interface brings the style of smartphones and tablets to a new fire alarm system that provides smoke, carbon monoxide, gas and multi-criteria detection and more, Gamewell-FCI announced this week.
The company announced the release of its new S3 Series fire alarm panel Aug. 28. It bills it as “the industry's first small, addressable system that features an intuitive, touch-screen display to simplify system use for facility managers and...
American Alarm's backyard buy adds density
August 28, 2013Tess Nacelewicz
ARLINGTON, Mass.—American Alarm and Communications is having a banner year: The company has acquired a bolt-on in its backyard that adds density and boosts the company's service capabilities, and it ended its fiscal year with revenues that exceeded expectations.“We had a very good year, a record year,” Louis Sampson, CFO at American Alarm, a 42-year old security company based here, told Security Systems News.Revenues as of June 30 were more than $31 million, a growth of 15 percent...
Security Central to open second central station
August 28, 2013Leif Kothe
STATESVILLE, N.C.—Security Central, a third-party central station based here, is preparing to open a second central station in North Carolina in October.The new facility, located in Hickory, N.C., about 30 miles north from Security Central's headquarters, is designed to accommodate forthcoming expansion plans, Caroline Brown, business development manager at Security Central, told Security Systems News.“Our dealer base has expanded,” Brown said. “We're growing, so we need that...
New guidance for cloud ceiling fire protection
August 28, 2013Tess Nacelewicz
QUINCY, Mass.—Cloud ceilings—drop ceilings that don't extend all the way to perimeter walls—are increasingly popular in commercial and industrial buildings. But for fire protection, is a sprinkler system necessary on both the cloud ceiling and the structural ceiling above it?
That's the question asked by a newly completed Fire Protection Research Foundation study. The foundation, an affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association, based here, initiated the project....
This Blog's on Fire (And Other Stuff)
'Canary' survives coal mine, scores nearly $2 million
August 28, 2013Tess Nacelewicz
Canary, a New York City startup with what it bills as the “the first smart home security device for everyone,” has managed to raise nearly $2 million in 35 days from prospective customers and supporters through crowdfunding.
The company's experience suggests this is a funding approach other security companies may want to take a look at.
I wrote about Canary—which is both the name of the company and the home security device it sells—back in July when it launched the campaign...