Archive: March 2015
Security Partners acquires 1 Time assets
March 31, 2015Spencer Ives
HENDERSON, Nev.—Security Partners, a Lancaster, Pa.-based wholesale monitoring company, acquired equipment, accounts and staff of 1 Time, a third party central station based here, Mike Bodnar, president of Security Partners, told Security Systems News.
An AES radio mesh network operated by 1 Time is part of the deal. The network is established throughout southern Nevada. “[It's] a great opportunity for our dealers, local and national,” Bodnar said.
“I think the most...
SIA Government Summit takes on convergence of cybersecurity, physical security, law enforcement tech trends and more
March 27, 2015SSN Staff
WASHINGTON—The convergence of cybersecurity and physical security, funding for safe schools and law enforcement technology trends, including body-worn cameras, will be among the topics featured at the SIA Government Summit in June.
Other topics include GSA contracting, securing the electric grid, smart buildings and air traveler safety.
The summit, for security industry executives, integrators, sales and marketing professionals, federal employees and Congressional staff, will be held...
ESX starts TechVision Challenge for Innovation Award winners
March 27, 2015Spencer Ives
BALTIMORE—The top 10 ESX Innovation Awards winners will compete in the new TechVision Challenge, what ESX Chair George De Marco describes as “a Shark Tank-style contest” at the show here June 23.
The Innovation Awards judges will decide which innovators move on to the TechVision Challenge, a separate honor.
Each contestant will have five minutes to present his or her innovative product to the TechVision Challenge panel of judges, or “sharks.” The number of judges...
Emergency communications systems not mainstream—yet
March 26, 2015Kenneth Z. Chutchian
YARMOUTH, Maine—Providers and integrators of emergency communication systems (ECS) face a number of challenges when trying to establish or grow markets: It's not cheap to expand a fire alarm system into an ECS. Private companies are not required by law to have multi-faceted ECS or mass notification systems (MNS). And it's difficult to get excited about a security system designed for worst-case scenarios that nobody really wants to think about.Some ECS developers remain undeterred. Campus shootings...
News Poll: Cybersecurity is becoming a physical security matter
March 25, 2015Spencer Ives
YARMOUTH, Maine—As cybersecurity becomes a common topic of conversation among physical security systems installers, Security Systems News asked its readers whether they're concerned about cybersecurity threats and what their companies are doing to safeguard themselves and their customers.Jeff Frye, Interface Security Systems VP, says that there are multiple reasons to be concerned with cybersecurity. “Internet of Things devices raise new threats. Many manufacturers lack a security practice....
PSIM market growth projected in North America
March 25, 2015Spencer Ives
LONDON—The PSIM market in North America will grow from $3.6 billion in 2015 to around $4.9 billion in 2019, according to a new TechNavio report.Physical security information management, or PSIM, is software that provides a platform so that a number of unconnected security applications and devices can be controlled through one interface.If TechNavio's growth production holds, the CAGR for PSIM in North America over the next four years would be 7.2 percent, senior industry analyst, Amrita Choudhury...
Icontrol targets independent dealer
March 25, 2015Amy Canfield
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Independent dealers for the first time now can take advantage of Icontrol Networks' connected home platform.The new Icontrol One combines the software backbone Icontrol provides for the big guys, such as ADT, Comcast and Time Warner, but has a business model tailored to the smaller, independent dealers, said Greg Roberts, Icontrol vice president of marketing.“Icontrol can host it for them and provide the technology that makes it very easy for them to adopt services...
Axis introduces Zipstream for more compression
March 25, 2015Martha Entwistle
CHELMSFORD, Mass.—In what Axis' Fredrik Nilsson called a “major innovation that will fuel the growth of the [network video] market” Axis Communications launched Zipstream, a new compression technology, that it says consumes half of the storage and bandwidth of H.264.
“We launched H.264 in 2008; people ask if Zipstream is as big of a deal? It's a bigger deal,” Fredrik Nilsson, Axis Communications GM Americas told Security Systems News.
Why is it a bigger...
New series 'On Location: Central Stations'
March 25, 2015Spencer Ives
The biggest step I have taken, so far, in learning about the industry has been visiting American Alarm and Communications, back in December. This helped me learn a lot more about this side of the industry, to see first hand how one central station handles things.
Much like putting a face to a name, seeing the workings of American Alarm's central station helped me piece together a bit more about how the industry works. It then sparked the idea to start an occasional series of articles along the same...
Who will be the top twitterer at ISC West this year?
March 25, 2015Martha Entwistle
The top Twitterer of ISC West 2014, in terms of both quantity and quality, was the Security Industry Association.
Who will be the top Twitterer of 2015?
Once again Security Systems News is sponsoring a Twitter Wall at ISC West. This year it will be located near the ISC West Media stage, just outside the entrance to the show floor.
Stop by to check out real-time,140-character ISC West news and notes from a variety of sources. Better yet, join the conversation using this hashtag #ISCW15
Remember to...