Affiliated Monitoring to offer new video monitoring platform

UNION, N.J.—It's no secret: video monitored alarm systems are gaining momentum. For many dealers, such systems are on the verge of becoming major sources of RMR—if they haven't become so already.

It's with this emerging market in mind that Affiliated Monitoring, a third-party monitoring center based here, has designed its annual dealer summit, a daylong event slated for Dec. 5, 2013.

“Video has been one of those topics everyone's been discussing but hasn't really engaged on,” Daniel Oppenheim, vice president of Affiliated Monitoring, told Security Systems News. “The time has come. We're really starting to see RMR generated from video becoming a real thing, in part because of the tools that exist now to give value to commercial customers.”

The event, dubbed the “Affiliated Security Summit 2013: Growing your business through video,” is tailored to both existing and prospective dealers. It will take place here at the company's monitoring center, an 82,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2012.

As part of the event, Affiliated Monitoring plans to roll out a suite of video verification and video monitoring services, Oppenheim said, adding that the suite will be “packaged with tools that will give dealers the ability to sell video and systems and generate RMR.”

Oppenheim characterizes dealer interest in video monitoring as “overwhelming.” He attributes the rise in interest to three factors: the transition from analog to IP, which allows for more capable analytics and functionality; the increased demand for interactive services and integrated video and security systems; and the greater demand for video verification, which can reduce false alarms.

Many of the 45-minute sessions, held in seminar rooms at the center, will revolve around these industry-wide transformations. Some of the sessions will feature live demos, Oppenheim told SSN, and will include a range of topics catering to both business owners and technicians. Seminars will focus on everything from sales strategies, generating video RMR, IP installations and even legal advice, Oppenheim noted. Many of the speakers will be dealers who have already made successful forays into video monitoring.

“We've selected topics that are relevant to dealers,” Oppenheim said. “And I think we're going to create some meaningful opportunities for dealers to learn from and engage with each other.”