Central station software company moves, readies expanded offerings

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Central station software provider AlarmSoft recently completed a move to a new headquarters to allow room for growth and to prepare for a possible expansion of services with the planned building of a server farm.

AlarmSoft GM Chris Brackett said the move was overdue.

“We had a small space in a building that was rented out to four other clients as well. We had maybe a 500-square-foot room that we were jammed into. It was just time to spread out,” Brackett said. “The space we're in now is about double where we were at before. Right now we're just stretching out, but we're looking to add new staff as our business picks up and takes off.”

The server farm, according to Brackett is still in the planning stages, but the company is ready to leverage its new space, as well as its technology and know-how to add video services to its core central station software operation.

“When we get this done, it will allow any dealer who deals in IP cameras to go to their end users and offer the ability to get rid of or avoid a DVR,” Brackett said. “We've got the programmers, we've got the technology and the means, and now we've got the space. So we're gauging the interest among our dealers. Once this thing is in place, you'll be able to use your smartphones, your PDAs, your Android, your Windows mobile device, your iPad … All we'll need is the MAC address and the IPs for the cameras … We'll host.”

AlarmSoft recently debuted such popular central station software tools as Signal Me and an operator awareness application to help central stations function more efficiently. Signal Me works with AlarmSoft's Central Works 2000 alarm automation software and its Wizard module to facilitate the automatic output of nearly any account information in the form of an email or text message to any web-enabled device, such as a laptop, mobile phone, blackberry or PDA. The operator alertness app helps central station managers ensure that signals that need and deserve attention don't go unnoticed.