How I Use My System

Kelly McFarland, branch manager at Habitec Security, became acquainted with the security industry while in high school, working for his father who owned a security company in Columbus, Ohio. During his college years, McFarland continued to run parts and do small installation work for his father's business, eventually becoming a full-time employee after graduation. His father ended up selling the company to Habitec in 2001, and since then he's worked out of the company's Delaware, Ohio-based branch, which does business in Central Ohio. Here's how McFarland handles security at home.

What kind of security system do you have?

I have a DMP XT50 panel.

Why this particular setup?

There's an ADI here, so a lot of people sell Honeywell down here. So to make ourselves different we decided to sell DMP. Also, a lot of larger commercial applications here use DMP, so it works well for us if a CEO says he wants a system in his house like the one they have at the office. We decided to use DMP a lot residentially, and I think it's second to none in terms of being intuitive to users. It's very simple to operate, install and program.

What is the one aspect of your security system that you wouldn't want to live without? 

I would think the mobile connectivity, because I put a lot of Z-Wave on my house, with the door locks to some of the light modules and the cameras, and I like having one app interface that can switch from video to locks to camera all working off the same internal home network. The home automation part is second to none, and I think that's where the technology is completely moving, so I like to be ahead of the curve. I learn on my house because I put all the stuff in, which helps keep me up to date as far as knowing what the technicians are doing. 

Where do you see security going next? What are some big trends?

I think the home automation stuff is going to continue to branch into more aspects, where it's one system that controls your entire house. I think communication through mobile devices and through remote applications like remote monitoring and video verification is just going to continue expanding, and it's not going to slow down any time soon. With the speed of 4G and whatever comes after that, the sky is going to be the limit as far as capabilities.