Remote security services company VirSec launches partner program

TROY, Mich.—The Huffmaster Companies, a nationwide provider of guarding and other security technologies and services, on Sept. 1 announced the nationwide launch of its new division, VirSec, which will provide virtual security services, including remote video monitoring, remote access control management, and hosted security services via the newly opened VirSec Operations Center (VOC), which is staffed by experienced patrol officers.

VirSec wants to partner with systems integrators, but, notably, it also wants to partner with guard companies.

"What we've been doing over the last few years is developing the center, the capability, and the technology infrastructure to be able to offer these services … We renovated a wing of our building to house the center. The retrofit is about 1,000 square feet of existing space that can house up to 14 workstations. We built that first wing and then pre-positioned infrastructure to be able to double the size of the room," Huffmaster Management, Inc. president and COO Peter Johnson told Security Systems News. "We provide a virtual security officer that can look at different sites. So what we have represents a guard-force replacement, guard-force augmentation or guard-force avoidance solution."

According to Johnson, the VOC houses state-of-the-art security video and access control technology, monitored and managed by VirSec Virtual Security Officers (VSOs), all of whom are highly trained, state-licensed, uniformed security officers. Johnson said the balance between trained personnel and technology allows end-user customers to increase their security, reduce their liability, and significantly reduce their costs.

"Our VSOs are proactively using our technology to interact with client sites 24/7. These individuals have experience performing security services as uniformed officers on the ground. They've done live patrols as a private security officer. A lot of them are ex-military or law enforcement, so they bring that experience, the situational awareness to what they see on the cameras," Johnson said. "We ran this in beta to existing Huffmaster customers and we're now introducing it to the market as available to anybody with a focus on partnering with guard companies and systems integrators. We're presenting them with a solution that will strike that balance between technology and personnel that delivers the most optimal security at the most effective budget level."