The security is out again.

I had a conversation yesterday with Jeff Crews from 4HomeMedia (a software company) who is also a member of the Z-Wave Alliance (members of this Alliance all incorporate Z-Wave wirelessly technology into their products so they can "talk" to each other). Earlier this week, the alliance demonstrated a security solution for major cable providers at The Cable Show in New Orleans as an option for cable companies to offer a security component to their customers. It made me wonder if cable companies would really consider selling security to their customers, and, more importantly, if homeowners would embrace purchasing security from them. It seems like a similar situation with telco companies, and on the surface, it seems like a natural extension of services. However, I've heard from several security industry folks that the business models are too different. For example, telco companies, like cable companies, don't have the customer service infrastructure to support security (I've always been put on hold when calling the phone company). I suppose there's a solution to that problem, like outsourcing calls to a specialized security division, but that seems expensive and, frankly, isn't that what they already do? Plus, I feel like the cable companies can barely handle what they do and don't exactly have the best track record. For instance, my neighbor had her cable knocked out during an electrical repair and it took the cable company over a month to fix the problem. I mean, really, would people wait a month to have their security system repaired? That doesn't exactly exude a sense of security. But, I definitely think the Alliance's appearance at the show is worth a second thought.