Total Security sets sights on Suffolk County, N.Y.

ELMONT, N.Y.—Total Security Integrated Systems, a security company based here that specializes in residential video security, is making a marketing move into Suffolk County, N.Y., and plans a bigger focus on home automation in 2015, according to owner and CEO Matt DiMicco.

The company, currently with customers in Nassau County, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan, has seen its residential accounts skyrocket in the past decade, DiMicco told Security Systems News.

“This business 10 years ago was 99 percent commercial. Now I would say I go 50-50 [residential-commercial], sometimes 60-40, some months 80-20,” he said.

Total Security has served more than 1,000 residences and buildings during its 13 years in the business and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

It also has a main street showroom that has cameras on display.

“We have walk-ins come in off the street,” mostly homeowners, he said. “Having a camera system [in the home] today is like having a burglar alarm 30 years ago.”

"Most of our business was in Nassau County and west to Manhattan. But, we started seeing a trend of Suffolk County clients needing our product. Even in the suburbs, where most families feel safe, security cameras have become a necessity as opposed to just a new tech toy," he said.

Hence, Total Security's latest marketing move.

DiMicco said he hopes to see his RMR grow by about 25 percent as a result of the expansion. He declined to comment on his current RMR or annual revenue.

The company installs and services a number of different brands of cameras, including Samsung, Sony, Eastern and Axis.

In 2015 it will be looking to get more into the home automation business with its NAPCO iBridge offerings.

“It's an education process for consumers, but it [home automation] will become more and more mainstream, just as security cameras are mainstream now,” DiMicco said. “When builders build a home now they wire it for a surveillance system, not a burglar alarm.”

The home automation market will only get bigger, along with HD IP camera systems, he said.

He also said Total Security will be focusing on residential video intercoms in 2015.