Technology & Trends - Intruder alarm system control panels & accessories

Daniel Budinoff, president of Security Specialists, Stamford, Conn., is almost a fixture at trade shows, especially ISC West. He attends some six to seven trade shows per year, but finds ISC West most applicable to his company, his product research needs and his networking endeavors. In fact, he has attended ISC West for more than 25 years, only missing perhaps one or two shows during that time period. With this year’s show just around the corner, April 10-12 in Las Vegas, it’s a gre...

According to research firm IHS Technology, the residential intrusion alarm market is expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2015 For years, the industry’s penetration rate for security alarm systems has hovered from a conservative 18 percent of households to a more liberal 22 percent or so. According to research firm IHS, the residential intrusion alarm market is expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2015. Perhaps this increase is due in part to the rise of interactive ser...

Supply chain risk management involves identifying and dealing with supply chain uncertainties that pose a threat to business continuity Today’s complex world needs risk managers, business people that think about the bad things that might happen and lay plans to eliminate or at least mitigate those risks. This article explains the need to identify and respond to risks involved in a supply chain. Manufacturers should make efforts and develop strategies to enhance supply ch...

The era of IoT - the Internet of Things - is upon us. A deluge of urban sensory data is flowing into data centers every minute, putting pressure on data-centre resources and accumulating at a rate faster than anyone can process. Is the proliferation of sensory data simply evidence of an increasingly intrusive world, or can IoT be used for the improvement and development of intelligence-equipped cities? We believe that with the right steps the convergence of city operations with IoT...

Organisational resilience takes all appropriate actions to help ensure the organisation’s continued viability In this day and age, the traditional components of security officers, cameras, access control and alarm systems aren’t enough to protect a company or organisation. No matter how good your preparations, security sometimes breaks down, and bad things happen. That can take a toll on a business. Today, security’s role extends to organisational resilience...

Whether you are a contractor, installer, dealer or systems integrator depends on where you live and how you are perceived by the real world Because I have been in the industry for a considerable amount of time, I have seen quite a few changes, albeit the bulk have come over the last five or so years. Before that, the advent of the digital dialer was our big innovation – that tells anyone with any history in the industry just how far back I go! But today, change is fast a...

The aviation and transportation industries are using video analytics to provide operational cost savings and performance enhancement Video analytics are now increasingly being used for the critical infrastructure, airports, transportation and city surveillance sectors, among other high-value markets. These markets need robust video analytics solutions that can be integrated into an overall security solution to deliver totally reliable results without any significant level of n...

Check out the research available from the ASIS Foundation. It is proving to be right on the button.When the Guardians of Peace hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment late in 2014, they crashed the studio’s email, leaked films and scattered personnel data across the Internet.  By mid-December, four class-action lawsuits had hit Sony, claiming that the company had not taken adequate cyber-security precautions. How about your company? Are you prepared to withstand a cyber-att...

To succeed at outsourcing, the relationship between the organisation and the outsourcing company has to be an equal partnership Can you save money on security by outsourcing? Maybe, maybe not, according to William J. Powers III, CIPM II, CIPI. “Considering the way I approach outsourcing, I’m not sure if it saves money,” says Powers. As director of facilities at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., Powers oversees facilities,...

The security landscape continues to evolve in new, complex ways for transportation customers Dealers looking to enter – or to expand their presence in – the transportation vertical must adapt to the unique needs of each transportation agency customer. Issues such as limited budgets/resources, aging technologies, operational challenges and safety issues must all be considered when designing a system to best meet an agency’s needs. Integrators should seek to i...

Access control and alarm worlds are going digital and plugging into the network Open tech standards are integrating diverse security technology systems — and security people — into the corporate mainstream The digital technology revolution has begun to course through the public and private worlds of government and commerce, replacing old analogue technology. Chief among the many benefits of digital over analogue is the ability to integrate diverse technologies...

Right after the Paris terrorist attacks, a headline I read throughout the media asked: “Did intelligence services drop the ball?” The question has a familiar ring, and you’ll find variations on it throughout the last and present centuries concerning events that range from presidential assassinations to 9/11, 7/7 in London and the 2008 Mumbai bombings. But physical security, rather than information gathering, is our scope here. From the moment I saw thermal imagin...

The growing market for legal marijuana (now available in some form in 24 states) has also generated a demand for security products and service to protect the industry from illegal activities. “For the most part, companies are looking for what we call the traditional surveillance systems whereby you have visible deterrence,” says Monty Henry, president of DPL-Surveillance-Equipment.com LLC in Ventura, Calif. Many companies are seeking more sophisticated systems t...

Marshall Marinace is on a mission - to continue to infuse value into ESA If you haven’t met Marshall Marinace, you probably will soon. He’s the new President of the Electronic Security Association (ESA), and he’s instantly likeable. He’s a homespun security dealer with decades of service who knows that the new world of systems integration requires change and involvement of every member at the association level. Marinace was sworn in as the 41st Preside...

Dave Tyson has 30 years of experience in all facets of enterprise security The incoming president of ASIS has volunteered with industry groups for years. His goal: to help people get better at their jobs. With 30 years' experience in all facets of enterprise security, Dave Tyson, CPP, CISSP, looks forward to his 2015 term as President of ASIS International (ASIS). “I’ve spent a lot of years working to make a difference in the security industry,” Tyson says...

Organisations are looking to emerging technologies to enhance security and communications Verint 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: The overall economy was solid in 2014, with large regions and industries continuing to grow and emerging markets revealing even greater opportunity. We are seeing emerging signs of strength in industries like Higher Education that are expanding their security horizons, or taking note of global events. Additionally, security organisations continue to...

Over the next year end users will push to get more value out of their investments  Frontier 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: One of the big trends we see playing out over the next year is a push to get more value out of the investments that end users make in their solutions. Certainly the solutions must meet the core needs of customers, but more focus is being applied towards how those solutions can improve processes, increase efficiency and provide better visibility of th...

Integration of wireless and edge technology will continue to change the economics of installation 2014/2015 D/A Central review and forecast: As a security systems integrator, we are seeing some improvement in the industrial sector. It appears that projects that were deferred during the recession are now getting funded. Healthcare continues to have complex needs with continuing consolidation, which then creates opportunity. One question that remains is military spending a...

2014 was a year for eye-popping merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the security space. The big deals of the year included some of the largest names in the industry. One name is larger than any in the security market – Google, which made not one but two acquisitions this year that could impact the future security market. It was also the year that a smaller player in the video camera market (although a huge familiar brand overall) bought a large, open systems V...

End users continue to move to smart cards and smart readers, wanting the extra flexibilities they offer 2014 was very good year at Farpointe Data. Significantly, it became part of the DORMA group, which helps cement our standing as a global partner of premium RFID solutions, including proximity, smart card and long-range solutions, for access control professionals around the world. This is a good market as there has been sustained migration among end user customers of Farpoint...

Two reports recently resurfaced – one online and the other on national television – that cited potential vulnerabilities of wireless intrusion door contacts and window sensors, devices commonly used to secure the perimeter of protected premises. These reports came after two independent researchers who work in the industry, but announced their findings independent of their positions, cited that alarm signals from sensors and detectors to the control panel could be subve...

The security industry can be like a house built on sand if there's a lack of professional standards set in place Picture the scene: You’re suffering from a persistent pain and so decide to take a trip to your doctor to get it checked out. You step into the consulting room but, before you can speak, he looks you up and down, haw and hums, and then writes out a prescription. Would you be happy that drugs prescribed in this manner will cure your ailment when your doctor h...

The Security Girl has become much more than a brand for American Fire & Security In the security industry, you want to be different, and what’s more memorable than a company avatar turned ambassador that sports some rockin’ pink hair? Only The Security Girl’s hairdresser knows for sure! Erica Wood, chief security officer and co-owner of American Fire & Security (AF&S) in Dayton, Ohio, is a mover and shaker of the security industry in many ways. S...

Security standardisation reduces operational requirements Controlling identified risks at all of your sites, anywhere in the world, can be difficult. Especially when taking budget constraints into account. How can you ensure all of your people have a secure working environment? And that all employees, everywhere, adhere to your security policy? Nancy Wanders, Business Development Manager Asia/Pacific at Nedap, states that standardising security gives this assurance and more. I...

Event-driven video for surveillance and recording involves using a video recorder or video management software system that is triggered by movement in the areas where cameras are located. Event-driven video can be achieved by using intelligent motion detection or video contents analytics (VCA) on the camera, recorder or PC server. Recently, performance of VCA has improved; however, some conditions can still affect detection using the camera image. Tomo Ito, Business Development Man...

In the digital world, people own personal information just like they own physical assets such as cash, keys and clothes in the real world. But because personal information is intangible, its value has been overlooked by many for a very long time. With the increase in cyber crimes on personal data and the infamous Snowden affair, this issue has become more prominent. Fei Liu from Nedap Security Management Research & Development informs that to improve the transparency of data collection and p...

High-sensitivity aspirating smoke detectors (ASDs) excel at providing very early warning of fires. Because of their high sensitivity chamber, their ability to cover large areas, and their ability to detect smoke in high-airflow environments, ASDs are ideal solutions for many common smoke detection applications. New ASD technology is enabling fire system designers to solve a much broader range of fire detection challenges, enabling them to take aspiration anywhere. In this art...

In a highly competitive marketplace, where organisations need to ensure they are contracting for the best possible services, value must be visible. This starts with aligning with the right service provider – one that is dedicated to the organisation’s success and has the people and processes to make an impact. Certainly most, if not all, service organisations say that they strive to exceed client expectations and meet the highest standards in their industry &ndash...

Significant technological advancements have created endless possibilities in how security is not only deployed, but also leveraged by the end user – the customer. For example, customers can now view surveillance at eight different offices in eight different states from a single, central location. A security director can manage an enterprise-wide access control system, including revoking or granting access control privileges, for 10,000 global employees from a company’s...

New security technologies have dramatically changed the security landscape over the last decade The security landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade with the introduction of numerous new security technologies to detect crime and deter criminal activity. With a long list of new tools, professionals now need to process vast amounts of information within seconds from many different security systems and then make important decisions about how to respond to an inc...