Any basketball enthusiasts out there remember a fair player named Bimbo Coles? He played guard for five teams over a 12-year career, averaging 7.8 points per game with a career-high average of 12.8 PPG for the Miami Heat during the 1995-96 season. Coles hung up his sneakers following the 2003-04 campaign. Why do I bring him up? Because I recall a comment he made a few years ago after being waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers. “You can’t trust anyone in upper management,” said Coles. “If you’re in the room with them and you plan to walk out, you better face...

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Earlier this year, ADT Security Services broadened its reach into the petrochemical, education and banking industries by purchasing commercial security systems integrator FirstService Security, a division of publicly traded FirstService Corp., for about $187 million. Headquartered in Collegeville, Pa., FirstService Security operates under the Security Services & Technologies (SST) brand name in the United States, and under the Intercon Security brand name in Canada. FirstService possesses a roster of Fortune 1,000 companies and large regional institutions that include Ernst & Young, Manulife Financial, Royal Bank of Canada, University of Pennsylvania, Shell,...

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Most industry veterans thought the notion of placing security systems on networks and transmitting signals and data over the Internet was preposterous when it was first introduced about a decade ago. They were convinced that computer networks were far too unsecure and vulnerable to compromise, as well as prone to outages and failures for a variety of reasons. Over time, computer, networking and logical security technology advanced and became more reliable, stable and secure. Along with that, electronic security products equipped with network connectivity began to proliferate and be adopted into the marketplace. Gradually, those dubious industry veterans began...

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In general, I think the keynote speeches or presentations at events in our industry suck. That's right, I said it. Most of the time these keynote speakers are from outside or the fringes of the electronic security industry. What can some celebrity, politician or former military official tell me about our industry? What insight do they have into the trends, technology and business challenges affecting installing security contractors? In all likelihood, zilch. How are they going to help me make more money, reduce costs or improve operations? They aren't. I don't know about you, but I don't have the time, inclination or money...

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This past weekend, an article appeared on the front page of the Charlotte Observer newspaper titled “Sales of safes vault to high level.” Now it’s not just my fondness for clever wordplay that caught my attention. The key deck of the article elaborated: "Purchases have jumped as much as 50% recently as people act on their worries and lock up their valuables." So here we have another example of how no matter how dismal the economy may appear there are always opportunities to be had. In this case, it applies to something near and dear to our hearts and wallets:...

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Our new October issue features my exclusive interviews with two of the leading figures involved with Bosch Security Systems’ video surveillance solutions in products in North America: Jeremy Hockham, president of sales, Americas, and Willem Ryan, product marketing manager, who recently became part of Bosch after its acquisition of Extreme CCTV. As is often the case with interviews — be it space limitations, comments not fitting into the general flavor of the piece, or what have you — there is material that did not make it into the print article. Rather than have it never see the light of day,...

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As a former cable-TV installer and service technician I know how important it is — especially on residential jobs — to leave the worksite no worse than the condition in which you found it. Yet it amazes me how many so-called windshield jockeys let sloppiness get the best of them by leaving their personal garbage (e.g. empty soft drink cups or containers, gum wrappers, etc.), discarded equipment, wire remnants, stripped cabling jackets, screws, cable fittings, staples and the like in and around customers’ homes or businesses. It’s either a case of laziness, forgetfulness, arrogance, indifference, ignorance or feeling too rushed...

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This year has been one of the most tumultuous in memory with America facing serious issues ranging from the economy to national security to the environment to health care and beyond. Add to that mix destructive natural disasters and a history-making election year of unprecedented involvement of women and minorities and you have an amazing tale to share with your grandkids some day.   In September, SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION’s Security Scanner® Web poll asked: Which presidential candidate do you plan to vote for and what is your main reason? Here are the results that will appear in...

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So the consensus from this year’s ASIS show in Atlanta was that exhibit floor traffic was down noticeably from recent years (about 21,000 according to that organization). However, those who did attend were very serious about their security. It seems the recent hurricanes, gas prices and shortages, and overall economic strife weeded out the fringe element. That was the sentiment expressed to me from among the many exhibitors I met with, including Honeywell; Dedicated Micros; Bosch; Optelecom; HID; NVT; Lenel; Canon; Pivot3; VideoIQ; Verint; Tyco; Stanley; Axis; Digital ID Solutions; Cernium; ADT; DMP; Panasonic; Intransa; AES-IntelliNet; Ingersoll-Rand; Samsung/GVI;...

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