Contributors
Scott Goldfine, Editor-In-Chief
Scott joined the staff of SSI in October 1998. His one-time occupation as a cable-TV technician and lifelong love of electronics made his move into the security industry a natural progression. More...
Rodney Bosch, Managing Editor
Although Rodney’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. More...
Archives
- March, 2010 (2)
- February, 2010 (4)
- January, 2010 (4)
- December, 2009 (7)
- November, 2009 (3)
- October, 2009 (4)
- September, 2009 (2)
- August, 2009 (4)
- July, 2009 (2)
- June, 2009 (6)
- May, 2009 (7)
- April, 2009 (5)
- March, 2009 (4)
- February, 2009 (6)
- January, 2009 (4)
- December, 2008 (10)
- November, 2008 (7)
- October, 2008 (9)
- September, 2008 (2)
Post Categories
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Interviews
I had the pleasure of conducting a roundtable interview with a small group of presidents and executive managers at the recent First Alert Professional Conference in San Diego. The bulk of that sit-down — chockablock with industry insight and business acumen — is featured in SSI’s February edition. But here I’d like to share with you the assemblage’s thoughts on the advantages their companies reap from aligning with a dealer program such as First Alert.
The participants included Mel Mahler, chairman of the board and CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based ADS Security; Pat Egan, president of Lancaster, Pa.-based Select Security; Philip... More...
A few years ago The Discovery Channel aired a reality series called, "It Takes a Thief." The show was really cool because it brought security concepts and solutions into America's living rooms, and did so in an entertaining way. The premise had a former burglar breaking into and ransacking a house... More...
Axis Communications has shaken up the video surveillance industry by becoming the first provider of relatively inexpensive, fully networked thermal imaging cameras. Thermal imaging, which creates images based on the heat that radiates from any object, vehicle or... More...
Shortly before the end of the year, I had the opportunity to speak with Steve Walin, chairman and CEO of Carrollton, Texas-based GVI Security Solutions, and Lloyd Trotter, a founder and managing partner of New York-based GenNx360 Capital Partners, about GVI being acquired and taken private. The deal, which was finalized earlier this month, reunites former GE Security executives in a business focused on providing Samsung and GVI branded video surveillance solutions for markets including government, retail, financial and education.
This is the second of two parts of my conversation with GVI Security's new leadership and dwells on Samsung's unified rebranding... More...
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Steve Walin, chairman and CEO of Carrollton, Texas-based GVI Security Solutions, and Lloyd Trotter, a founder and managing partner of New York-based GenNx360 Capital Partners, about GVI being acquired and taken private. The deal, which was finalized earlier this month, reunites former GE Security executives in a business focused... More...
The significance of the California Alarm Association’s (CAA) positive impact on installing security contractors was on fine display during its winter convention in San Francisco.
Held Dec. 10-12 at the Hilton San Francisco near Union Square, alarm company operators from throughout the western region were joined by manufacturers and other service providers for an intensive three days of networking, educational sessions, vendor exhibits, and a poignant life achievement tribute dinner honoring George DeMarco.
With more than 300 registered attendees and 65 exhibitors, Matt Westphal, CAA president, proclaimed during the general session the association had attracted... More...
The December issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION includes a feature called “Transformative Technology” in which all areas of the electronic security supply chain are analyzed by six of the... More...
ADT Security Services recently hosted its 4th annual Media Summit, this year in Dallas, which I attended and covered in another Under Surveillance posting. One of the many presentations I sat in on involved some local police chiefs discussing the municipal surveillance systems that have been put into service within their jurisdictions. I thought they provided interesting perspectives and wanted to share them with you here in the only in depth coverage of this session of which I am aware.
This blog is an extension of sorts of the end-user roundtable article in the November issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION... More...
During a time when flashier offerings like access control and especially video surveillance garner the lion’s share of attention (and even that has been tempered by the economy), Bosch is keeping intrusion interesting. The company’s ongoing commitment to dedicating resources toward research and development (R&D) are evident in its new product introductions, such as the Conettix IP module, Professional Series detectors and Commercial Wireless devices.
Bosch’s commitment is not going unnoticed as a recent report by IMS Research shows the firm has outpaced all but one of its top 10 competitors in market share growth since 2006. SSI caught up with... More...
I recently had the pleasure of spending about 90 minutes knocking around some ideas and discussing the latest industry and business trends and challenges with the CEOs of four leading systems integration companies. Tim Feury of Altec Systems in Marietta, Ga., Jim Henry of Henry Bros. Electronics in Fair Lawn, N.J., Chuck Lesnewski of Cam Connections in Lakeland, Fla., and Gary Venable of All Systems in Kansas City, Kan., discussed favoring recurring revenue and billable hours over selling boxes, supply chain conflicts, and much more.
You can read a lot of the roundtable discussion in the pages of SSI's August... More...
The July issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION features a special Best of the Best section that includes coverage of the 2009 Integrated Installation of the Year. The project, a luxury condominiums installation by Pittsburgh's Security Systems of America (SSA), is given an in-depth case study treatment. Part of the story was the end user's satisfaction with how the job, which encompassed all electronic systems within the 45-unit complex (video surveillance, access control, intrusion alarm, systems integration, entertainment systems, etc.), turned out. Although it was touched on in the print piece, space precluded the bulk of Metropolitan Building Manager Bill... More...
The July issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION features a special Best of the Best section that profiles the 2009 Installer of the Year award winners, The Protection Bureau (small to midsize company, fewer than 300 employess) and Stanley Convergent Security Solutions (CSS) (large company, 300 or more employees). As is typically the case, there was some interesting material that did not fit into the print version. Thank goodness for the Web!
Following are the responses I got from Stanley CSS VP Felix Gonzales and Protection Bureau President L. Matthew Ladd when asking them about the impact of the recession and... More...
The June issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION is our annual SAMMY Awards edition with coverage of this year's winners in several sales and marketing categories. One of those winners was Stanley Convergent Security Solutions (CSS) of Naperville, Ill., which was cited for Best Sales Brochure and also captured the Installer of the Year award for large company (300+ employees). I was limited to a half-page in print to recognize Stanley CSS for its Sales Brochure excellence, and wanted to exploit this forum to provide you with much more inside marketing wisdom from this leading national security services and monitoring provider.... More...
The June issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION is our annual SAMMY Awards edition with coverage of this year's winners in several sales and marketing categories. One of those winners was The Protection Bureau of Exton, Pa., which was cited for Best Promotional Giveaway Item and also captured the Installer of the Year award for small to midsize company (fewer than 300 employees). I was limited to a half-page in print to recognize The Protection Bureau for its Promotional Item excellence, and wanted to exploit this forum to provide you with much more inside marketing wisdom from this family run... More...
On March 31, I again had the distinct honor of being able to reveal and present the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award’s annual winner. This year it was Atronic Alarms of Lenexa, Kan., with Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., and ADT Security Services of Boca Raton, Fla., being the other finalists. You can read all about it in the May issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION.
The PDQ program is near and dear to my heart as it developed out of a concept I presented to Stan Martin, now executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), and Larry Dischert,... More...
The PSA Security Network hosted another successful PSA-TEC event at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Ill., last week. This has always been my very favorite industry event due to the unique combination of outstanding industry training, exhibits and relaxed networking opportunities. It was especially enjoyable this year as SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION for the first time served as the conference's Elite Media Sponsor. Perhaps not so coincidentally despite widespread economical challenges PSA-TEC 2009 surpassed last year in both attendance and the number of companies represented. Furthermore, there was a high level of first-time attendees to a tradition with a legacy stretching back a... More...
On March 31, I again had the distinct honor of being able to reveal and present the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award’s annual winner. This year it was Atronic Alarms of Lenexa, Kan., with Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., and ADT Security Services of Boca Raton, Fla., being the other finalists. You can read all about it in the May issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION.
The PDQ program is near and dear to my heart as it developed out of a concept I presented to Stan Martin, now executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), and Larry Dischert,... More...
On March 31, I again had the distinct honor of being able to reveal and present the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award’s annual winner. This year it was Atronic Alarms of Lenexa, Kan., with Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., and ADT Security Services of Boca Raton, Fla., being the other finalists. You can read all about it in the May issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION.
The PDQ program is near and dear to my heart as it developed out of a concept I presented to Stan Martin, now executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), and Larry Dischert,... More...
On March 31, I again had the distinct honor of being able to reveal and present the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award’s annual winner. This year it was Atronic Alarms of Lenexa, Kan., with Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., and ADT Security Services of Boca Raton, Fla., being the other finalists. You can read all about it in the May issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION.
The PDQ program is near and dear to my heart as it developed out of a concept I presented to Stan Martin, now executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), and Larry Dischert,... More...
On March 31, I again had the distinct honor of being able to reveal and present the Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award’s annual winner. This year it was Atronic Alarms of Lenexa, Kan., with Custom Alarm of Rochester, Minn., and ADT Security Services of Boca Raton, Fla., being the other finalists. You can read all about it in the May issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATON.
The PDQ program is near and dear to my heart as it developed out of a concept I presented to Stan Martin, now executive director of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC), and Larry Dischert,... More...
Established in 2004 to represent the ultimate recognition for outstanding performance, SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION's Hall of Fame annually enshrines those uncommon people who have etched out an impression within the profession and maintained it throughout an entire career. Inductees are honored each year in an official induction ceremony held during the SAMMY Awards the eve of ISC West (March 31) at the Venetian Hotel. To date, nearly 50 people have been enshrined.
As a preview and expansion upon our March issue that features the official announcing of this year's inductees and features their profiles, I have compiled bonus material to... More...
As some of you may have already heard, famed firearms maker Smith & Wesson announced last spring it was entering the electronic security business by partnering with Freeport, N.Y.-based NationWide Digital Monitoring, a division of New York Merchants Protective Co. Inc. The licensing agreement allows NationWide to establish an authorized North American program that exclusively provides dealers with wholesale monitoring services plus Smith & Wesson’s iconic branding on products and supporting materials.
This means independent installing security companies now have an opportunity to affiliate themselves with one of the most trusted and renowned brand names that exists today, and leverage... More...
Here's something rather cool that came to my attention: An interview of Ed Bonifas, vice president of Aurora. Ill.-based installation and monitoring provider Alarm Detection Systems (ADS) by industry icon Ron Davis.
This nearly 10-minute discussion took place during last month's National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) Leadership Conference in Texas and is purportedly the first of many the association plans to feature as its Security Industry Insights series. The nice thing is you don't have to be a member to view these videos.
Bonifas is a member of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION's Editorial Advisory Board and next in line to succeed... More...
As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I recently conducted a roundtable at the First Alert Professional Conference with four of the most experienced and respected CEOs from some of the installation community’s most successful companies. The two-hour discourse included John Bourque of Cranston, R.I.-based HB Alarm; Joe Hassan of Certified Security Systems in Jacksonville, Fla.; John Jennings of Safeguard Security and Communications in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Joe Nuccio of ASG Security in Beltsville, Md.
Although much of the discussion will be available in the January issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION, with bonus content in... More...
As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I recently conducted a roundtable at the First Alert Professional Conference with four of the most experienced and respected CEOs from some of the installation community’s most successful companies. The two-hour discourse included John Bourque of Cranston, R.I.-based HB Alarm; Joe Hassan of Certified Security Systems in Jacksonville, Fla.; John Jennings of Safeguard Security and Communications in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Joe Nuccio of ASG Security in Beltsville, Md. (does not appear in this excerpt).
Although much of the discussion will be available in the January issue of SECURITY SALES... More...
As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, I recently conducted a roundtable at the First Alert Professional Conference with four of the most experienced and respected CEOs from some of the installation community’s most successful companies. The two-hour discourse included John Bourque of Cranston, R.I.-based HB Alarm; Joe Hassan of Certified Security Systems in Jacksonville, Fla.; John Jennings of Safeguard Security and Communications in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Joe Nuccio of ASG Security in Beltsville, Md.
Although much of the discussion will be available in the January issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION, with bonus... More...
As I mentioned in my blog entry about the First Alert Professional Conference, I recently conducted a roundtable with four of the most experienced and respected CEOs from some of the installation community’s most successful companies. The two-hour discourse included John Bourque of Cranston, R.I.-based HB Alarm; Joe Hassan of Certified Security Systems in Jacksonville, Fla.; John Jennings of Safeguard Security and Communications in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Joe Nuccio of ASG Security in Beltsville, Md.
Unlike many so-called roundtables that are actually individual interviews often haphazardly cobbled together, this material was generated organically... More...
Although there were lots of pressing issues swirling around throughout 2008, it turns out it was another vibrant year for security technology. The upcoming December issue of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION features our annual Top 30 Technology Innovations of the year, which for 2008 range from video, access control and detection solutions aimed at the high end of the marketplace to modest installation tools. The picks by SSI Technical Writers Bob Dolph (“Tech Talk”) and Steve Payne (“Convergence Channel”) and yours truly champion products that represent breakthroughs, moneymaking opportunities or timesavers to improve efficiency. In some cases, they... More...
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,... More...
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