Weston in Space

DALLAS — The Electronic Security Association (ESA) announces it recently installed Jamie Vos, president of Security Solutions Northwest and Steve Firestone, CEO of Firestone Strategies Group, on its new Board of Directors during its annual meeting at ESX . The purpose of a director on the ESA Board is to work collectively as a team to provide good governance of ESA affairs and to set the direction to optimize the growth and performance of the organization. Each Board Member has a responsibility for ensuring strategies and policies are developed, discussed and implemented that will enable the organization to achieve its mission and vision. Firestone has been involved with ESA for nearly a decade, serving now as a board member and executive committee member. During his tenure, he helped create the strategic planning and organizational alignment methodology format for ESA, the reorganization and launch of the Executive Management Professionals Group (EMP), and the work that has been don

Though August is usually quiet as the Summer winds down — Hollywood refuses to release any blockbusters, kids are getting ready to go back to school, everyone is sick of the heat — it was anything but quiet in the security industry. The month contained no shortage of eye-catching new stories, some of which could even be dubbed as controversial. In fact, August saw the dissolution of multiple businesses or deals. The most-read story of the month was news that Ackerman Security would be closing its Georgia office, leaving hundreds of people without a job. The company was acquired in July by Las Vegas-based Intrusion Protection Systems, who plan to keep the brand name. In February, Ackerman  sold half of its existing customer accounts  to ADT in a cash deal worth $73 million. At the beginning of the month, Nexkey, a provider of mobile access control technology, sent a letter to its customers announcing it was going out of business and it services would cease on Aug. 31. The company sai

Monitoring centers are facing some of the greatest challenges in their history today on several fronts, which for many include workforce/hiring, legislation/regulations and product shortages/supply chain slowdown. It is more important than ever that monitoring centers not only stay informed on these and other issues, but take a proactive, strategic posture in their planning and operations to diminish the negative impact on their business. Tackling the Technology Frontline Now that for the most part the 3G sunset is behind us, the next big challenge is to transition your subscribers off POTS and onto other technologies. In August, impactful changes in pricing to POTS as a result of an FCC action are set to take place. Many years ago, the FCC put in place a rule that forced LECs (local exchange carriers) like AT&T, Verizon, Centurylink, etc. to provide services to CLECs (competitive LECs) at wholesale rates. For example, if you wanted to use a CLEC as your carrier/phone provider

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. — NAPCO Security Technologies (Nasdaq:  NSSC ) announces its financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. The company reports net sales for the quarter increased 22% to a quarterly record of $43.2 million as compared to $35.4 million for the same period last year. Net sales for the fiscal year increased 26% to a record $143.6 million as compared to $114 million last year. Recurring service revenue for the quarter increased 33% to $12.7 million as compared to $9.5 million for the same period last year while the number for the fiscal year increased 36% to $46.0 million as compared to $33.9 million for the same period last year. NAPCO says recurring service revenue now has a prospective annual run rate of $54.0 million based on July 2022 recurring revenues. Gross margin for recurring service revenue remained robust for the quarter and year at 87% and 86%, respectively. Net income for the quarter increased 36% to a fourth quarter recor

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Security 101, a national provider of full-service commercial security solutions, announces the addition of industry veteran, Tim Whall, as a strategic board advisor. Security 101 says Whall brings decades of experience to the company and a distinct style of teaching leaders that has delivered award-winning transformative results across the industry. He determines the behaviors required to achieve operational excellence and improve the customer experience, as well as how to define and measure success, the company notes. Whall has had the opportunity to apply his strengths to nearly every operational position from family-owned company technician to publicly traded ADT CEO. He has since enjoyed lending his characteristic candor in consultative roles. Related: Tim Whall Explains How to Treat Your Employees Right “Our industry and company are in the midst of a period of unprecedented change and opportunity. The strategic and operational experience and passi

CINCINNATI — CertaSite, a commercial fire protection and life-safety company, announces it has acquired the service aspect of business at Burnside Fire Protection, a full-service fire protection business located in the Cincinnati region. The acquisition is CertaSite’s eighth in Ohio and follows the recent purchases of Columbus-based Hamrick Fire Systems and Cleveland’s Fire Loss Control . Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CertaSite says it provides the highest levels of customer service, responsiveness, building safety and code compliance to customers across the Midwest by going beyond compliance, focusing on partnerships and professionalism while providing customers a simplified and dependable solution to managing all of the fire protection and  life-safety  systems in commercial buildings. With more than seven years in business, Burnside’s reputation will allow it to grow under CertaSite within its current customer base and expand into new markets, according to the com

NORCROSS, Ga. — Salto Systems, a manufacturer of electronic access control and operating system solutions designed to provide a keyless experience for modern buildings, announces it has named Michael Mahon as senior director of national business partners. “Mike’s ability to build relationships, communicate the value of SALTO’s electronic access solutions, and his knowledge of the industry will surely benefit both our partners and SALTO in this new role,” says Colin DePree, sales strategy, SALTO Systems North America. The company says it has experienced impressive growth over the last several years, and Mahon, who has served for the last 12 years as senior vice president of sales, is now tasked with leading a new wave of growth and expansion. “It’s been a privilege to serve as the SVP of SALTO channel sales,” says Mahon. “We’ve built an outstanding team and an exceptional SALTO dealer network. It’s with much excitement that I now extend my leadership and management skills to cultivat

McLEAN, Va. — The Monitoring Association (TMA) announces it added two new U.S.-based PSAP/Emergency Communication Centers (ECC) to its ASAP-to-PSAP service in mid-August. The Fort Worth, Texas and the Irving PD, Texas Emergency Communications Centers (ECC) are the 112th and 113th public safety communications centers, respectively, in the country and the 13th and 14th agencies in the state of Texas to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA ’s ASAP service is designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm companies to ECCs. The Fort Worth ECC went live the week of Aug. 15, 2022, with: Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Security Central, Stanley Security, Securitas, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Guardian Protection, Brinks Home Security, Affiliated Monitoring, Vivint, Alert 360, United Central Control, Protection One and the National Monitoring Center. ADT will go-live with Fort W

DALLAS — The Electronic Security Association’s Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution on Aug. 24, 2022, to support efforts to reduce false alarms through more efficient and effective notification methods. One of the greatest threats to the electronic security and life-safety industry is the high rate of false alarm dispatches, ESA notes. This threat can cause many problems, including jurisdictions to push for “non-response” or “verified response,” which would drastically alter the value and the operations of many security companies across the nation. The ability to directly message customers when verifying alarm signals is a significant enhancement that the ESA Board says it supports. “At ESA, we have a long history of working with our members, other associations and our public safety community to reduce false alarms ,” says ESA Chairman and President of LOUD Security Systems John Loud. “Now, monitoring centers are investing in modern technology so that we, as an industr

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Rave Mobile Safety, a provider of technology solutions that enhance critical communications, increase resiliency, and improve safety, has partnered with RapidDeploy, an industry leader in Cloud-native 9-1-1 mapping and analytics, to launch what it claims is the world’s largest public safety incident data sharing solution in the state of California. This first-of-its-kind project will utilize public safety data aggregation, intelligence sharing, workflows, and notification capabilities found in Rave Aware to enable Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) data sharing, interoperability, and real-time information exchanges while leveraging best-in-class mapping and data visualization from RapidDeploy Radius Mapping, according to the company. With the increase in size and frequency of disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding, collaboration between police, fire, EMS, and other agencies, Rave says, has become more critical. In the past, integrated responses have bee

STOCKHOLM — Securitas revealed new financial targets and an update of its Stanley Security business in a “mini version” of its first Capital Markets Day presentation since 2019. The global security giant says it is targeting 8-10% annual average real sales growth in technology & solutions, 8% group operating margin by year-end 2025, with a >10% long-term operating margin ambition and a net debt to EBITDA ratio below 3.0x “In essence, we are shifting more of the business towards more technology and solutions and we are enhancing the quality and profitability of the guarding portfolio. These are the two main drivers in terms of the margin target to achieve 8% by 2925,” Securitas President and CEO Magnus Ahlqvist said during the investor presentation. Ahlqvist also noted that Securitas Electronic Security would be rebranded to Securitas Technology to better reflect its offerings. The company says the new margin target replaces the previous target of an average increase in earni

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Alcatraz AI, a provider of physical security technologies and AI, announces it has hired Tad Druart as vice president of marketing. In this role, Druart will oversee the company’s global marketing programs, including brand strategy, product marketing and communications to accelerate growth. Druart brings more than two decades of marketing and leadership expertise and experience to Alcatraz AI. He has been successful in scaling fast growing start-up organizations in SaaS and physical security markets, according to the company. Most recently, he served as vice president of global marketing with Eagle Eye Networks building and scaling its worldwide marketing operations. “We are proud to welcome Tad Druart to our team to drive growth and amplify brand awareness for Alcatraz AI,” says CEO of Alcatraz AI Tina D’Agostin. “Tad’s expertise building and scaling marketing and demand generation engines in startup and high growth environments will be critical to our future

PEARL RIVER, N.Y. — Qognify, a provider of video and enterprise incident management solutions, announces Cape May County in New Jersey is one of the first organizations in the world to deploy Qognify VMS. Qognify touts its VMS as a truly next generation open architecture enterprise-class VMS that delivers low total cost of ownership, business process support, advanced ecosystem integrations and Cloud readiness. With much of the County along a picturesque peninsula that includes 30 miles of sandy beaches, it 95,000 year-round population swells to almost one million during the summer months. The Cape May County Government is responsible for the operation, safety and security of the County, including sites such as its airport which is also home to the Department of Emergency Management, the Sheriff’s Department, Superior Court and jail, the Cresthaven Nursing Home, as well as the Cape May County Park & Zoo, which attracts as many as 15,000 visitors each day. With sites spread out

Reduction of false alarms is a major goal for device manufacturers in home security and involves some of the system’s most advanced technology. Parks Associates research reveals that most owners report experiencing a false alarm in the past 12 months. With 62% able to recall a false alarm in the past 12 months, and nearly 1-in-10 reporting they experienced more than five, it’s clear why false alarms are such a common topic of discussion among security system owners, dealers, and monitoring providers. Related: Why the New AVS-01 Alarm Standard Could Be a Gamechanger New state and municipality-led initiatives to fine security providers for false alarms instead of home dwellers continue. Many of these laws require some form of prior verification of a real emergency before contacting emergency responders. The security industry has scored some recent wins against these local false-alarm fines: Georgia recently joined California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee and Iowa in ba

ROWLEY, Mass. — Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com (NASDAQ: ALRM ) company, announces Brian Harrell has become a member of the SDS Advisory Board and the company’s national security subject matter expert. As the security industry’s leading supplier of gunshot detection solutions for all types of buildings, SDS works with education, business, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and other customers to deliver smart, sensor-driven active shooter detection solutions to reduce response time during active shooter incidents, according to the company. SDS says Harrell will help the company understand the national security implications of gun violence and active shooter threats. He will also serve to educate the public about solutions like gunshot detection and integrated security technologies and how they are essential to managing critical incidents and mitigating risk. “Brian has an impressive and well-rounded background that is a perfect fit to help further the company’s mi

PORTLAND, Maine — Defendify, an all-in-one cybersecurity platform for organizations of all sizes, announces it has closed a $3.35 million funding round. Existing investor Maine Venture Fund (MVF) led the round with participation from current investors 3dot6 Ventures, York IE, Maine Technology Institute (MTI), FreshTracks Capital, and Wasabi Ventures, with new investment from Coastal Ventures and Opus Ventures. Despite the pandemic, Defendify says it has continued strong growth, adding thousands of customers, reaching over 60 countries and doubling its team size. In that time, Defendify has made several strategic additions to its team, welcoming former Oracle CIO Mark Sunday as senior advisor, digital transformation and marketing leader Emily Carville as CMO, and SaaS business development expert John Mayfield as director of sales. Related: PSA Adds Defendify to List of Managed Security Service Providers After garnering over 30 awards in 2021, the company touts it has already e

NORCROSS, Ga. — Salto Systems, a manufacturer of electronic access control and operating system solutions designed to provide a keyless experience for modern buildings, has hired Southwest Architectural Sales (SWAS), to sell and market the company’s security products in Texas and neighboring states in the South. Headquartered in Dallas, SWAS is a manufacturers’ representative that works with construction Division 8 and Division 10 manufacturers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. “SWAS comes with an excellent reputation in the door hardware industry and has valuable experience in working with SALTO’s electronic locking products. SWAS will be a tremendous asset to the Salto team as we continue to grow in the South Central region of the U.S.,” says Jeff Roberts, Salto Systems senior regional sales manager-South. Salto Systems is said to be a global leader in the development and manufacture of world-class hardware and software access control solutions for a variety of sectors:

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Security Industry Association ( SIA ) has announced the 2022 schedule, speaker lineup and program for this year’s Securing New Ground (SNG), the security industry’s executive conference, taking place Oct. 18-19 at the Intercontinental Times Square in New York City. SNG 2022 promises to gather the security industry for top-level information sharing, networking and business analysis. SIA says this year’s Securing New Ground conference will shape industry trends and offer opportunities to engage with the leaders who are driving the future of security. The 2022 program will explore the most current and cutting-edge issues, like security as proptech and the industry’s supply chain; share chief information officer and chief information security officer perspectives on cybersecurity threats and converged security; share investment insights for the security industry; and foster new connections through interactive sessions and dynamic roundtable discussions. Rel

WASHINGTON D.C. — Brivo has informed Crown PropTech it will not move forward with its proposed merger, according to an SEC filing from Aug. 10. Per terms of the merger agreement, either party could terminate the deal if it had not been consummated by Aug. 9. Brivo and Crown PropTech, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced last November they had entered into a definitive merger agreement that would result in Brivo becoming a publicly listed company. The transaction valued the company at a pro forma enterprise value of $808 million, and would have resulted in Brivo being listed under the ticker symbol “BRVS.” Related: Smart Home Devices in the MDU Market: Connectivity, New Partnerships & Proptech Solutions According to the SEC filing , Crown Proptech believes Brivo breached certain terms of their combination agreement prior to the termination. It also states that an affiliate of Brivo Chairman Dean Drako breached a stockholder support agreement re

In this week’s Top Surveillance Videos… Service workers often bear the brunt of abuse when it comes to angry individuals or people that are just having a bad day. We’ve seen it plenty of times in surveillance videos. There’s the time an irate customer trashed a Wendy’s through the drive-thru window. The time a man threw hot coffee on a McDonald’s employee. Earlier this year, we saw an angry customer throw hot soup at a manager’s face. This week we have the inverse — a fast food employee going overboard when it comes to taking out frustrations on a customer. Surveillance video from a Taco Bell in Dallas shows two customers arguing with employees, allegedly because they refused to correct the pair’s order. A manager then grabs a pitcher and fills it with “scalding hot” water and dumps it on the customers. The water is so hot you can see steam rising after it makes contact with the counter. Also this week… An airline gate agent at the Seattle airport is knocked down and knocked

PITTSBURGH — Guardian Protection recently hosted an appreciation night at PNC Park for Western Pennsylvania area police officers, firefighters and their guests. Gamegoers watched the Phillies play the Pirates on a weather-perfect Saturday night and afterward, viewed a firework spectacular, with 50 lucky guests being chosen to watch fireworks on the field. Pleasant Hills, Pa. police officer Kristin Mitrisin threw the first pitch of the game, chosen for the honor as the result of a nomination-driven social media contest sponsored by Guardian. Last year, Office Mitrisin was traveling on a Pittsburgh highway when she was flagged down by Joe and Jodi Schleicher. They were in the car with their nine-day old baby who had stopped breathing. Mitrisin pulled off to the side of the road, performed CPR on the baby, and rushed the family to the hospital. Today, the child is alive and well. Baby Olivia and her family paid a surprise visit to the baseball field to be reunited with the officer who

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Security Industry Association (SIA) is now accepting applications for the SIA RISE Scholarship, an initiative led by the SIA RISE community for young professionals. Through the 2023 RISE Scholarship program, powered by the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST), selected candidates will receive $3,000 awards that can be used toward continuing education, student loan repayment and professional development programs such as training and certifications. “Applying to the SIA RISE Scholarship is a great opportunity to advance your knowledge and career in the security industry,” says SIA CEO Don Erickson. “SIA is proud to support the goals of the young professionals and students entering our industry and looks forward to presenting the next class of honorees with this special scholarship offering.” Related: SIA, ESA Form New Foundation for Advancing Security Talent The RISE scholarship program was created to help awardees expand their professional kn