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Will Wise of RX Reveals Event Details for ISC West 2021
After a tumultuous 2020, ISC West — which was postponed twice before moving to an all-virtual format in October — is back to an in-person format.
In the latest episode of the SDM Editor’s Podcast, SDM talked to Will Wise, group vice president of RX, which organizes ISC West, to discuss safety precautions and changes to the trade show.
Listen now
Will Wise: [RX] has invested a lot more in technology, data and personalizing an event experience the last few years, [and we are] taking that even to a higher level of customizing and facilitating meetings. … For example, for our executives club group, [including] VIP attendees from both integrators and end users, we’re going to facilitate even more than ever the matchmaking of people who want to meet together. Maybe it’s a senior integrator who has a certain open project that would align with a certain exhibitor. We are stepping up how we are personalizing the experience, and that’s going to be very exciting. We definitely are going to make sure people are comfortable with the size of crowds and conference rooms. There are more break times in between sessions to give people a little more time to navigate around the show versus a big mad rush. We just want to make it very comfortable. We do think there will be a lot of impromptu networking (and reconnecting) in the hallways and building. ... I think the new norm for large trade shows that are representing the industry will now have a virtual or hybrid element. In the future, it will be a little bit of, “How much content, what do people really want that to look like?” So I do think that’s here to stay. This year [will] be a lot of learning [and] a lot of testing what the best experience is.
Listen to the full podcast online. — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //
SDM: Other than more health and safety precautions, are there any other big changes to this year’s conference?
Wise
70%
Seven out of 10 security decision makers want to see improvements in their system’s video retrieval capabilities following a known incident.
// Source: https://www.avasecurity.com/library/ava-hospitality-video-security-trends-report
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kentoh/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
ESX Presents All-Virtual Conference
After canceling the 2020 conference and delivering a portion of the conference online, ESX — sponsored by the Electronic Security Association (ESA) — made a triumphant return in a fully virtual format, presenting education sessions and panels June 15-17.
The conference kicked off with a keynote from Ryan Estis, a sales and leadership speaker, on how to thrive in today’s connected, competitive business environment, providing attendees with business insights to help with innovation, performance and growth.
According to Estis, embracing digital tools is imperative for security professionals to thrive.
“This is the future and we’re not going back,” he said.
How to stay relevant and successful in the face of competition was a recurring theme during the conference. The second day kicked off with a keynote from John Mack of Imperial Capital, who discussed this matter in “The Business of Security: Industry Trends, Threats and Opportunities.”
Pointing to market research, Mack said the security industry has fared well financially in the pandemic compared to other industries, with an increase in RMR when technicians could enter customers’ homes again.
“Security services were not something people were going to turn off during a global pandemic and civil unrest,” Mack said.
Mack pointed out that security professionals have been slow to react to cloud-based and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, which are necessary to implement in the current market to stay competitive.
“They’re already migrated to cloud and SaaS in other parts of the business,” he said.
Shifting to an RMR model was also a focus during a Wednesday session, “Powerful Ways to Grow RMR by Exploring New Opportunities,” with LOUD Security President John Loud and Preventia Owner Aaron Whitaker, who was featured on our June cover.
“I resisted [increasing rates to increase RMR] for so long, and when I finally listened to the people at these conferences about generating RMR, I realized that is one of the most powerful tools, and you just need to do it,” Whitaker said.
Other tech disruptors were at the forefront of “Monitoring Innovation in Action,” a panel featuring James Marcella, director of industry associations at Axis Communications; Morgan Hertel, vice president of technology and innovation at Rapid Response Monitoring; and Troy Iverson, vice president at AvantGuard Monitoring Services.
According to Iverson, security professionals should be inspired by other technology giants entering the industry, like Amazon and Google, and focus on cybersecurity to provide excellent service and build relationships with customers.
“Be amazing at what you do. These disruptors — I use that term loosely — they’re not going to stop coming in,” Iverson said.
The third day featured a shorter schedule with a focus on management and business operations. In “The Great Outdoors – Best Practices for Interactive Video Monitoring,” John Romanowich, president and CEO of SightLogix and Lucas Ingala, owner of Watchmen Security Services, discussed how to choose the right applications to avoid false alarms and false dispatches.
According to Romanowich, great detection and low nuisance alarms are some foundational outdoor alarm requirements. However, meeting these outdoor requirements is difficult since there are more variables to trip off an alarm.
“You don’t know if a neighbor’s cat is going to go by or … a car’s headlights sweeping through the area that you’re securing and causing reflections that could approximate the size of a person,” Romanowich said.
Additionally, Romanowich pointed to daytime detection, using an example where a person wearing dark clothing was clearly seen on a visible camera, but washed out on a thermal camera. At night in bad weather, people were seen on the thermal camera, but less so on the visible view. Putting these two views together, however, is key.
“By putting the two together, you’re going to get a robust 24-hour solution,” he said.
These solutions can be applied in the cannabis space, specifically at cannabis grow sites. Substations also provide a great application for video monitoring solutions.
Ingala pointed to audio’s emergence in the video monitoring space to deter threats by pointing out the intruder and telling them to vacate the premises.
“Nine times out of 10, it will [work],” Ingala said.
Premium Pass registrants can view these and other ESX 2021 sessions on-demand through Sept. 17, 2021.
ESX 2022 will take place in-person from June 14-17 in Fort Worth, Texas. — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor and Courtney Wolfe, SDM Managing Editor //
Smart Home Device Intentions Among Concerned Consumer Segments
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New research from Parks Associates reveals COVID-19 has significantly impacted consumer behavior and heightened concerns for safety and security, with 64 percent of consumers reconsidering at least one lifestyle change as a result of the pandemic.
// Source: Parks Associates
SIA Terminates Dahua’s Membership
The Security Industry Association (SIA) has terminated the membership of Dahua Technology, a Chinese tech firm, citing a failure to comply with its code of ethics, specifically for being placed on the U.S. Entity List.
The U.S. government placed 28 state security bureaus and tech companies in China, including Dahua and Hikvision, on a United States blacklist over concerns about their role in human rights violations in 2019.
“In accordance with the code of ethics and the policies and procedures accompanying it, the SIA Board of Directors has terminated the membership of Dahua Technology,” SIA announced in June in a letter to members.
Dahua refutes SIA’s decision. According to Dahua, SIA never indicated that its placement on the Entity List would prevent Dahua’s continued membership. Dahua has paid its 2019, 2020 and 2021 SIA dues, and also participated in SIA activities. According to Dahua, there was no messaging from SIA — direct or indirect — that its membership was at risk.
A statement from the company goes on to say that Dahua’s inclusion on the Entity List does not provide grounds for expulsion.
“The Entity List is not a ban on our operations in this market nor does it represent a fact-based assessment of our company’s operations,” the statement said. “There is no due process associated with its compilation. Our company respects the right of the U.S. government to regulate its market as it sees fit. However, SIA faces no legal or regulatory risk that we know of from allowing us to continue to be a member.”
Dahua also alleges that SIA’s action “was not based on any evidence-gathering effort.”
“The SIA’s board claims that we are failing to meet its principles, yet offers no proof to substantiate that charge beyond the reporting of a single outlet that brought the complaint against our company in the first place,” Dahua said. “That outlet has clearly expressed its views about our company and plainly wishes to see us banned from the market. But the fact remains that its core allegations against us are false.”
Hikvision, despite also being listed on the Entity List, remains a member of SIA. SIA is not providing any further comment on the matter.
“For SIA to expel Dahua without any fact-gathering sets a dangerous precedent for the industry with consequences that could go far beyond our particular business,” Dahua continued. “It forecloses our ability to work with SIA and our fellow industry members at a time when collaboration is arguably more important than ever. As disappointing as this decision is, it does not materially impact our ability to continue to operate and provide solutions and tools that are making the world safer and more secure for our customers and for communities across America and around the world.” — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //
SIA New Product Showcase Winners Announced
The Security Industry Association announced the winners of its New Product Showcase awards in a virtual ceremony, presented in partnership with ISC West.
The SIA New Product Showcase has occurred since 1979. New products are reviewed by a panel of judges with industry experience, and in 2021, following significant deliberations, the 35 judges presented awards for technologies covering 25-plus product and service categories.
Lumeo received the Best New Product honor for its Lumeo product, submitted in the Emerging Technologies category.
“Lumeo provides a way for a greater population of end users to implement effective video analytic solutions without the need of highly trained product engineers,” the judges said in their comments.
The Judges’ Choice Award was presented to Teleportivity for the QR Video Intercom product, submitted in the Emerging Technologies category.
“The 2021 entrants to the SIA New Product Showcase are a remarkable group, and we were impressed by the many notable ideas and new technologies that came in this year,” said Christopher Grniet, chair of the SIA New Product Showcase Committee. “It was a challenge making the final award determinations in this year’s highly competitive program, following hours of panel-driven judging and technology demonstrations.”
Additionally, Marc R. Tardiff — founder of MRT Security Consulting and frequent volunteer judge in the SIA New Product Showcase program — received the New Product Showcase Merit Award, which recognizes an individual or company who, through their support of the New Product Showcase, demonstrates a commitment to the vision and mission of the program, contributes to its success and promotes the advancement of SIA and the security industry overall.
“I am honored to be named the 2021 SIA NPS Merit Award winner and would like to thank Sandra Jones, who first gave me the chance to serve on the SIA NPS Committee, as well as SIA, Reed and our NPS Committee members for the work that has been going on for quite some time,” Tardiff said. “I’d also like to thank our previous chair, Jennifer Martin, and current chair Chris Grniet for allowing me to continue to serve.”
The 2021 SIA New Product Showcase entries will be on display July 19-21 in Booth 14073 on the ISC West show floor. View the full list of winners.
ESX Announces Winners of 2021 Innovation Awards
The Electronic Security Expo (ESX) announced the category winners of the 2021 ESX Innovation Awards. The products and services were selected by an independent panel of judges based on a specific set of criteria, including ingenuity, applicability, response to market need and more.
The winners are:
Access Control
Controllers – Stand-Alone of Networked or Appliance Based Systems
Product: X1 Series
Company: DMP
Hosted/Managed Access Systems
Product: Brivo Access
Company: Brivo
Entry Control
Product: AXIS Camera Station Secure Entry
Company: Axis Communications, Inc.
Digital Health/Well-Being Systems
PERS
Product: Aloe Care Health Smart Hub
Company: Aloe Care Health
Fire/Life Safety
Cellular/Radio Communications
Product: MQ03-LTE-M-FIRE-AV
Company: M2M Services
Installation/Service Tools
Residential — Systems Design/LifeCycle Maintenance
Product: Alula Services Platform Optimization
Company: Alula
Intrusion Systems
Controllers & Control Panels
Product: 2GIG EDGE Security and Automation Panel
Company: Nortek Control
Notification Appliances — Motion/Contacts/Environmental
Product: Integrated FogShield
Company: Essence Group
Monitoring Station
Alarm Monitoring for End Users
Product: Instant Connect
Company: Dynamark Monitoring, Inc.
Smart Home — Electronics/Control Systems/Networking
Internet of Things
Product: Flex IO
Company: Alarm.com
IT/Networking
Product: IQ WiFi
Company: Johnson Controls
Specialty Products & Services
Other
Product: IQ Water Valve
Company: Johnson Controls
Video Surveillance
Video Analytics
Product: Video Analytics Doorbell
Company: Alarm.com
“We are proud to highlight next-gen products and services that create new opportunities for security professionals to offer their end users,” said George De Marco, ESX chairman. “In addition, these winners offer innovative solutions for companies looking to effectively grow their revenues, improve the customer experience and maximize their profits.”
Immix & Incident Co. Join Forces for New “Last Mile” Solution
Immix, a central station software company, and IncidentCo., a cloud-based software solution, have teamed up to dispatch law enforcement from directly within the Immix automation platform and provide real-time video and comments directly to the mobile terminals in police cruisers.
The partnership will create a priority dispatch situation, providing better intelligence to create a safer and more effective response from the officers. It serves as a “last mile” to provides better information than a phone call.
Using IncidentCo.’s IncidentCODE platform is easy. All officers have to do is go to www.incidentcode.com and enter a six digit code to access live video, GPS location and comments from the monitoring center.
Additionally, IncidentCODE is free to use.
“[Now we can] pick the phone up like we do traditionally today in the security world, and get to a 911 communication center and call taker and say, ‘Hey, this is an incident code.com alarm, here’s the six digit code;’ they put it into their CAD [computer aided dispatch system], and now everybody they provide that to can put in that number and see video in real time and the GPS location of it as well,” said Clayton Kemp, IncidentCo. CEO. “We can also get the customer involved, which is critical. This is really important for law enforcement as well: are you engaging with the keyholder? Because if you can tell us early that … we know that’s an employee, we can cancel dispatch. Now we made that police department that much more efficient.”
Anyone can access IncidentCODE as long as they have the unique six digit code provided to them.
“It delivers actionable intelligence to the responding party, whether it be law enforcement, a guard, or anybody that would respond to the incident,” said Chris Brown, Immix CEO. “In their hand, they can now have real time video of the event as it evolves.”
According to Brown, IncidentCODE is not just about reducing false alarms, which is a major goal for monitoring centers today.
“This allows us to create a situation where we can reduce false dispatches,” Brown said. “So [it’s] better than reducing false alarms.”
Visit the Immix and Incident Co. websites for more information regarding the partnership. — By Amanda Reed, SDM Staff Editor //
SIA Releases Privacy Code of Conduct
The Security Industry Association has released its new Privacy Code of Conduct, a resource designed to guide security technology companies in implementing privacy programs and protecting personal data. The document was created by SIA’s Data Privacy Advisory Board, a group of SIA members that produces resources and events aimed at promoting a better understanding of the role of privacy in the security industry.
SIA’s Privacy Code of Conduct includes a set of principles based on the premises that privacy is a fundamental right and that privacy rights deserve the highest level of commitment from SIA member organizations.
“SIA is proud to continue its leading role on what has quickly become one of the most impactful issues in the industry,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “It is essential that SIA members and others implement sound privacy policies for both legal and reputational reasons, and the Privacy Code of Conduct can form the basis of those policies.”
The SIA Data Privacy Advisory Board plans to provide more specific guidance in its Privacy Code of Practice, which will be released July 20 during a special privacy lunch and learn event at ISC West. At this event, attendees will hear a keynote presentation from Erik Jones, a partner at Venable LLP with a background in data privacy and legal and regulatory risk, and a roundtable discussion with privacy professionals. //
Image courtesy of SIA
WeSuite, manufacturer of sales management software for security technology sales and service providers, announced that Robin John has joined WeSuite’s sales team in the newly created role of inside sales consultant. He will serve prospects and clients from the company’s headquarters in White Plains, N.Y.
John
Milestone Systems has appointed Bill Rainey as vice president for channel sales strategy. Rainey will oversee and drive channel sales strategy as well as the design and implementation of high value partner engagement and enablement programs.
Rainey
Nortek Control announced that Leon Sievers has joined the company as the new product manager of AV Distribution. His responsibilities are focused on driving innovation and product management for the ELAN, Gefen and Xantech brands. He was mostly recently the product manager for Daktronics, where he led the integration of audio for the company's scoreboard and video displays.
Sievers
DMP has appointed Matthew McDonald as a regional training manager. McDonald has worked in the security industry since he earned his criminal justice degree from the University of Alabama. Most recently, he was the major accounts liaison for STS Group, an authorized DMP dealer based out of Madison, Alabama.
McDONALD
Alarm Detection Systems announced that Amy Becker has been promoted to chief operating officer (COO). As COO, Becker will oversee the company’s day-to-day operations, which includes responsibility for all of the functions at the Illinois and Colorado locations. Becker started with Alarm Detection Systems in 1997 as the accounting supervisor for the company. She was promoted to president of the company in 2015 and chief financial officer in 2019.
Becker
Secure Logiq has hired Ivan Sval, Ben Pavesi and Andy Major in the engineering and sales department, respectively. Sval joins as regional sales manager for the EU. Based in Slovenia, he has gained a considerable amount of experience over a career spent working with a variety of surveillance manufacturers, including the likes of Arecont Vision and Avigilon. Pavesi has signed on as production engineer. This is his first role in the security sector. Major becomes a Secure Logiq Pre-Sales Engineer, and will help the sales team design and check tender responses and customer inquiries, as well as produce quotes and support the company at exhibitions.
Sval
Pavesi
Major
SD Marketing recently appointed Dayna Corbet as its new operations manager. Corbett, who has a background in law enforcement, previously helped the New York State Department of Transportation in creating and implementing their emergency training manual.
Corbet
Blackleaf Solutions, a strategic IT partner and managed service provider specializing in helping small and mid-sized electronic security companies leverage technology as they grow, has hired Katie Finn as information technology manager. Finn will manage and oversee all IT activities and support in the organization, partner with key stakeholders to develop solutions for IT needs, monitor industry trends, and maintain IT policies and goals to support client needs.
Finn
Intelisys announced that Michael Sterl has been appointed senior vice president of sales. In this role, Sterl will lead the field and inside sales teams at Intelisys. Previously, he co-founded Cloud Optik and Carve Digital, two companies focused on delivering data and analytics platforms to channel partners. He also co-founded SimpleSignal, a unified communications service provider that was acquired by Vonage, where Sterl served as regional vice president of channel sales post-acquisition.
Senstar announced the appointment of Senior Sales Director Sean Thompson to lead efforts in the Canadian market. Thompson will focus on enhancing the company’s footprint in key vertical markets: utilities, logistics, corrections, and oil and gas. The company has also appointed Bryan Montgomery as regional sales manager, Canada West. Based in Vancouver, BC, Montgomery is responsible for sales in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Thompson
Montgomery
ScanSource has appointed Rachel Hayden as senior executive vice president and chief information officer. In this role, Hayden will lead the planning, implementation and execution of the company’s global IT strategy.
Acoustic Design Systems (ADS) has restructured and expanded its executive and management teams with both internal promotions and a new hire. April Piscezek, former controller, is now the chief financial officer. Amanda Crigar has been appointed to vice president of sales and marketing. She previously served as the director of marketing and business development. The company expanded its executive and management team by promoting Eric Barbine from installation manager to chief operating officer, Brandon Banova from service manager to AV installation and service manager, and John Brennan from an office administrator to facilities and fleet manager. ADS has also hired Ryan Wellman as a systems designer.
Piscezek
Barbine
Brennan
Crigar
Banova
Wellman
