Biz combines Soundworks & Security

LITCHFIED, Conn.--Recognizing homeowners' desire for both security systems and high-end entertainment, along with other home automation products, Lee Hall opened up Soundworks & Security five years ago. Depending on the customer, Soundworks & Security provides different combinations of residential security, fire alarm, intercom and data cabling. On the commercial end, it does fire, security, telephone entry and access control, public address and sound systems. "When I came up with the company name, I wanted to include 'sound' and 'security' so people would get the idea that we do both," Hall said. Hall, who launched Soundworks & Security after 15 years working for industry giants such as SimplexGrinnell and ADI, and smaller companies such as SecurityLink of Orange, Conn. and Fire Systems, Inc., of Hawthorne, N.Y., said his business model has been extremely successful. This month, Soundworks & Security is expanding to a larger location at 601 Bantam Road in Litchfield. At 2,500 square feet, the new office will be almost twice as large and will have a showroom. "The showroom will be by appointment for residential customers so they can see a projector or plasma TV or listen to a sound system," Hall explained. It will also demonstrate how security, lighting and HVAC can be tied together with other systems. Some commercial customers, such as business executives interested in having these kinds of systems in their offices, may also use the showroom. Hall has nine employees, with "certified people trained in sound systems and certified people trained in security and fire systems. All employees know a little bit about both sides," he said. In five years, he's amassed a customer base of approximately 350 customers; on top of that he's worked with 600 to 700 other customers though his three-year-old partnership with high-end residential contractor Toll Brothers. "We've completed seven or eight communities with 25 to 50 homes with Toll Brothers," Hall said. His next big project will be another Toll Brothers' community in Glastonbury with 80 to 100 luxury homes.