Constructing a solution

MANCHESTER, N.H.--Centra-Larm, in a recent partnership with DeWalt, is one of several companies to recently incorporate GPS monitoring of construction equipment to its security offerings. Centra-Larm aligned itself earlier this year with DeWalt to support the MobileLock product, a GPS mobile security system that monitors and tracks construction equipment. Both the central station and the customer receive notifications of activated alarms and are able to track the GPS signal via the Internet. “Our system proactively goes out and gets the updated location of the unit,” said Kevin Helmig, president of Centra-Larm. “Our system works hand-in-hand with DeWalt’s and can actively respond to an alarm condition in real time with that condition’s address or location instead of just being a notifier,” and simply alerting the customer of an activated alarm, he said. Centra-Larm joins a growing list of companies that have recognized the need for construction site monitoring including C.O.P.S. Monitoring of Williamstown, N.J., and Contigo, a provider of GPS devices and services based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which integrated the MobileLock into its multi-product GPS platform. The protection and monitoring of construction sites can prove difficult due to their nature as temporary locations, with unpredictable outdoor conditions and a variety of people entering and exiting the site. In order to prevent construction site burglaries, more and more companies are developing technology to monitor and secure the sites and equipment. For example, Unilux, a provider of video surveillance solutions based in Gaithersburg, Md., in May teamed with Fluidmesh Networks, a provider of mesh networking technology based in Boston, to develop a wireless mesh video system. The system, called Unilux Portable IP Command System, utilizes IP cameras and transmits video wirelessly using a self-contained wireless mesh video network. The video system is mobile and can be installed to protect temporary sites. Similarly, integrator ASAP Security Services got into the manufacturing business last year with its Cam-V Mobile Security System, veering from its traditional installation business to serve a need the company saw as part of its work with construction firms. The self-contained system contains a DVR, PTZ cameras atop a 23-foot pole that are remotely accessible via Sprint’s cellular broadband network, and batteries that keep the system running for 30 days before a backup generator kicks in to recharge them.