Necessity and invention

HOUSTON--ASAP Security Services, a security systems integrator based here, has begun devoting considerable resources to the manufacture of the 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. The entire piece can be moved at any time and set-up in a new location with five minutes of configuration. "We had a construction customer that we did a lot of security for," said Mike Monsive, ASAP's chief executive officer. "They'd leave heavy equipment in a fenced area, drive 115 miles back for the weekend, and when they showed up on Monday, everything was gone. Even the fence was rolled up and taken. They asked if there was anything out there to prevent this and we said no." ASAP began to have the same theft problems on its own job sites, copper and tools mainly, so "two years ago, we started doing research and for two years we basically broke equipment until we got something that held up." Now ASAP is ready to take the product to the world and debuted it at the Global Border Security Conference in May. "We'll always stay committed to the installation business," said Monsive. "The customers that we have right now have been through the national account ringer and they're almost like family ... [but] the Cam-V side is what I enjoy. Making things is where my joy and heart is at, seeing the opportunity for something that doesn't exist and coming up with a product for it."