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Select Telecom makes surveillance biz official

Select Telecom makes surveillance biz official

VALHALLA, N.Y.--Select Telecom didn't know it needed a license to do what it was doing. A long-time provider of custom telecommunications systems for businesses, the company got into video surveillance in 2004 when its chief supplier of PoE switches, Nortel, announced a deal with Axis Communications.

"They make a great camera," said Paul Durante, Select Telecom COO. "A lot of the schools and businesses like them. So we figured, 'While we're out pulling the cable, why not do cameras, too.'"

Company leadership realized recently, however, they should really be licensed by the state of New York if they were going to get serious about installing security systems.

"We wanted to be legal," said Durante. "Even though the wording on the state site is a little grey--they're not really alarm systems; they're IP cameras."

Video surveillance is "still a very small part of what we do," Durante said, "but now that we're licensed we'll be actively pursuing jobs and bids that require IP cameras. It's an excellent product."

Select Telecom is also a Milestone dealer.

Currently, Select employs 21, based here, and with a sales office in Connecticut. The same ownership also runs Communications Solutions in Raynam, Mass., which similarly focuses on telecommunications while dabbling in video surveillance.

Does Durante see the company growing with video? "We'll hire when the business comes," he said, "but we're already providing PoE and servers, and the camera is just a new part of what they already do. We'll probably have specialized teams in the future, but right now we cross-train our technical staff."

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