Supreme Security prepares for growth

UNION, N.J.--Supreme Security Systems, a full-service security provider, announced this week significant expansions and changes to its central station in preparation for expected growth. Many of the changes occurred following the company's review of its disaster recovery plan, said Tom Calabrese, central station manager for Supreme. "We decided it was time to upgrade," he said. Supreme implemented a fully hot redundant IP telephony switch in late May that "will give us a lot more functionality as far as what we can do with our receiving equipment," he said. "The newer technology will help the handling of alarm traffic and also create redundancy, giving us the ability to log into the system from another location." Supreme is currently evaluating several different locations for a cold redundant facility, which Calabrese expects will be up and running by the end of the calendar year. Supreme was also recently approved by the New York City Fire Department on July 14 to monitor fire alarm systems within the five boroughs of New York City. All of Supreme's central station operators passed the FDNY's F40, Fire Alarm Control Station Operator exam. "There are only a handful of central stations approved to monitor in the city," Calabrese said. "The exam ensured operators are following proper protocol and it emphasized that they understand the procedure for dispatching fire alarms." In addition, Supreme added a second generator as part of the FDNY's stand-by power requirement. As part of its growth plan, Supreme is also increasing its video monitoring capabilities. "We are already monitoring several big accounts now and we see the potential for growth," said Calabrese. Supreme currently uses Honeywell Rapid Eye products and recently began utilizing RSI Video Technology's Videofied line. Calabrese said all operators will be trained to handle video accounts. He expects Supreme to begin advertising and promoting its increased video capabilities within the next couple months. Calabrese said Supreme's recent changes and upgrades will give the company increased flexibility for expected growth. "It gives us a lot more capacity for the future," he said.