VES: Here to stay

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.--In a September interview with Security Systems News, Ray King, president of VES Fire Protection Systems (formerly Viking Electronic Services), announced that he’s assembled a new management team, focused on getting the word out about VES’s technology offerings and expanding its dealer network. He also sought to quell rumors that VES would be sold, saying Kentec (which bought VES in May) “has made a commitment to this business; we are here for the long haul.” King is the titular head of VES, but is based in the UK. He said he’s relying on a trio of managers to run the day-to-day operations, including Andrew Johannsen, director of sales; Jay Cohen, director of development and engineering; and Tim O’Leary, controller. Asked what type of dealer VES is looking for, Johannsen said “a dealer who understands what the VES technology can offer them … They may not be the biggest dealer, but they can get a lot out of what our technology has to offer.” Because VES views its relationship with dealers as “more of a partnership,” they’re interested in dealers who “are embracing the new technology.” VES offers its eLAN system, which is scaleable from a standalone single panel with more than 500 devices to a fully supervised, fault-tolerant networked system with more than 100,000 points over 127 panels. Johanssen said what distinguishes VES from its competitors is that its services “are all Web-based, and one key component is that all programming is done via Internet ‘drag and drop’ [features.]” VES’s eSP Business Suite, a Web-based service, allows dealers to control their installations and can be used for “quoting, ordering and programming the system from start to finish.”