Archive: March 2011

Vivint, formerly APX Alarm, has had a busy month, with its execs garnering business deal-making awards and the company winning a municipal smart meter contract. On March 11, the Provo, Utah-based home automation/security company's chief executive and founder Todd Pedersen and CEO Alex Dunn received 2011 Dealmakers of the Year awards from the Utah Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, according to a company press release. The recognition occurred at the 7th annual ACG Utah Intermountain...

There's been a lot of online chatter out there about the false alarm ordinance in Avondale, Ariz. I wrote last summer about some ordinance wackiness in neighboring Goodyear. I spoke with Arizona Alarm Association president Maria Malice. She and SIAC worked pretty hard with the folks in Goodyear to make sure the municipality understood the possible problems with going to verified response. At the time, I was told there were a whole bunch of municipalities in the metro Phoenix area that were thinking...

MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J.—Camera manufacturer Infinova, which completed a $300m. IPO in December,  and recently announced that it was looking for acquisitions, will launch its channel partner program, called the Infinova Certified Integrator Program, at ISC West next week. Integrators who join the program will receive differentiated pricing, warranties, products and services, Mark Wilson, VP marketing for Infinova said. They will be required to complete Infinova's Technical Product Certification...

LYNN, Mass.—Wayne Alarm Systems announced March 30 it had appointed Jeffrey Kahn as the company's new COO, general manager. Kahn comes to Wayne Alarm Systems with an extensive knowledge and understanding of sales and general management. In addition, he has 25 years of experience in the security alarm business working at Dynamark Security Centers, Sentry Protective Systems, and Ultraguard Protective Systems. “The management team gave a great deal of thought and process in the decision...

ERIE, Pa.—The IQ Certification Board announced on March 24 it had elected its new members. Dave Currie, president of Security Response Center,  Gail Schreiner, VP of operations for AlarmWatch and Laurie Mitchell director of National operations Central Monitoring Services for Siemens Industry, Inc. had all received the same number of votes in December and were tied for the two board positions. Following are the 2011 IQ Certification Program Board of Directors with their terms in parentheses....

MELVILLE, N.Y.—Walter Oakden has been appointed as systems sales manager for the Honeywell Integrated Security (HIS) channel. In this role, Oakden will focus on growing sales of Honeywell's integrated security solutions through the HIS integrator channel for the Southeastern region of the United States. Walter has more than 20 years of strategic business development experience and a successful track record in securing large scale, integrated security for enterprise systems, intelligent transportation...

NEW ORLEANS, La.—Crescent Guardian Inc, a full service security integration firm incorporating technology with physical security, in March announced it had hired Ray Cavanagh as VP of Sales for the company. He plans to multiply revenues and expand nationally with the announcement of CGI Security Fusion. Cavanagh has a long history in security technology sales with companies such as OpenService Inc and AXCESS International. He has extensive experience in vertical markets such as federal, energy,...

FREEPORT, N.Y.—Major gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has terminated its licensing agreement with NationWide Digital Monitoring Co. effective today, March 31. NationWide, based here, told Security Systems News that it instead plans to create a new name and identity for its Smith & Wesson Security Services dealer program. Howard Avin, VP of sales and marketing for Nationwide, said the new program would be called Security Doctors and won't involve partnering with another vendor like Smith & Wesson,...

CHANNAHON, Ill.—A March 28 story from the Herald-News reports a new law will prompt businesses to make their burglar alarms less sensitive and more efficient. Under the new law, businesses and homes that have more than four false alarm calls to the police station in a 12-month period will pay fines of $100 per call.

ATLANTA—If there was one key theme at the Mobotix partner conference, which took place here March 27-29, it was that Mobotix is not just a camera company. “We need to improve our messaging as a total solution provider. [Even our camera product] is not only a camera, it's a solution,” Magnus Ekerot, Mobotix CSO, told the 150 or so integrators and distributors who traveled here for the conference. During a series of presentations, Ekerot and other executives emphasized the benefits...