Archive: February 2012

PHILADELPHIA—Comcast has renamed its home security/home automation service, is about to add a new energy-management feature and has expanded the service to yet another market: Seattle.Comcast's Xfinity Home Security service is now being called Xfinity Home to better reflect the fact that the service offers home automation in addition to security, the telecom announced Tuesday.Jamila Patton, senior manager of corporate communications for Comcast, told Security Systems News that because “the...

I love Meryl Streep but her Oscar win Sunday night felt a little bit “been there, done that” to me. Not matter how deserved, it was her third, so where was the thrill? So thank goodness for Don Moore, president of Moore Protection, a security company based in Redondo Beach, Calif., who instituted the Morpheus Award—which I like to call the “Security Oscar.” At Academy Awards time each year, Moore Protection presents the “Morphie” to a film “that...

NORTHFORD, Conn., and LAFAYETTE, La.—Notifier by Honeywell recently announced that its Marine ONYX line, fire alarm systems designed for nautical environments, has gained approval for marine applications from the U.S. Coast Guard, Lloyd's Register and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). The approval came after a series of rigorous tests, according to the Connecticut-based company. Charlie Primeaux, project manager for the Fire & Safety Division of Louisiana-based Dynamic Industries,...

VIENNA, Va.—A provision to establish Next Generation 911 became law Feb. 22 as part of the payroll tax bill, including language the alarm industry feared might allow unverified PERS calls to stream into PSAPs. But agreements have been reached that will prevent the measure from having a negative impact on central stations, according to the Alarm Industry Communications Committee. The AICC had been lobbying members of Congress since December to change H.R. 3630—the Middle Class Tax Relief...

HOLLYWOOD, Fla.—Golden Gate Capital, the owner of Devcon Security—a super-regional based here that has been rapidly expanding as a national player in the past year—has named Richard Ginsburg as Devcon's new CEO. Ginsburg formerly was president and CEO of Protection 1, one of the nation's largest security companies, from 2001 to 2010. Ginsburg joined Protection 1 as president and CEO in 2001 and is credited with turning the company around, greatly improving its operating...

Make it three out of four for Monitronics. The Dallas-based alarm monitoring firm was recently named Frost & Sullivan's North American Company of the Year for 2011, adding to similar awards the company won in 2008 and 2010. Frost & Sullivan praised Monitronics for maximizing value to clients by expanding its customer service operations and streamlining internal processes, resulting in record-low attrition for the year. The market researchers also cited the company's “concerted efforts”...

If you don't do work with the federal government, should you care about what's going on with PIV (Personal Identity Verification) credentials? Isn't it just a credential that government agencies are required to use for access control? PIV may not be moving into the private sector as rapidly as some proponents predicted years ago, but there is movement in that direction. Rob Zivney of Identive Group, David Belchick of Citibank, and Don Erickson, CEO of SIA, did a great educational session at TechSec...

KENNESAW, Ga.—In 2011, Loud Security considered making as many as nine acquisitions, but ended up turning them all down. But now, with 2012 barely under way, Loud has made two acquisitions in its backyard. What clinched the recent deals, according to John Loud, president and owner of the regional security company based here, is that “we found two situations that are really wonderful matches for us.” The other opportunities last year weren't a good fit, he told Security Systems...

PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Vector Security, based here, has announced a strategic partnership with Spacenet that allows the security company to offer managed network services to its national retail customers.As retailers are leveraging more security tools to gather valuable business intelligence using their network, their available bandwidth is growing scarce, Dave Merrick, Vector's marketing director, told Security Director News. At the same time, information security demands and PCI compliance are putting...

The Wall Street Journal just gave a nice nod to 2GIG, touting the 2GIG Alarm Kit in a recent technology article. In the piece entitled, “Safe at Home,” which is about easy-to-install, tech-friendly security systems and written by Michael Hsu, the WSJ singles out 2GIG's alarm system in this way: You can't judge an alarm system by how it looks, but the 2GIG Alarm Kit's control panel is so much more elegant than any other security solution out there, it's hard to justify devoting the wall...