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briefs By Amy Canfield INDIANAPOLIS—Jim Boyce has been promoted from president to president and CEO of Defender, a provider of residential security and home automation services and the largest ADT dealer in the country. D e f e n d e r ' s founder and for- mer CEO, David P. Lindsey, will serve as chairman of the board. B o y c e s a i d h e will focus on the company's contin- ued growth, working off the momentum from last year when it serviced 200,000 accounts. He also will work to keep up and expand the company's philanthropic efforts and its ambitious training program. Boyce has been associated with Defender, based here, for more than four years, first as a board member, then as COO, then as presi- dent. The company's success last year under his leader- ship led to his promotion, Lindsey said in a prepared statement. " I n t h e l a s t couple of years we have changed from a giving company to a company of g i v e r s , " B o y c e said. H e n o t e d Defender's char- i t a b l e w o r k through its Defender Gives Back program, which pro- vides security solutions to needy families, and through the Youth With a Mission organization, which builds homes for those in need. Defender also will con- tinue to expand its valued employee training program, he said. SSN CSG goes three for three: Company acquires again Northstar buy pushes RMR up to $2 million And the Morpheus Award for best movie goes to ... By Amy Canfeld REDONDO BEACH, Calif.— Forget about the Oscar for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actor, who received the Morpheus Award? Moore Protection, a home security company based here that serves high-end clients, i.e., stars and other show biz VIPs, was gearing up to present its annual Morpheus Award to a flm that accurately provided "a good depiction of security technology," according to president Don Moore. He spoke with Security Systems News last month. It's all in good fun, but promoting the award in the middle of Hollywood's busy award season more i m p o rt a n t l y a ff o rd s t h e company the opportunity to remind its high-end clientele to arm their systems before they head down the hills to the glamorous ceremonies, Moore said. "Not a year goes by that you'll see that some celebrity's home got broken into while t h e y ' re a t [ a n a w a rd s ] ceremony," he said. "The hills are full of limos—and full of burglars," and those burglars know the celebrities won't be home for hours. he said "We have so many clients that delegate so many things to personal assistants. At least make sure they know how important it is for the system to be armed when you're not there," he advised. Coming up on its 14th year and with a dozen employees "with the utmost in discretion," the company opened up the Morpheus nominating process via its website. Two movies were given a prospective thumbs-up— "Gone Girl" and "RoboCop." "The interoffce scuttlebutt says 'Gone Girl' will have the inside track," Moore said before the award was announced. SSN Tyco takes seat on board of Thread Group alliance SAN RAMON, Calif.—Tyco now has a seat on the Thread Group's board of directors. The Thread Group is an industry alli- ance charged with guiding the wide- spread adoption of Thread, an IP-based low-power wireless mesh networking pro- tocol designed specifcally for the home. The group includes more than 80 mem- ber companies and nine board members, making it one of the fastest-growing alli- ances focused on the Internet of Things in the home, according to a prepared state- ment. "The work of the Thread Group is closely aligned with our own business strategy and we are pleased to participate as a sponsor as well as a board member," Tim Myers, intrusion director of product management, Tyco Security Products, said in the statement. "We have long been a supporter and active participant in a wide range of tech- nology initiatives and alliances and we recognize the endeavors of the Thread Group in leveraging the best of existing proven open standards for unified IoT adoption," Myers said. As a sponsor-level member, Tyco can initiate and lead working groups, and will have approval rights over operating bud- gets and fnal deliverables. Honeywell releases app for two multilingo demos YARMOUTH, Maine—Honeywell has released two multilingual demo apps for its LYNX Touch 5200 and 7000 home security systems. Dealers and integra- tors can now transition between English, Spanish and French languages within the same app, depending on a customer's language preference, to demonstrate system capabilities. The apps interactively showcase the features of Honeywell's latest LYNX Touch security systems by simulating the experience on an iPad or iPhone. Dealers can demonstrate functions such as how to arm and disarm the system, view video, open and close garage doors, modify thermostat temperatures and control lights and door locks. "Easily transitioning between three languages using one app lets dealers more effectively demonstrate end-to- end security and lifestyle systems to a more-diverse group of consumers in North America," Alan Stoddard, senior marketing director, Honeywell Security Products Americas, said in a prepared statement. "Apps like these will help dealers demonstrate to customers the power of the connected home and how it will enhance their everyday lives, as well as their security." In addition to the multi-language prod- uct demonstration capabilities, consum- er marketing materials have been trans- lated for immediate, on-the-spot access via the apps. By Amy Canfeld TULSA, Okla.—Central Secu- rity Group added 6,000 cus- tomers and boosted its RMR to more than $7 million with its acquisition of Allied Protective Systems, its third buy in three months. The purchase of Oklahoma City-based Allied brings CSG's total accounts to just over 200,000, CSG president and CEO Richard Ginsburg told Security Systems News. About 60 percent of those accounts are residential. CSG has offered all of Allied's 2 5 e m p l o y e e s c o n t i n u e d employment, Ginsburg said. It will close down Allied's Oklahoma City office and relocate locally to a new space "three or four times the size, near the Oklahoma City air- port," Ginsburg said. CSG is "hungry" for further acquisitions, he said. "We'd like to do more. It's an unusual time in the space right now," he said. Ginsburg said he was flat- tered that Johnnie Fletcher, who established Allied in 1972 and "built it from the ground up," wanted to sell to CSG when he decided to retire. Allied was Fletcher's "baby," and he "wanted to put his com- pany in the hands of someone who would take care of his customers and his employees, and that means a lot," Ginsburg said. F l e t c h e r e c h o e d t h o s e remarks in a prepared state- ment. "I selected CSG/Guard- ian because of their reputation and my desire to see that my employees and customers were taken care of after the sale," Fletcher said. CSG operates as Guardian Security in Oklahoma. Over the years, Allied grew through referrals and tradition- al marketing, Ginsburg said. "They've had customers for decades. They are stable, stable customers." Boyce is new CEO at Defender Direct By Amy Canfeld OREM, Utah—NorthStar Alarm has acquired the 8,000 accounts and physical assets of residential alarm security company Vision Security, both based here. It also has acquired an interest in Vision's solar business, which will be run as a separate entity. The purchase will expand NorthStar's security customer base into Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Minnesota. NorthStar will now service more than 43,000 customers in 24 states, for a total RMR of more than $2 million, according to NorthStar CEO Jason Chris- tensen. Door-knocking company NorthStar, an authorized dealer of Honeywell security products, will take on 40 Vision Security employees in sales and opera- tions, Christensen said, bring- ing its total staff to more than 100. NorthStar has been eyeing Vision Security for more than a year. "There were a lot of comple- mentary strengths and out- standing individuals that were part of that organization," he said. V i s i o n Solar offers u n i q u e o p p o r t u - n i t i e s t o N o rt h S t a r, he said. N o r t h - Star hit a milestone in 2013 with RMR of more than $1 million. Christensen said then that NorthStar planned to reach $5 million in RMR over the next fve years. "We've taken steps toward that goal. We see that as a fea- sible goal for the near future," he said. "NorthStar has had 35 per- cent plus growth for the past two years. Our customer base has increased dramatically aside from this acquisition." SSN J. Christensen CSG see page 37 www.securitysystemsnews.com MARCH 2015 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS Residential systems 36 residential systems Jim Boyce