Security Systems News

NOV 2017

Security Systems News is a monthly business newspaper that reaches 25,100 security installers, product distributors, central stations, engineers & architects, and security consultants. Our editorial coverage focuses on breaking news in all major se

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Head briefs Alarm.com Academy announces conference By Spencer Ives CINCINNATI—TruSense, a company focused on smart home technology for seniors a g i n g - i n - p l a c e , r e c e n t l y announced that its TruSense system is now available. The company provides a platform that integrates with various devices to passively monitor seniors' activity. "What we think is different than what's been out there up to this point is: a lot of these solutions that are out there to help keep seniors safe have been single-type solutions, like pendants that would detect a fall," Rob Deubell, TruSense's VP, told Security Systems News. "But, what TruSense was built to do is be able to give multiple layers of protection in helping keep seniors safe in their own homes, and doing that through a combination of different tech- nologies and then this intelli- gence that we've built up in the background." TruSense will go to market both direct-to-consumer and through working with channel partners, such as traditional home automation companies or home health companies. TruSense incorporates a vari- ety of sensors including activ- ity, contact, and visitor sensors, a hub and an Amazon Echo Dot. TruSense can send care- givers notifications for certain events like prolonged inactiv- ity. "That could be a text mes- sage that goes to the sibling, the adult children of the senior par- ent, it could be an automated phone call. It can also go to our 24/7 monitoring center," Deubell said. The hub can provide a vari- ety of information, such as when the senior woke up, their movement path throughout their home and when they left the home. The system will also track trends over various time frames. This could be helpful in identifying a problem that might not have triggered an alert, Deubell said, and the information can be brought to a doctor's attention as well. "The physician will ask a lot of questions [such as] 'What's your activity been like lately?' And, to try to remember what it's been over the last week or the last month is very hard to do and we have all of that information captured," Deubell said. Caregivers can set alerts if a senior has been in a room for a long period of time, "which is really key for things like detect- ing if there is a potential fall or if they've had a medical event," Deubell said. In the event of a fall or other event, seniors can vocally call for help through TruSense's TruSense unveils smart home tech for seniors Ring launches Ring Protect, a complete home security system S A N TA M O N I C A , C a l i f . — R i n g announced Ring Protect in October, a comprehensive DIY home security sys- tem that works with Ring's doorbells and cams. "At Ring, everything we make is designed to establish and enhance a Ring of Security around homes and neighborhoods," Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor and founder of Ring, said in the announcement. "Ring Protect provides an incredibly effective level of security when compared to traditional, expensive systems, yet comes at a fraction of the cost since it was developed in-house. Offering an effective, inexpensive solu- tion means more homeowners can afford and use Ring Protect, which in turn leads to safer neighborhoods." In the press release, the company highlighted that with Ring Protect there are no long-term contracts or expensive fees for cancellations or for using cam- eras, sensors or a mobile app. "Ring Protect is easily installed by the home- owner without any tools and can be customized to fit an individual's needs," the press release read. "Ring Protect works seamlessly with all Ring products, including Ring Video Doorbell, Floodlight Cam, and Spotlight Cam, as well as other home security products, like smart car- bon monoxide detectors, locks, lights, thermostats, sensors, and more." Ring Protect will be available in Home Depot and Best Buy stores later this month, and can be ordered through their websites. Voice control continues to increase in the home DALLAS—Parks Associates research shows that 55 percent of U.S. broadband households find it appealing to use voice control to control or understand the status of connected devices. The international IoT research firm is addressing voice-first strategies and use cases driving adop- tion of connected products in Europe at the 12th-annual CONNECTIONS Europe: IoT and the Connected Consumer, Nov. 1-2, 2017, at the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel. "The act of 'waking up' a personal assistant by simply calling its name is a natural and intrinsic way of interact- ing with devices and has facilitated a robust user experience," Dina Abdelrazik, research analyst, Parks Associates, said in a prepared statement. "The strong consumer response to voice control and voice-based technologies is driving eco- system players to expand the voice-first landscape, as voice provides a natu- ral gateway to smart home products. Integrating voice-enabled capabilities and features will lead to greater smart home adoption throughout the U.S. and Europe." By Paul Ragusa WASHINGTON—Alarm.com announced today the launch of its PowerUp Conference, an intensive multi-day train- ing program exclusively for Alarm.com's service provider partners. At the training con- ference, scheduled for Nov. 14-16, 2017, in Dallas, partic- ipants will learn technical and operational skills, and sales expertise in the smart home and business security fields. Created by the Alarm.com Academy training program, PowerUp offers a customiz- able schedule of specialized, hands-on training and indus- try insights. "PowerUp is a comprehen- sive, immersive learning envi- ronment designed to ensure that our service provider part- ners come out of the confer- ence with actionable skills and knowledge to improve their business," Katie Refano, Alarm.com's director of train- ing, said in the announce- ment. "With more than 25 sessions to choose from, as well as presentations from Alarm.com executives and product updates from hard- ware partners, attendees will be able to tailor a learning experience to their exact company role and business needs." PowerUp is the latest addi- tion to the Alarm.com Acad- emy, Alarm.com's program of in-person and online training for service providers. Contin- ually refreshed and expand- ed to keep service providers ahead of the latest innova- tions and market trends, the program offers end-to-end training across all areas of a service provider's business, helping Alarm.com's partners to become experts in selling, installing and supporting Alarm.com products and ser- vices. In terms of overall growth for the Academy, Matthew Zartman, director of market- ing for Alarm.com, told Secu- rity Systems News that from 2015 to 2016 "we've seen a 57 percent increase in in-person training participation. From 2015 to 2016 we've seen more than 170 percent increase in participation in our online training program." PowerUp offers a broad array of focused training ses- sions for different roles within service providers' businesses, including installation; opera- tions; sales and marketing; and customer support. Alarm.com service provid- ers can register to attend Pow- erUp by emailing: academy@ alarm.com. SSN movements; and Nest Tag, a fob that will disarm the alarm system. The company also announced its Nest Hello video doorbell and Nest Cam IQ outdoor secu- rity camera. "Nest reached out to us some time ago and we've been talking to them for a number of months," Jeff Gardner, MONI President and CEO, told Security Sys- tems News. "They were really looking for a partner to pro- vide professional monitoring for their customers, and also a partner that could really help them enter the tradi- tional security space." Nest's home security equipment is designed for DIY install and MONI's monitoring is an option, otherwise the system would be self-monitored. "I think Nest can really take the DIY business to another level," said Gardner. "This product has a chance to really disrupt the industry and we believe that it's better to be a part of that than just competing with it." The partnership is more than a wholesale monitor- ing agreement, Gardner said, "It's much more of a full-service, high-end offer- ing associated with the Nest product. We're going to charge rates to the customers competitive with other DIY offers in the marketplace. We bill the customer, we set the rates for the customer on the professional monitoring and collect the revenue." In addition to providing monitoring, MONI will be reselling the Nest equip- ment to its customers. "No one else in the industry will have this product. … We'll be exclusive, selling this product in the traditional security space," Gardner said. "We're trying to grow our sales—it's a great oppor- tunity," Gardner said. "It's something that our deal- ers can use as well, to drive additional sales. So, we're trying to get all of our chan- nels pretty excited about it." Customers will select pro- fessional monitoring from MONI in the Nest app and conduct that business in "an ecommerce fashion," Gard- ner said, which required a lot of software work on the front end. "You don't see too much of that in our industry, in terms of ecommerce," he said. "I think that the technology we developed there we can use in other parts of our busi- ness as well." SSN Nest steps into security t R u S e NS e see page 25 Continued from page 1 "We believe there is a place for pendants, but one of the facts is that seniors don't always wear their pendants." —Rob Deubell, TruSense www.securitysystemsnews.com novembe R 2017 S e CURITY SYST em S ne WS Residential s ystems 24 residential s ystems

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