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Issue link: https://ssn.epubxp.com/i/247003
4 news www.securitysystemsnews.com february 2014 seCurITy sysTeMs news neWs Readers back PPVAR's push for written standards oped. "Video and audio verification are the 'next YARMOUTH, Maine—More than three-quarters step' in alarm monitoring and dispatch," said of respondents to an SSN News Poll survey believe Doug Curtiss, president and owner of Hartfordwritten video verification standards are neces- based Sonitrol New England. sary, while a slimmer majority—55 percent—say "Let's face it, police respond to the extent they the timeline for such standards, proposed by the do with the hope of catching a crook in the act. Partnership for Priority Video Alarm Response, If our industry cannot facilitate arrests, police is realistic. department response will disFor more detailed versions of In June 2014 (coinciding appear." stories in this section, go to: with ESX), PPVAR plans to Tom Gorab, founder and CEO www.seCurITysysTeMsnews.COM hand off its best-practices recof Emergency Network, based ommendation to a standards in Colorado Springs, Colo., said writing body. Despite the heavy support, about 37 his company has been an active user of Videopercent said PPVAR and interested parties should fied for a few years now, and said the technology allow themselves more time to study the issue. has been instrumental in detecting intruders and A core value of the technology, as champions helping law enforcement make several arrests. of video verification will tell you, is its ability to "I believe video is a key component in protecincrease apprehensions by making alarms a prior- tion of assets and will continue to become more ity response to law enforcement, thereby reducing effective as video content analytics and systems response time. integration improve," he said. Seventy-nine percent of readers believe this will While support for the standards, together with neWs pOLL see page 11 indeed be the case if written standards are develBy Leif Kothe NEWS POLL Are written video monitoring standards necessary? Is PPVAR's June 2014 timeline realistic? 11% 17% 55% 37% 79% 76% Yes. They will help shape proper policy. No. They will lead to more regulations. Not sure. Yes. The sooner, the better. No. The industry needs more time to study this. Unsure. Talking security panels with Kelly McFarland ELLY MCFARLAND, branch manager at Habitec Security, became acquainted with the security industry while in high school, working for his father who owned a security company in Columbus, Ohio. During his college years, McFarland continued to run parts and do small installation work for his father's business, eventually becoming a full-time employee after graduation. His father ended up selling the company to Habitec in 2001, and since then he's worked out of the company's Delaware, Ohio-based branch, which does business in Central Ohio. Here's how McFarland handles security at home. K What kind of security system do you have? I have a DMP XT50 panel. Why this particular s e t u p ? T h e re 's an ADI here, so a lot of people sell Honeywell down Kelly McFarland installs the security here. So to make equipment in his home, including his DMP ourselves different XT50 panel. we decided to sell DMP Also, a lot of larger commercial applications here use DMP so it . , works well for us if a CEO says he wants a system in his house like the one they have at the offce. We decided to use DMP a lot residentially, and I think it's second to none in terms of being intuitive to users. What is one aspect of your security system that you wouldn't want to live without? I would think the mobile connectivity, because I put a lot of Z-Wave on my house, with the door locks to some of the light modules and the cameras, and I like having one app interface that can switch from video to locks to camera all working off the same internal home network. I think that's where the technology is completely moving. I learn on my house because I put all the stuff in, which helps keep me up to date as far as knowing what the technicians are doing. 10% 8% 7% Do you believe use of video alarms will increase arrests? How I Use My systeM Yes. Video makes apprehension easier. No. Criminals will learn to outsmart them. It's too soon to tell. News Poll based on answers provided by 86 respondents in December and January. Where do you see security going next? What are some big trends? I think the home automation stuff is going to continue to branch into more aspects, where it's one system that controls your entire house. I think communication through mobile devices and through remote applications like remote monitoring and video verifcation is just going to continue expanding too. —Leif Kothe