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
Issue link: https://ssn.epubxp.com/i/841321
6 june 2017 www.securitysystemsnews.com 2017 Monitoring Source Book By Spen C er i ve S YARMOUTH, Maine—The PERS space has been evolving much in the past several years, now with several conferences that discuss the topic, including the MAMA annual meeting, Affiliated Monitoring's Catalyst and The PERS Summit. Security Systems News spoke with four executives in the PERS space to hear where the technology is today, and what the market will look like in the next several years. "PERS is a fantastic solution, and cer- tainly alarm dealers or any company that is in the home and offering solutions for the home should certainly be looking to offer PERS—whether that's an in-home PERS device or whether that's a mobile PERS device, it's a great market to be in," Christopher Baskin, CEO of American Two-Way, told Security Systems News. "Where we see solutions for seniors— really over the long haul—is the combina- tion of connected home and connected health." Baskin gave the example that if a subscriber presses their PERS button and American Two-Way dispatches, they have the ability to unlock the front door so that it is not harmed by first responders. American Two-Way is a company that handles a range of responsibilities in the PERS and mPERS space, including monitoring and fulfillment for a base of dealers, as well as manufacturing with the product SilverFox Link. The company also handles monitoring for the connected home, connected automotive, and connected health spaces. Ronnie Adams, president and CEO of Wearable Health Solutions, pointed to connectivity as a current change in PERS technologies. "We feel that the market is definitely moving toward better connectivity, which means into the LTE space," Adams said. An LTE connection will be able to transmit data in a stronger and faster way, leading to more telehealth capabilities, according to Adams. Wearable Health Solutions, formerly Medical Alarm Concepts, has been in the space since 2008. The company first released a 2G mPERS device, followed by a 3G mPERS device released in March 2017. Ryan Bangerter, business development director and sales and marketing director for Mytrex, also lauded the use of LTE, highlighting a few of the benefits. "The longevity of LTE is the most important," he said. "The second benefit to LTE is speed. We are able to do a lot more with LTE because of the speed of the data; calls will be answered much [more] quickly," said Bangerter. "The other benefit—and it has to do with speed—is that the data that you Personal alert systems: A current PERSpective Four executives in the PERS or mPERS space weigh in on the technology today can send over LTE is much less expensive and more effective, which means that you can add features to the overall product at a lower cost." Mytrex, founded in 1986, focuses on in-home PERS units, both with landline and cellular connections. "Our landline and our cellular units are selling at about a 50-50 rate right now," Bangerter said. Mytrex is rolling out its MXD-LTE unit in October 2017. This will be a lower cost cellular in-home unit that has an LTE connection, he said. "The sunset of 3G is real, and people are going to start realizing that next year." Baskin sees PERS evolving and being incorporated into telehealth. "We really feel at American Two-Way that PERS will soon be a line item … to a greater aging-in-place solu- tion for the home," he said. He pointed to the fact that PERS devices are beginning to be more connected to other home medical devices, such as blood pressure or glucose meters. "As the technology changes, the demand is changing, and you have a couple things going on. Aging-in-place is a massive push for everybody across different markets and industries and PERS is going that way. There's been a lot of talk about tele- health over the past five [to] 10 years," Bangerter said. Mytrex is developing MyConnect, a telehealth hub to work with its PERS device. "It has Wi-Fi built into it, Bluetooth, BLE, voice recognition. … It's a more expensive in-home cellular unit, with all of those features, but it does address the growing market of—and the growing demand for—a PERS/telehealth solution," Bangerter said, adding that the MyConnect system will utilize the cloud. Anu Herranen, Nortek Security & Control director of market- ing and branding, sees the cloud as a big opportunity for the PERS space. EverThere, the company's cloud based platform incorporated with its PERS solutions, compiles health data from connected devices for caregivers to better understand a PERS user's health and possibly take preventative measures based on trends. Through Linear and Numera brands, Nortek has been active in the PERS market, Herranen said. The company provides a range of solutions—both traditional stationary PERS and mPERS including Numera's Libris. "We acknowledge that the cloud integration is one of the key areas to focus on in the future," Herranen said. "What does that mean for the end user? That's just being able to access more information, being able to be more proactive, both for the actual user—being able to be more responsible of their own personal health—and then for the caregiver." Herranen expanded on what the types of data that cloud integration could help transmit. "It could be simple emergency Christopher Baskin Ronnie Adams Ryan Bangerter Continued on the next page