Every day it seems as if there is one less thing mobile devices can’t do. Personal applications now range from restaurant guides to movie players to virtual fortune cookies. But professional applications that enhance productivity and efficiency are quickly catching up as mobile devices continue to prove their worth to businesses across the board. When it comes to security installers or service technicians in the field, some companies have jumped on cutting-edge mobile technology while others are still keeping the gloves on as issues such as data security and cost make that edge just too sharp.

In an age in which tech-savvy consumers have come to expect smarter, better and more efficient technology and quick-to-market products, the security industry is sometimes at a disadvantage. The combination of the economic downturn and slower-than-expected adoption of new technologies recently has hampered R&D efforts as well as integrators’ and dealers’ ability to sell upgraded systems as end users cling to what they have and make do with last year’s (or in some cases, last decade’s) technology.