Ivan Spector, president of Sentinel Alarm, Montreal, Quebec is well-known for his commitment to bettering the security industry at many levels and in many ways. 

For years do-it-yourself (DIY) security existed on a parallel track with the professionally installed security system — rarely, if ever, intersecting. Not anymore.

Personal emergency response systems (PERS) traditionally have worked only in a user’s home, enabling users to summon help with the push of a button — typically on a pendant that the user wears. But recent years have seen the introduction of mobile PERS offerings (mPERS) that can work outside the home using cellular service for communications to the central station.

This issue highlights the performance and accomplishments of 100 largest security companies in the industry — the SDM 100.

In a report showing the worldwide installed base of video surveillance cameras, the numbers continue to rise, but the rate of increase slows year after year.

Mission 500 recognized Alliance Security, a Monitronics authorized dealer, as the winner of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award at the Security 5/2K awards ceremony at ISC West in Las Vegas in April.

A recent case was decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, involving the limitation of liability in an Admiralty case law. Although Admiralty law may differ from the law utilized in the security alarm industry, the principles described in the case are important.

So you need a new salesperson. You solicit resumes and review them all to find the top candidates. Human Resources may even help you with screening before you call in your top prospects for an interview. You and others in your organization put the candidate through the ropes.

When invited to speak about the industry’s emerging trends, I often pose the question, “Do you think the CEDIA industry is in an evolutionary or revolutionary phase?” In most years, the attendees and I agree we are in an evolutionary time in which new products are iterative improvements upon existing products.

My father and grandfather were old-school hunters and fishermen who were tempered by living through the Great Depression. As a youth I would listen in wonder as they described various nefarious methods to draw edible game within shooting range, as procuring protein for their hungry families was truly a life-or-death issue.