Video is the darling of the dealer-run or third party central station, and while it’s not new technology by any stretch of the imagination it’s a growing category offering innovative ways to bring sight, sound and detailed visual information and data to security monitoring.

With a particular focus on the application of video surveillance technologies in central station monitoring, Video Monitoring TODAY features perspective from industry experts, profiles of leading companies, coverage of trends and issues, and relevant news. This first issue is dedicated to fully exploring the opportunity that video monitoring presents to dealers and integrators, whether you have your own central station or use a third-party service.

Hikvision USA Inc. and Hikvision Canada Inc. launched new websites for Hikvision USA Inc., Hikvision Canada Inc., and a French language website for Canada.

Acadiana Security Plus (ASP), based in Lafayette, La., is a long-standing, traditional alarm installation company with its own central monitoring station. The company’s primary focus had always been the residential alarm market. The focus following that was small- to mid-size businesses, though it never reached the level of success the company enjoyed in the residential space. Company executives set out to change that.

The Senate passed a defense spending bill June 18 that does not include a ban on certain Chinese camera manufacturers, including Hikvision and Dahua, as the House version did; however, a final bill will have to be passed by both chambers reconciling the two bills and then signed by President Trump. Whether this final bill includes the Chinese camera ban remains to be seen.  

The number of video security cameras and systems being utilized is increasing at a high rate.

The Newark Police Department has opened to the public feeds from dozens of closed-circuit cameras around the city. Police have asked viewers to assist the force by watching the video feeds and reporting anything suspicious, according to The New York Times and other news outlets.