While 2020 didn’t live up to expectations and 2021 Industry Forecast respondents reported a topsy-turvy year, the majority remain hopeful for a strong 2021, with the COVID-19 vaccine in sight and pent-up demand for security products and services.
To say 2020 was a bit of a roller coaster ride is perhaps an understatement. At this time last year, most security integrators anticipated a strong 2020, only to be thrown into turmoil late in the first quarter by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’m no geology expert, so I looked it up. According to the National Geographic, “Igneous rocks form when magma (molten rock) cools and crystallizes, either at volcanoes on the surface of the earth or while the melted rock is still inside the crust.” Why am I talking about rocks?
This company was among the first to feel the effects of COVID-19. Like the rock they are named for, they not only weathered the crisis, but discovered hidden gems of opportunity and came out stronger than before.
What do termites, diamonds and security have in common? All three are components of the history of this year’s SDM Dealer of the Year. Sonitrol began when Al Cronk, a police officer, was interested in verifying alarms using audio; Bob Baxter invented microphones to detect termites in trees.
The Monitoring Association continued its virtual OPS-TECH meeting on Nov. 17-18, focusing on technology and its applications in the monitoring industry.
Everyone has heard the old adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In an industry and a year marked by seemingly constant upheaval and change, it can feel like nothing is the same. But is that true?
Securing New Ground 2020, like virtually every other industry event this year took place, well, virtually — for three hours each day on October 21 and 22. But within that format it managed to cover a lot of ground, as it always does.
Each October one of my favorite stories to write comes around: The systems integrator of the year. I love delving into a company’s history and culture and learning what has made them a success worthy of being chosen for this award.
With a focus on quality over quantity, this year’s Systems Integrator of the Year has achieved phenomenal success, and weathered the COVID-19 crisis without missing a step.
They say a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. So perhaps it was fortuitous that the founding partners of Stone Security — all members of the Edmunds family in Salt Lake City — had no background in security integration when they formed the company in 2006. Steve Edmunds, a retired Air Force captain and Delta Airlines pilot, started the business with his sons and son-in-law after a brief foray into residential security, which they quickly discovered wasn’t for them.
There is no part of the security industry left untouched by the scope of this pandemic, but enterprise access control customers may benefit most from what they already have, while at the same time pivoting to new technology plans for the future.
Enterprise-level access control systems have been slowly reinventing themselves over the past several years. Once solidly the sphere of the large, proprietary, on-site systems, more security and IT directors had begun exploring what else they could do with access control.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have been living in crisis-mode for the past six months. Luckily my family has so far stayed healthy and is mostly taking the changes to our daily life in stride.