February 2011


Features

No Loitering Here

Retail stores experience a flux of activity all year long

By Jason Dugger

Securing doors and valuables in retail locations without hindering operational efficiency can be a challenge. And that’s just from the customers’ perspective. Adding to the difficulty of securing these dynamic environments, retail stores must manage large, flexible workforces, typically with high turnover. Traditional locks and keys, even smart cards or key fobs, provide only a thin layer of security because they can be lost, stolen or borrowed. There also are the costs associated with lock changes and card inventory management.


Try This Frequency

Radio frequency is helping retailers protect inventories

By Lee Pernice

In general, retail is the fastest-paced, most frenetic business environment around. Retailers have to deal with constantly moving customers, large numbers of employees and extended business hours. On top of that, they have a great deal of merchandise moving from distribution centers to stores, onto the store floor and ultimately out the door with the customer. Keeping track of all of these moving parts isn’t easy.


Turn on the Light

Municipal utility turns to software solution for better business practices

By Jeff Whitney

Since 1923, the city of Garland, Texas, has been providing electricity service to its citizens through Garland Power & Light with its locally owned and controlled not-for-profit municipal utility. With nearly 68,000 customers, GP&L is the third-largest municipal utility in Texas and the 41st-largest in the nation.


Tightening the Campus

Time for action calls for biometrics measures

By Caren Bachmann

The IT department at a large, campus-based organization had a minor disruption that could have turned into a major disaster. A new person on the cleaning company’s crew inadvertently spilled a bucket full of water and cleaning fluid in a telco closet that was being used for multiple purposes, and the liquid shorted out a vital piece of equipment. The accident was never reported, and it was only when services were disrupted that the IT department learned there was a problem.


Flip that Switch

It just makes sense to employ video surveillance and analytics for utilities

By Paul Smith

Electricity, natural gas, solar, wind, water, sewage plants, communications and nuclear plants: The services we take for granted, pay for and can’t live without. We often think that big events like terrorism and natural disasters are overriding concerns for utility companies, but it is the day-to-day operations that are most critical and that benefit most when a well-planned and properly implemented video surveillance solution is put in place.


Departments

Surveillance Society

We’re a nation of watchers; the flipside of that is, meanwhile, we’re also being watched

By Ronnie Rittenberry

Along with “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Polar Express,” holiday viewing for me this year included video footage released mid- December by the King County (Wash.) Sheriff’s Office. The four-minute-or-so clip shows five teenage girls boarding a crowded Metro bus in Seattle and making their way to the back of the vehicle where they, without warning, begin attacking another teenage girl and her boyfriend, both of whom are just sitting there, minding their own business, as the video commences.


A Conversation with Eddie Lee

Trade shows play a key role in the security industry. Many companies use the time on the show floor to announce new products and introduce new technologies to potential customers. At the recent ISC Solutions expo in New York, we took the opportunity to sit down with Eddie Lee to talk about NUVICO products and technologies.


Video is Still Young

Analog still has a vital role to play in the future

By Ian Scott

The video security industry is still a relatively young one, and like most technology-related sectors, it has experienced and continues to witness rapid changes brought about by technical advances and new applications. JVC’s own 80-year existence goes back well beyond the dawn of video security, but the company has been at the forefront of the industry since its first major growth period in the early 1980s.


Webinars

New Products

  • HID Signo Readers

    HID Signo Readers

    HID Global has announced its HID® Signo™ Biometric Reader 25B that is designed to capture and read fingerprints in real-world applications and conditions. 3

  • Kangaroo Home Security System

    Kangaroo Home Security System

    Kangaroo is the affordable, easy-to-install home security system designed for anyone who wants an added layer of peace of mind and protection. It has several products, ranging from the fan-favorite Doorbell Camera + Chime, to the more comprehensive Front Door Security Kit with Professional Monitoring. Regardless of the level of desired security, Kangaroo’s designed to move with consumers - wherever that next chapter may be. Motion sensors, keypads and additional features can be part of the package to any Kangaroo system in place, anytime. Additionally, Kangaroo offers scalable protection plans with a variety of benefits ranging from 24/7 professional monitoring to expanded cloud storage, coverage for damage and theft. 3

  • XS4 Original+

    XS4 Original+

    The SALTO XS4 Original+ design is based on the same proven housing and mechanical mechanisms of the XS4 Original. The XS4 Original+, however, is embedded with SALTO’s BLUEnet real-time functionality and SVN-Flex capability that enables SALTO stand-alone smart XS4 Original+ locks to update user credentials directly at the door. Compatible with the array of SALTO platform solutions including SALTO Space data-on-card, SALTO KS Keys as a Service cloud-based access solution, and SALTO’s JustIn Mobile technology for digital keys. The XS4 Original+ also includes RFID Mifare DESFire, Bluetooth LE and NFC technology functionality. 3