UL Certifies SBN Cloud

Innovative Business Software (IBS), a supplier of Central Station Automation, has earned the first-ever UL certification for a cloud-based monitoring service. SBN Cloud allows central stations of all sizes to provide monitoring services without the cost of installing, maintaining, and operating the infrastructure required to receive alarm signals.

Security providers seeking UL certification can now rely on IBS’s compliance to meet the requirements for automation and alarm receivers. 24-hour backup may, in many instances, now be delivered using low-cost battery packs rather than expensive generators. Costly construction projects to meet the UL827 building requirements are therefore minimized. Operator PCs, emergency lighting and redundant internet connectivity will of course still be needed, but SBN Cloud significantly reduces upfront infrastructure investments and ongoing maintenance costs.

“Cloud computing techniques change the way services are delivered in all businesses, including the alarm industry,” explained UL Engineering Manager Steve Schmit. “UL’s new Hosted Central Station Service category uses the new 8th edition of UL827, Central Station Services, together with a new Outline of Investigation to provide a certification link between central stations and organizations like IBS that offer automation-as-a-service.”

"Organizations wishing to monitor alarm systems should be able to just add operators and not worry about the complex infrastructure to do this securely," stated Jens Kolind, vice president of external partnerships. “Achieving UL certification is big step towards that goal.”

SBN Cloud provides IBS’s Central Station automation as a pay-as-you-go service. It enables customers to monitor premise locations for intrusion and fire, and offers integration to products such as video. The service is hosted on triple redundant infrastructure in two US based data centers more than 1,000 miles apart. Both have been approved for US government contracts.

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