Top News


Mission Critical Life safety systems play an important role in high-security facility

Mission Critical

Dealing with an obsolete, legacy fire alarm system and a separate, standalone ECS, the building owner’s property management company, Childress Klein Properties, Inc., turned to local Gamewell-FCI distributor Critical Systems LLC, to help them find a new, comprehensive solution.

Retrofit to IP

Retrofit to IP

Choice, cost savings, speed of deployment and convenience. This is what the use of existing legacy cable can afford the end-user as they migrate existing, analog-based surveillance, access control or intercom systems to IP.

IT Security Compliance for Cloud Service Providers

Compliance with increasingly stringent regulations for organizations providing outsourced IT services, particularly in regards to data protection, is becoming more difficult.

Your Biometric Accepted Here

Your Biometric Accepted Here

While the adoption of biometrics has never been more widespread, highly-successful security- and privacy-enhancing applications have been deployed worldwide across all industries; yet, the general public narrative remains focused more on the risks rather than the benefits.

Pitching a Better IP Solution

Pitching a Better IP Solution

IT professionals are becoming increasingly involved in video surveillance initiatives across all industries. It’s time to build strong relationships with the IT side of the house and include them in discussions about any new system that will piggyback on their backbone.

Weatherproof Your Equipment

Weatherproof Your Equipment

The days of security systems guarding primarily against theft, vandalism and violence are long gone; instead, camera systems are mostly to protect companies against liabilities such as accidents and negligence.

A Brave New World Power protection is significant in the networking and IP camera space

A Brave New World

While businesses will spend thousands of dollars on cameras and recording systems, alarms, intrusion detection, emergency communication and theft prevention, many overlook the need for systems’ power protection.

World-Class Security

As the only 24/7 neighborhood in Chicago, River North and Friedman Properties have a shared vision for the area to ensure that success will continue to present itself: aligning the right tenants with the right buildings, demanding the best in security and investing purposefully.



Energy Distribution

Energy Distribution

When officials at the United Illuminating Co., a regional energy distribution company in New Haven, Conn., planned the recent completion of their 56-acre corporate headquarters, their “must-have” list included a campus-wide Emergency Communications System (ECS).

Apprehending the Internal Thief

Some of the most discouraging statistics in the security industry are the record numbers reported in shoplifting from dishonest employees. Recent numbers reported by Jack L. Hayes International shows that those numbers have increased yet again.

Featured

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.