Archive: May 2016

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.—Representatives of four different forms of biometric identification—facial recognition, iris scan, fingerprint, and hand geometry—each made a case for their biometric being most prevalent in the future at TechSec Solutions 2016.The winner, chosen by a panel of four Security Systems News “20 under 40” Class of 2015 award winners, was iris scan.Manish Dalal, general manager of ZKAccess, represented fingerprint technologies. ZK Access is a division of...

SALT LAKE CITY—With the summer door-knocking season upon us, the Better Business Bureau held a news conference here May 25 to address the fact that a handful of Utah home security companies are responsible for the majority of questionable sales practices occurring within the security industry.Of the 600,000 consumers nationwide who turned to the BBB to find out about home security companies, “What they complain about, far too often, is that the sales person who knocked on their door was...

STOCKHOLM—Axis Communications on May 30 closed the purchase of 2N, an IP intercom manufacturer based in Prague, Czech Republic. The company has sales offices in Miami; Chieri, Italy; and in the Czech Republic.Terms of the deal were not announced.Axis said 2N is the leading global provider of IP intercom. In addition to IP intercoms for door communication and emergency calls, 2N makes IP public address systems and M2M products.Audio and intercom are important components of an intelligent security...

MILWAUKEE and CORK, Ireland—Johnson Controls and Tyco International, which announced plans to merge in January, today announced the post-merger executive line-up.The deal is expected to close Oct. 1, 2016.Seven corporate executive officers were named, and seven business leaders were announced.Five of the seven corporate executive officers are JCI employees who currently hold the same role at JCI that they will at the combined company. Two of the corporate executive officers come from Tyco.“As...

What does BPS specialize in and what's your role in the consulting process? We specialize in a suite of comprehensive security consulting services that generally start with some type of security assessment or regulatory compliance assessment. In many cases I am involved in those assessments from the standpoint of evaluating the technical systems and door hardware components for our clients. Those assessments yield a set of recommendations, which provide countermeasures to mitigate the findings of...

NAPLES, Fla.—NXT-ID, a biometric sensor company, has agreed to acquire PERS manufacturer LogicMark for $20 million. NXT-ID's expertise in biometrics and miniaturization will help LogicMark develop PERS solutions, LogicMark president Kevin O'Connor said.O'Connor formally announced the deal on May 19 here at Affiliated Monitoring's PERS conference Catalyst. The deal should be final by the end of June.“The biggest benefit to us is the technical resources," O'Connor told Security Systems...

LEAMINGTON, Ontario—Security ONE Alarm Systems, a security and automation company headquartered here, has acquired Homematix Systems. The complete fold-in includes the company's 500 accounts, its office in London, Ontario, and approximately 10 employees, comprising administrative and sales staff as well as technicians.“The big appeal for us is that Homematix already had a strong foothold in the London market, particularly when it came to homebuilders' associations,” Corey Robertson,...

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Abode, a DIY security company that got crowdfunded last year, is now offering professional monitoring—full time or on-demand—from UCC, and the company is actively looking for partnerships with security companies. “We always had the plan to introduce [monitoring options], but our goal first was to get the product out in peoples' hands and really drive some of the early feedback to actually make our product better, before we went down the road of charging people...

NEW YORK—Glenn Felson on May 24 was named to the newly created role of Kastle Systems president of the Northeast region.Felson, who comes to the security industry from the commercial real estate world, told Security Systems News he believes there's “an unmet need for buildings to modernize and tap into the cost savings [provided by Kastle technology.]”Over the past six years, Kastle Systems has spent $60 million developing security solutions, he said. “We focused a lot on...

When I looked at the SIA update this morning, I saw a headline about the cloud and cybersecurity concerns. Want to learn about cybersafety in the cloud? Come to Cloud+ in Austin in November! Cloud+ is the only conference where you can learn how cloud technology is reshaping the security industry, what the potential is for your business and what steps you can take now to enhance your bottom line with cloud-based technology. Cybersecurity is on the agenda. Sponsored by Security Systems News, the inaugural...