Parks Associates Hosts Smart Energy Summit, Feb. 28-Mar. 2

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Parks Associates’ research reveals that 44% of US internet households say they actively work to reduce energy consumption at home. Join The Monitoring Association as we support the firm’s upcoming Smart Energy Summit featuring Google, Constellation, AutoGrid and more talking about the future of energy #SmartEnergy22, taking place Feb 28–March 2 in Frisco, TX.

Event keynotes:

  • Aaron Berndt, Head of Energy Industry Partnerships / Americas, Google
  • Michael Wajsgras, Executive Director Innovation, Growth and Digital & Managing Director Constellation Connect, Constellation
  • Saadia Raveendran, Senior Director of Industry Solutions, AutoGrid

 In-person Conference 

Register today: http://bit.ly/2SdCeAg

New Tool Assists TMA to Better Understand Member Needs

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You may have noticed that in February we launched a member engagement campaign using our new tool PropFuel. PropFuel is the conversational engagement platform that helps associations turn broadcast communications into conversations. The year-long member campaign is intended to better understand the needs of members and provide relevant information based on individual responses. The questions were created to take only a moment to respond. The campaign includes all TMA members, we hope you will participate.

From the staff’s perspective the tool acts as a virtual assistant… so we like to introduce Poppy, TMA’s newest team member! Poppy has been in the association world since 2016, and is passionate about finding ways for organizations to add value and engage more effectively with members.

Throughout the year you can expect to see a few different campaigns using PropFuel, the intent is to connect members to the right content, products, and services to meet their specific needs. You may choose to unsubscribe from a campaign at any time.

For questions please contact Illeny Maaza, Director or Membership and Programs, membership@tma.us or Tara Compher, Program and Administration Coordinator.

Important: Potential Solution for Replacement of Certain 3G Devices

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From AICC

Status of AT&T 3G Sunset

Yesterday, February 22nd, was the day that AT&T was scheduled to start its 3G shutdown. AICC has been working to have AT&T delay the shutdown until later in 2022, but thus far no extension has been granted. As a practical matter, it will likely take several weeks for AT&T to shut down 3G nationwide, so in certain parts of the country alarm service providers may have a brief period of time to continue replacing 3G units before AT&T service goes down.

Temporary Roaming Solution

A partial solution has been brokered by the FCC just last week to help remaining 3G users: Certain 3G units can roam on T-Mobile, which will not shut down its 3G network until July 1, 2022, giving the alarm industry and others an additional four months to replace those units that are compatible with the roaming arrangement. This is not a global solution, but will hopefully apply to about 25% of existing 3G alarm radios, including certain PERS units as well as fire/burglar/CO radios. However, by delaying the deadline for replacing a sizable percentage of the 3G units, this solution can allow the industry to focus first on those units that cannot roam. Certain alarm industry members have tested the roaming solution with good results so far.

It appears that the roaming solution will apply to your units if (1) they are on the Cisco Jasper platform, and (2) have a SIM card that is configured to allow roaming. Your aggregator/equipment vendor may be able to let you know if you have units that fall into that category; and AT&T should be able to do so as well. We encourage you to explore the use of this solution ASAP, and to implement it right away if it is available for any of your customers’ alarm radios.

To start the process, we recommend starting with your aggregator/equipment vendor. They can reach out to their AT&T reps to start the process. However, it appears that some AT&T reps have not yet been trained with regard to the roaming solution, so if you encounter push back or other problems, you or your vendor should contact:

Susanna Biancheri
AT&T Network & Engineering Operations
847 212 4191 (Mobile)
sb2321@att.com

TMA Members Join in Fight to Delay AT&T 3G Sunset

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As of now, AT&T is holding fast to its 3G Sunset date, which is set for February 22, 2022. AICC has taken the lead in the fight for an extension as the pandemic and chip production and delivery delays have seriously impacted members’ ability to swap out radios.

TMA members Daniel Oppenheim, Affiliated Monitoring, and John Brady, TRG Associates, have been out front doing most of the interviews.

Read some of the latest news and view video interviews on the issue linked below.

Sentry AI and Immix Announce New Collaboration

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Sentry AI and Immix announced a collaboration to deliver human-like AI to monitoring, enabling them to supercharge their operators, lower costs, and add new revenue streams.

With this new integration, monitoring centers can now upgrade their video monitoring operations on the Immix platform by simply selecting “Sentry AI” in the AI Link setting. The integration allows monitoring centers to offer video monitoring services to a much larger user base as it significantly decreases time and cost wasted in handling false alarms.

A highlight of the joint solution is cutting-edge technologies infused with unique Situational Awareness capabilities. The solution perceives and comprehends camera data, considers historical patterns, and builds spatial and temporal context, all the way down to the camera level. The built-in self-learning component improves accuracy even more with time. This helps to deliver false alarm filtering, reaching 99% in many cases, freeing up the operators to respond quickly to true alarms.

Monitoring centers and security dealers will also benefit from the AI-powered camera matching and health check alerts to notify them when the camera system needs to be serviced.

To provide more information about the joint solution, Sentry AI and Immix will be hosting a webinar on March 1 at 11:00 AM EST. Please register for the webinar at https://smartsentry.ai/sentry-ai-immix-launch-webinar.

Local MD CBS Affiliate Shares Impact of 3G Sunset on PERS

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TMA member Daniel Oppenheim, Affiliated Monitoring, was interviewed by a local CBS affiliate in MD on the potential impact of the 3G Sunset on PERS customers, with a focus on the impending AT&T deadline (2/22). The interview aired on Monday, February 14th.

VIEW VIDEO

Interview Transcription:

They’re called Personal Emergency Response Systems, think of those “Help I’ve fallen and can’t get up!” devices your loved one might have. 

Many of these mobile PERS devices and other devices use 3G wireless mobile technology to communicate and pass signals. 

Wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are completely shutting down their older networks to make room and free up spectrum for 5G which, according to the CTIA is “…23x more spectrally efficient and up to 156,000x faster than 2G.”

When carriers sunset their 2G and 3G networks, many older devices that connect to those wireless networks will go dark.

According to industry experts, millions of medical alert devices, older fire and burglar alarms, crash prevention systems in cars, breathalyzers, ankle monitors, sensors that track school buses, older tablets and smartwatches may not work. Some new tech like EV charging stations operating on older networks could also be impacted.

Jill Myers’ mother Elaine is 90 years old and lives alone in Montgomery County, Maryland. She says her mother is independent but has fallen a couple of times so she bought a mobile personal emergency safety device to help keep Elaine safe.

Myers said, “It provides me comfort knowing that it’s not going to be one of those, as you say, ‘I’ve fallen but I can’t get up’ [situations] and she doesn’t have access to anybody.

Here’s the shared concern about the 5G switch: When a senior like Elaine has an emergency, she presses a button on her device. That device sends a signal to a base station in the house. That base station makes a call to a monitoring service or emergency responders and it must connect to a 3G antenna on a cell tower to do it.

However, when cell companies turn off 3G in favor of 5G, that call will go nowhere, leaving anyone who needs help hanging.

Tom Kamber is the executive director of the Older Adult Technology Services from AARP and he said this could be a life or death situation for many elderly people.

Kamber said, “We’re talking about are life-saving devices. We’re not talking about somebody’s stereo speakers switching out on them while they’re listening to a Beatles record.” He added, “This is a situation where these devices are designed to save lives.”

These network upgrades have been in the works for years. And according to the FCC, each carrier has a different deadline for sunsetting.

Planned Phase-Out of 3G

  •     AT&T announced it will finish shutting down its 3G network by Feb. 22, 2022.
  •     Verizon will finish shutting its 3G network by Dec. 31, 2022.
  •     T-Mobile will finish shutting down Sprint’s 3G CDMA network by March 31, 2022 and Sprint’s 4G LTE network by June 30, 2022.

Daniel Oppenheim is the president of the Medical Alert Monitoring Association and he acknowledges the industry has had three years to upgrade systems. While normally that would have been plenty of time, the pandemic and supply chain issues have bogged things down.

“When companies were able, and seniors were more comfortable letting people into their home, we were not able to get devices because of the supply chain,” Oppenheim said. “So it’s been very difficult for these companies to even get products to be able to swap out and work with their customers to get them to 4G or 5G before this deadline,” Oppenheim said.

Both the industry and safety advocates are asking companies to delay the shutdown of the 3G network.

At this point, the industry experts who spoke with WUSA9 said it’s unclear just how many people are using these devices that haven’t been upgraded, but they estimate that number is in the millions.

WUSA9 asked AT&T to provide hard numbers on how much of its traffic still runs on 3G, but the company declined.

An AT&T spokesperson said, “For the last three years, careful planning and coordinated work with our customers has gone into the transition to 5G.  Forcing a delay would needlessly waste valuable spectrum resources and degrade network performance for millions of our customers.”

But Kamber says there’s more at stake here.

“A PERS button is called a Personal Emergency Response System for a reason because it’s needed for emergencies and frankly if one person listens to this broadcast and finds out that their PERS system is outdated, you know, we could be saving a life here.

The Wireless Association told WUSA9, “Thanks to billions of dollars of investment by the wireless industry, more than 99% of Americans have access to three or more 4G/LTE networks, and 5G networks are coming online for more communities across the country every day.”

It added, “Wireless providers have successfully transitioned customers from old to new generations before, and the same consumer-focused transition is happening right now. 3G customers should reach out to their providers to find out more information and discuss options.”

We also reached out to the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that regulates this industry.  An FCC spokesperson told us, “We take such concerns seriously and continue to engage with carriers on their plans.”

Immix® Adds Two Industry Veterans to Leadership Team

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Immix® announced two new additions to its leadership team. Tina Simolaris joined the company in January as Director, Global Customer Success and Mark McCall was added on February 1 as Director, Global Operations. Both bring extensive experience and unique capabilities to Immix.

“I am very pleased and excited to expand the leadership team with the background and pedigree that Tina Simolaris and Mark McCall bring to Immix,” said Immix CEO Chris Brown. “Immix has aggressive growth plans over the coming years with a surgical focus on elite level client support. Both Mark and Tina embody the professional characteristics Immix seeks and will work in partnership to redefine the ‘Immix customer experience.’ Both bring a library of industry knowledge, including fist hand experience of being a Immix client. We are quite fortunate to be able to benefit from their expertise as we continue to lead the way in enabling clients to succeed and grow RMR through remote video and event-based monitoring services.”

With more than 25 years in senior management roles in command center, call center and central station environments, along with being an Immix customer three times, Tina Simolaris has established a successful professional career helping clients across a broad spectrum of industries be successful. Her knowledge and expertise have helped shape and develop all types of “centers” including Video, Call, Alarm, GPS, and more. Simolaris has run the gamut in her career, from helping true “greenfield” startups, to reshaping distressed centers, to running large operations, she has led by example and has become a recognized leader in the industry. In her role at Immix, Tina will advocate for all clients, supporting their needs to help them achieve higher levels of success and improve business and operational efficiency.

 

Mark McCall joins Immix and will lead the global operations teams, including customer support operations. With more than 20 years in the electronic security industry, including stints with Global Guardian, United Central Control (UCC) and, most recently, Stanley Security, McCall has vast experience in monitoring operations, including video and audio monitoring solutions, corporate security, and systems design to go along with strong information technology and executive level administration skills as well as project/program management. McCall is active in The Monitoring Association (TMA) on various committees, including AICC, Contract Monitoring, UL and others. He currently chairs the AVS-01 Standard Committee. He has also been involved in past activities for PPVAR, including chairing the committee that developed the Video Monitoring Best Practices white paper.

Immix® Partners with Techevolution to Provide UL 827A Compliance

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Immix® announced a partnership with Techevolution, a technology hosting solutions and managed IT services provider, that will allow Immix central station and security operations center (SOC) customers to monitor and manage sites and facilities that fall under the 827A standard for security and life safety applications. Techevolution is the only data center that does not also provide central station or SOC services that holds the 827A designation.

UL 827A permits existing UL-listed centers, hosted by Techevolution to earn the additional UL 827A listing. This addition provides the guidance for a UL 827A-listed central station to offer alternative methods related to the structure, location, and implementation of their software and/or hardware, including new options on the hosting placement and the location of their servers, software, central station receivers, and telephone systems.

“In an industry with requirements as stringent as that of the security and life safety industry, Immix is very pleased to be able to offer our customers a choice in how they deploy their infrastructure and operations,” said Immix CEO Chris Brown. “Our UL partner stations can now choose to partner with a data center in North America that is 827A compliant; thus, eliminating the need to possibly have to partner with a competitor center or spend a great deal of expense and resources to stand up their own environment.”

Under 827-A, monitoring centers using Immix can choose to adopt a central station host structure through Techevolution to include hosting automation systems, telephone systems, and even receivers in a remote location. An essential benefit is that a hosting service can relieve some of the burden from the central station, alleviating the need for IT staff experts or incurred costs of routine hardware and software licensing and upgrades. Outsourcing allows the central station to focus its resources on service delivery to its customers.

In addition, this Immix – Techevolution partnership fills an essential gap for central stations that eclipse the UL-mandated monitoring equivalent weight (MEW) factor. Central stations with a certain alarm activity factor that are mandated to maintain fully redundant operations can now choose to partner with a UL 827A-listed hosting provider.

TMA’s Automated Secure Alarm Protocol nears its 100th ECC

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) has welcomed six new local PSAPs/Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs) from across the United States to its ASAP-to-PSAP service since December 20, 2021. These include: Albemarle County-UVA-City of Charlottesville VA;  Thurston County WA 9-1-1 Communications (WA); Talladega County Alabama 9-1-1; Valley Communications Regional 9-1-1 Center (WA); City of Colonial Heights VA Emergency Communications Center (ECC) (VA); and Elk County Pennsylvania Emergency Services. Launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership, TMA’s ASAP service is designed to increase the accuracy and efficiency of calls for service from alarm companies to Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs).

“In an emergency situation when every second counts, TMA’s ASAP service is reducing response time for our first responders by increasing the speed of communication from the security provider to the local ECC,” commented TMA President Morgan Hertel. “As we’ve seen over the course of recent months, this communication protocol is gaining broad adoption across the United States as municipalities learn more about its life-saving benefits firsthand from public safety peers. It’s rewarding for all of those within TMA who have contributed immeasurable hours and technical expertise, as well as financial support, to the development and advancement of this important service.”

Learn more about TMA’s ASAP service at www.tma.us/asap/.

ECC details:

Elk County PA (#99)

Elk County Pennsylvania Emergency Services became the 99th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 6th ECC in the state of Pennsylvania to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Elk County went live on Thursday, February 3rd with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Securitas, Affiliated Monitoring, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Protection One, Brinks Home Security, Vivint, Stanley Security, Quick Response, Security Central, Guardian Protection and ADT.

City of Colonial Heights VA (#98)

The City of Colonial Heights VA Emergency Communications Center (ECC) is the 98th public safety communications center in the United States and the 20th agency in the state of Virginia to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). The Colonial Heights ECC went live on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, with Rapid Response Monitoring, CPI Security, Stanley Security, Securitas, Guardian Protection, Protection One, Vector Security, Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, Vivint, Security Central, Brinks Home Security, National Monitoring Center, Affiliated Monitoring, Richmond Alarm, and ADT.

Valley Communications WA (Valley Comm) (#97)

The Valley Communications Regional 9-1-1 Center, based in Kent WA, also known as “Valley Com 9-1-1”, is the 97th public safety communications center in the United States and the 3rd agency in the state of Washington to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Valley Com went live on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, and Wednesday, February 2, 2022, with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Securitas, Stanley Security, United Central Control, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Affiliated Monitoring, National Monitoring Center, Brinks, Vivint, and Protection One. ADT and Washington Alarm will be live with Valley Comm later during the month of February.

Talladega County Alabama 9-1-1 (#96)

On Thursday, January 27, 2020, Talladega County Alabama 9-1-1 became the 96th ECC in the United States and the 3rd ECC in the state of Alabama to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Talladega went live on Thursday, January 27th with Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Securitas, Affiliated Monitoring, ADS, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Security Central, Protection One, Brinks Home Security, Vivint, Stanley Security, Guardian Protection, Alert 360, and National Monitoring Center. ADT will be brought online at a later date.

Thurston County WA 9-1-1 Communications (#95)

The Thurston County WA 9-1-1 Communications, also known as “TCOMM911”, is the 95th public safety communications center in the United States and the 2nd agency in the state of Washington to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). TCOMM911 went live on Monday, January 24, 2022, and Tuesday, January 25, 2022, with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection, United Central Control, Securitas, Security Central, Tyco (Johnson Controls), National Monitoring Center, Affiliated Monitoring, Protection One, Brinks, Vivint, ADT, and Stanley Security.

Albemarle County-UVA-City of Charlottesville VA (#94)

The Albemarle County-University of Virginia-City of Charlottesville VA Emergency Communications Center (ECC) is the 94th public safety communications center in the United States and the 19th agency in the state of Virginia to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). The Albemarle-UVA-Charlottesville ECC went live on Monday, December 20th with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Security Central, CPI Security, Securitas, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Richmond Alarm, Wegmans Security, Guardian Protection, Affiliated Monitoring, Stanley Security, National Monitoring Center, Brinks Home Security, Vivint, United Central Control, Protection One, and ADT.

SaaS 101: Software as a Service for the Security & Monitoring Sector

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Contributed by Frank Pietrobono, SVP of Sales, RSPNDR, frank@rspndr.io Without a doubt, the electronic security industry is experiencing significant digital disruption. New technologies are replacing the manual processes that have supported the security industry over the past 50 years. These technologies strive to correct long-standing pain points, build better products, enhance user experience, and support our […]

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