COPS Monitoring Makes Another Significant Investment In Technology

COPS Monitoring has announced its latest significant six-figure investment in technology. The company’s data storage upgrade to NetApp’s newer state-of-the-art Storage Area Network (SAN) is a testament to COPS Monitoring’s unwavering dedication to technological advancement. This strategic move ensures reliable and secure services for our dealers and their customers.

“We understand that back-end upgrades may not sound exciting to most people, but we believe that making frequent and recurring investments is crucial to providing reliable monitoring services,” said Jim McMullen, President of COPS Monitoring. “With a focus on staying prepared for the future, we elected to upgrade our existing NetApp infrastructure. By doing so, we are confident that we’ll continue to meet our customers’ evolving needs and deliver the highest service levels.”

The new SAN incorporates advanced features designed to enhance fault tolerance and provide the latest data security. Equipped with dual power supplies, dual controllers, and hot-swappable components, the new NetApp SANs are widely regarded for delivering unparalleled reliability and resilience. Configured in a RAID format for added fault tolerance and employing AES 256-bit encryption, this new system also offers robust data security, a standard recognized as one of the most secure methods available today.

Recognized for its five nines (99.999%) uptime, exceptional performance, and scalable architecture, SAN technology ensures optimal storage solutions for data centers. By facilitating ultra-fast and reliable data transfers between servers and storage devices, SANs significantly boost application performance and availability, ensuring seamless operations in even the most demanding environments.

To leverage its geo-diverse redundancy, COPS Monitoring will deploy two identical NetApp SANs in its New Jersey and Texas facilities. Each SAN has a total storage capacity of 35 petabytes, roughly 1.5 times the storage capacity of the Library of Congress, or 13 years of HD video. With this massive amount of storage, these SANs will help to ensure that COPS Monitoring can effectively manage and safeguard the ever-expanding volumes of data generated by its business operations and partners.

A key enhancement in this upgrade is the shift from SCSI-based SSDs to NVMe-based SSDs, which provides higher data transfer speeds, reduced latency, and improved input/output operations per second (IOPS). These improvements significantly boost overall system performance, enabling COPS Monitoring to deliver even faster and more responsive services to its customers.

CPI Security Commits $1M to Support Hurricane Helene Relief Initiatives

CPI Security has pledged over $1 million to assist those in need as Hurricane Helene’s devastation continues to affect communities in Western North Carolina.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., CPI Security is sending crews of its own employees weekly, focused on helping its customers and employees in need. The crews are equipped with generators, Starlink satellite internet service, chainsaws and other much needed supplies.

CPI has already sent over 75 employees who have volunteered over 1,000 hours, according to an announcement.

“The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is like none I’ve ever seen before,” Ken Gill, CEO and founder of CPI Security, said. “Many of our employees, customers, and neighbors are trying to rebuild from this storm, and we’re committed to standing alongside them.”

In addition to CPI’s direct engagement with its affected employees and customers, CPI Security has donated to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, the American Red Cross, High Country Charitable Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.

“There are many lives, homes, and businesses that will need to be rebuilt,” Gill said. “This effort will be ongoing for quite some time. Please continue to pray for those affected and give of your talents.”

SDM Magazine, October 24, 2024

Illinois ECC becomes 148th to go live with TMA ASAP

METCAD 911, IL, became the 148th Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the United States and the 2nd ECC in the state of Illinois to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP).

METCAD 911 went live the week of October 7th, 2024 with the following alarm companies: Rapid Response Monitoring, ADT, Affiliated Monitoring, Brinks Home Security, Dynamark, Guardian Protection, National Monitoring Center, Protection One/Everon, Quick Response, Security Central, Securitas (Stanley Division), Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, Vector Security, and Vivint.

Donate to Support Helene Victims in NC

TMA Board of Director Caroline Brown, a North Carolina resident, shared information on two charities assisting communities in North Carolina that have been impacted.

Please consider making a donation.

https://givingtuesday.mightycause.com/event/Supportbannerelk

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/pray-for-those-in-helenes-path/?utm_source=Ggl&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=m_YGND-B24V&utm_content=HurricaneHelene&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpP63BhDYARIsAOQkATb6wV68kcjmmT72m30gWkBJJ2er3cYDTbOappPIXtK0cVuaPHUW6poaAsQWEALw_wcB

Reminder – new TN 729 area code

The Tennessee Public Utility Commission issued a news release about the new 729 area code that will overlay the existing 423 area code in eastern Tennessee earlier this year. Please be aware of the key dates for the overlay implementation:

  • August 5, 2024: Permissive 7- or 10-digit dialing began for customers with the 423 area code
  • February 5, 2025: Mandatory 10-digit dialing begins for customers with the 423 area code
  • March 5, 2025: The new 729 area code becomes effective, and mandatory 10-digit dialing is required in the new 729 area code too.

October is Cybersecurity Month – Stay Safe Out There

Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, time dedicated for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.

Over the years it has grown into a collaborative effort between government and industry to enhance cybersecurity awareness, encourage actions by the public to reduce online risk, and generate discussion on cyber threats on a national and global scale. October 2024 marks the 21st Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Find free resources to support Cybersecurity Awareness Month activities on CISA’s website.

Download CISA’s Resources & Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 Toolkit


 

Register to attend:

Emerging Technologies in Cybersecurity
A TMA VPR hosted by OneTel Security

Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 1:00 PM