Audio Central Alarm Partners with DICE Corporation to Implement Full Nationwide Branded Call Display

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Audio Central Alarm, a client of DICE Corporation, has become the first alarm company in the industry to implement full nationwide branded call display. This groundbreaking service ensures that both service and sales calls from Audio Central now display the company’s logo and identity to recipients across the country—including calls from its central station partner, CSA Monitoring, based in Lansing, Michigan.

Historically, the alarm industry has struggled with call answer rates, as many customers assume unidentified or generic numbers are spam—especially on mobile phones. To address this issue, more than a year ago, Dice began addressing this issue by developing branded calling technology in partnership with telecom providers. The goal: to restore consumer trust and improve the visibility of life safety-related calls.

DICE has been recognized as a leader in bridging the needs of the alarm industry with the priorities of the telecommunications sector, particularly around critical life safety communications. Three of DICE’s engineers have worked closely with mobile carriers to integrate branded calling into DICE’s PBX systems and its advanced alarm and video event management solutions.

Scott Valentine, President of Audio Central Alarm, praised the new system: “This is amazing. We’ve already seen an increase in answered calls, and CSA Monitoring has reported fewer voicemails and more real-time responses from clients.”

Cliff Dice, President of DICE Corporation, added, “This marks the first phase of branded call deployments, now live across the T-Mobile network. We expect to roll out branding to Verizon and AT&T later this year. It’s a major step forward in helping alarm dealers build trust and visibility with their clients.” He continued, “The future is very exciting as we continue to lead with innovations in AI and interconnected services tailored to the alarm industry.”

PureTech Systems Wins TWO 2025 GOVIES Awards for Excellence in Autonomous Security Solutions

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PureTech Systems Inc., a leader in AI-powered perimeter protection and geospatial video analytics, is proud to announce it has been named a winner in the 2025 Security Today GOVIES Government Security Awards. PureTech earned top honors in two categories: Autonomous Border Systems and Autonomous Perimeter Systems for its latest release, PureActiv®v16.

The GOVIES Awards recognize outstanding government security products that deliver innovation, functionality, and performance. PureActiv® v16, the latest version of PureTech’s flagship solution, continues to set the standard in autonomous detection, identification, and response for critical infrastructure and border protection.

“We are honored to be recognized by Security Today for our work in advancing autonomous security technologies,” said Larry Bowe, President and CEO of PureTech Systems. “PureActiv v16 reflects our unwavering commitment to providing the most reliable and intelligent solutions to protect vital assets and enhance national security.”

“We have heard directly from government leaders about the critical need for autonomous capabilities in surveillance towers. With the v16 release, we’re combining our latest technological innovations-proven in border security programs with the invaluable experience and feedback from agents who tested these capabilities in the field,” says Ilia Rosenberg, PureTech V.P Federal Sector.   “This ensures our solutions truly meet the operational demands of today’s border environment and what USBP is expecting from us.”

PureTech Systems remains at the forefront of developing cutting-edge solutions that empower government and commercial agencies to detect and respond to threats faster, more accurately, and with greater autonomy.

2025 TMA/SDM Excellence Awards Finalists Announced

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) is pleased to announce the finalists for its 2025 Excellence Awards. This year, the awards competition received a total of 37 entries across five categories. Listed in alphabetical order by company within each category, the finalists are:

Monitoring Center of the Year – Enterprise

  • Affiliated Monitoring
  • Becklar Monitoring
  • TELUS Smarthome Security & Secure Business

 Monitoring Center of the Year – SMB

  • Elite Interactive Solutions
  • Kimberlite – Sonitrol
  • Pro-Vigil

 Monitoring Center Manager of the Year

  • Shari Wilson, ADT LLC
  • Allen Waldrip, Brinks Home
  • Galina Klimchuk, Vivint, an NRG company

 Monitoring Center Operator of the Year

  • Terell King, ADT LLC
  • Jennifer Rivera, Affiliated Monitoring
  • Carol Marcil, TELUS Smarthome Security & Secure Business

 Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year:

  • Michael Christatos, Affiliated Monitoring
  • Heather Ferrara, COPS Monitoring
  • Johnny Garcia, Kimberlite – Sonitrol

TMA’s Monitoring Center Excellence Awards recognize any FM Approvals, Intertek/ETL or UL-listed monitoring center (TMA members) and outstanding personnel who perform in the highest professional manner, thereby making a significant contribution to the betterment of the alarm industry and the alarm profession while demonstrating exceptional service to their customers and community.

The purpose of the awards program is to:

  • Establish and promote the inherent value of professional monitoring services in general.
  • Honor those who have made the most significant contributions to the service.
  • Promote the distinct level of professionalism attained by NRTL-approved monitoring centers.

TMA’s Monitoring Center Excellence Awards are co-sponsored by SDM Magazine, which will publish a feature story on this year’s award winners in its August issue. Entries are judged by a volunteer judging panel appointed by TMA. The five winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony presented on April 24, 2025, at 3:00 pm ET. For past winners and more information, visit https://tma.us/events/awards/excellence-awards/.

Register to attend the General Business Meeting and Awards Presentation at https://themonitoringassociation.growthzoneapp.com/ap/Events/Register/52FvwwJsbCWCq

Tampa Police Department Implements ASAP Service to Handle Alarm Notifications

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced today that the Tampa (Florida) Police Department (TPD) recently implemented its ASAP Service to lessen the impact of alarm/sensor-generated calls that its 911 Communications Center receives. The solution leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), which was developed jointly by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO).

Each year, the center handles about 300,000 calls for emergency service and dispatches the appropriate police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical response. Roughly 20,000 of these calls are generated by alarms and sensors. The center is the 150th 911 center nationwide and the 12th in Florida to implement ASAP Service.

Traditionally, alarm/sensor-generated alerts have been delivered to 911 centers via telephone. Each one required manual interaction between alarm-monitoring-center personnel and 911 telecommunicators. Sometimes it takes as many as five voice calls to deliver the information needed by the 911 center to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. This approach is time-consuming and prone to human error — both outcomes are highly detrimental to the ability of emergency responders to save lives and property.

ASAP Service eliminates these challenges by electronically transmitting alarm and sensor data directly into the 911 center’s computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system, reducing response times by two minutes on average and freeing telecommunicators to prioritize 911 calls that require their unique skills and expertise.

“The Tampa Police Department aims to serve our community in the most effective way possible, and technology plays a crucial role in achieving that goal,” said Chief Lee Bercaw. “We are constantly seeking out and integrating innovative tools that empower officers to respond to community needs with greater efficiency, precision, and ultimately, increased effectiveness. This proactive approach ensures we are able to provide the best possible service and improve safety in our community.”

According to Mike Terracciano, public-safety-technology manager for the city of Tampa’s Technology and Innovation department, telecommunicators are trained to ask only those questions that will enable them to quickly determine the best response to the emergency. As a result, useful information that the alarm company possesses for each of its clients typically went untapped.

“Now, with ASAP Service, that supplemental information — which might ring important from a responder-safety perspective — is readily available and easily accessed,” Terracciano said.

Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.

About Tampa 911 Communications Center

The 911 Communications Center receives requests for emergency and nonemergency services from the public and various city agencies. The center’s primary mission is to provide effective and efficient communication between citizens requesting police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical service and the units that respond. It also endeavors to expeditiously provide various other support services for police, fire, and administrative operations.

DMP Recognizes Top Dealers of 2024

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DMP recognized top dealers at the DMP Owners Forum. This event was held at Fontainebleau Las Vegas the day before ISC West. Special recognition was given to dealers in Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond level categories for their accomplishments in 2024. Dealer of the Year awards were presented in several categories.

DMP also recognized Dealers of the Year for certain product categories, celebrating the use of these various products.

Dealer of the Year award winners were announced for certain vertical markets, including Banking Dealer of the Year Securitas Technology and Retail Dealer of the Year OWL Services.

Each year, the New Dealer of the Year is celebrated. This year it was awarded to SAV Digital Environments. The Community Service Dealer Award was given to Tel-Tec Security Systems.

Additional recognition went to dealers that achieved outstanding sales volume and partnership with DMP.

These awards are presented annually by DMP to celebrate the success of their dealers.

*TMA member company

View Dealer Awards Photo Album.

 

Elite Interactive Solutions Hosts Lunch-and Learn Event for Law Enforcement

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Elite Interactive Solutions, a remote video guarding pioneer using patented intelligence and integration to achieve proven crime prevention, recently gathered law enforcement officials to its headquarters for a special invitational lunch-and-learn event. The function exemplifies Elite’s multifaceted mission to strengthen private-public partnerships by educating officers on how remote guarding directly prevents crime and protects properties in real-time, eliminates false alarms, boosts law enforcement apprehensions productivity, and enhances their safety via critical, live crime scene information.

Hosted by Elite’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board, the well-received proceedings encompassed touring the company’s leading-edge, subterranean Security Operations Command Center (SOCC), a multimedia presentation held within an adjacently located auditorium, a Q&A session, lunch and networking. The SOCC is located within one of L.A.’s most bulletproof buildings, built to withstand an 8.9-magnitude earthquake. Attendee enthusiasm ran high at the event, as did widespread interest to encourage their respective LE agencies to support remote guarding relationships.

“Working closely and collaboratively with law enforcement is a crucial element to Elite’s unmatched real-time crime prevention solution. Although 96% of incidents are directly resolved by our command center through live voice-downs to sites within an average of 7 seconds, it’s essential that for the other 4% in which law enforcement is engaged they fully understand Elite’s capabilities and veracity such that they provide priority response that leads to arrests and detainments,” says Elite Security Director Noel Delgado. “Our recent event was an excellent way to get officers out of their daily routines to observe firsthand how optimized remote guarding works. Virtually everyone who witnesses how our command center operates becomes a believer.”

Further demonstrating Elite’s private-public partnerships, the firm is also the only provider of its kind that maintains its own Law Enforcement Advisory Board (LEAB) and
that is endorsed by FBI-LEEDA, which includes thousands of law enforcement executives. The LEAB serves as a protocol and communications bridge between the Elite SOCC and responding agencies.

“Elite has consistently demonstrated a companywide and nationwide commitment to stopping rather than reacting to crime, as well as acting in the best interests of not only their clients but police as well,” says LEAB member Justin Feffer, an attorney who retired in 2020 as commanding officer of the L.A. County D.A.’s Cyber Crime Section. “As someone who has been involved with law enforcement since 1988, I well know their challenges and how remote guarding serves as an invaluable force multiplier and safety net. It is an amazing experience when I tell them about it and see their eyes light up for that ‘Aha!’ moment.”

Members of the law enforcement community and security industry, along with property managers and other parties interested in seeing how leading-edge technology is being leveraged for real-time crime prevention are encouraged to contact Elite to schedule a command center tour.

Tampa Police Department Implements ASAP Service

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) announced today that the Tampa (Florida) Police Department (TPD) recently implemented its ASAP Service to lessen the impact of alarm/sensor-generated calls that its 911 Communications Center receives. The solution leverages the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), which was developed jointly by TMA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO). TPD is the 150th ECC to go live with ASAP.

Each year, the center handles about 300,000 calls for emergency service and dispatches the appropriate police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical response. Roughly 20,000 of these calls are generated by alarms and sensors.

Traditionally, alarm/sensor-generated alerts have been delivered to 911 centers via telephone. Each one required manual interaction between alarm-monitoring-center personnel and 911 telecommunicators. Sometimes it takes as many as five voice calls to deliver the information needed by the 911 center to dispatch the appropriate emergency response. This approach is time-consuming and prone to human error — both outcomes are highly detrimental to the ability of emergency responders to save lives and property.

ASAP Service eliminates these challenges by electronically transmitting alarm and sensor data directly into the 911 center’s computer-aided-dispatch (CAD) system, reducing response times by two minutes on average and freeing telecommunicators to prioritize 911 calls that require their unique skills and expertise.

This is especially important given how TPD’s 911 Communications Center operated before the advent of ASAP Service, according to Richard Parsons, communications supervisor. Unlike other 911 centers, alarm and sensor calls came into the center on a 911 line, rather than a nonemergency administrative line. Consequently, those calls went into the same call-waiting queue that contained calls that were reporting medical emergencies, crimes, car accidents, structure fires, and the like.

“So, someone having a heart attack might have to wait for a telecommunicator to finish handling a call that was triggered by an animal tripping a motion detector before getting the lifesaving help they need,” Parsons said. “ASAP Service eliminates that problem.”

According to Mike Terracciano, public-safety-technology manager for the city of Tampa, telecommunicators are trained to ask only those questions that will enable them to quickly determine the best response to the emergency. As a result, useful information that the alarm company possesses for each of its clients typically went untapped.

“Now, with ASAP Service, that supplemental information — which might ring important from a responder-safety perspective — is readily available and easily accessed,” Terracciano said.

Learn more about how TMA’s ASAP Service is saving lives every day nationwide at www.ASAP911.org.

About Tampa 911 Communications Center

The 911 Communications Center receives requests for emergency and nonemergency services from the public and various city agencies. The center’s primary mission is to provide effective and efficient communication between citizens requesting police, fire/rescue, and/or emergency-medical service and the units that respond. It also endeavors to expeditiously provide various other support services for police, fire, and administrative operations.

DMP Recognizes 2024 Top Dealers at Owners Forum

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DMP celebrated its top dealers at the DMP Owners Forum, held April 1, at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas the day before ISC West. Special recognition was given to dealers in the Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond level categories for their accomplishments in 2024.

Dealer of the Year awards were presented in several categories:

DMP also recognized Dealers of the Year for certain product categories, celebrating the use of these various products:

Dealer of the Year award winners were announced for certain vertical markets, including Banking Dealer of the Year, Securitas Technology, and Retail Dealer of the Year, OWL Services.

Each year, the New Dealer of the Year is celebrated. This year it was awarded to SAV Digital Environments. The Community Service Dealer Award was given to Tel-Tec Security Systems.

Additional recognition went to dealers that achieved outstanding sales volume and partnership with DMP.

These awards are presented annually by DMP to celebrate the success of its dealers. To view the dealer awards photo album, go here.