Public Safety Organizations Sign Joint Letter Opposing NextNav Petition to the FCC

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The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO), International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) signed a joint letter to the FCC outlining their concerns that NextNav’s proposed PNT solutions could negatively affect existing incumbent operations essential to the preservation of life and safety.

The letter references the evidence from recent reports and studies, such as the engineering review submitted into the record by Pericle that highlights potential risks of NextNav’s proposal to critical life safety systems noting that these systems are prevalent throughout our country, especially in Americans’ homes and businesses. The letter states that the rule changes requested in the NextNav petition could have significant negative consequences for public safety.

The letter, dated November 13, 2025,  calls out key examples of devices that could be affected if NextNav’s proposals were allowed to proceed:

  • Man down systems/solutions. These devices and solutions help provide public safety agencies with the location of first responders and other pertinent life-safety data while on the scene of an incident. They are especially critical for public safety personnel, because they provide critical tracking data for first responders in unfamiliar settings.
  • Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) systems. SCBA systems provide respiratory protection for first responders in hazardous environments, including fire and areas with toxic gas. These devices may incorporate connectivity features over the Lower 900 MHz band to monitor firefighter status, air supply levels, and environmental conditions. This enables remote monitoring of air cylinder pressures, automatic alerts if a wearer is in distress or immobile, and integration with incident management software for real-time safety oversight.
  • IoT wildfire sensing and wind profile radars. Connected cameras and sensors equipped with AI use the Lower 900 MHz band to detect environmental conditions conducive to wildfires and create wind predictions for wildfire mitigation. These systems provide early warning and situational awareness to inform public safety decision-making and resource deployment.
  • Preemption of traffic signals. These devices help emergency vehicles override typical traffic signal operations. They ensure that emergency vehicles have the right-of-way and can reach the incident scene in a quick and timely manner.
  • Automatic utility gas/electric shut off capabilities. When first responders encounter a scene where live electricity or a gas leak is present, often their first call is to utility companies. Remote shut-off systems operate on the Lower 900 MHz Band. If gas and electric companies cannot operate their remote shut off systems, first responders’ lives and safety could be at risk.
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: These detectors can be found in the homes of most American citizens. These devices alert people to unsafe levels of smoke or carbon monoxide present in residences or businesses, so that people can evacuate safely. These detectors are often connected directly to alarm companies to allow first responders to arrive on the scene more quickly.

Read the full letter.

Latest News on NextNav Petition to the FCC Focus of SIA Webinar, May 11th

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The lower 900 MHz band (902-928 MHz) is used by millions of Part 15 low-power, radio frequency security and life safety devices such as consumer electronics and appliances, wireless alarm systems, smart home equipment, electronic access control devices and others essential for protecting homes, small businesses and critical infrastructure. A monopolistic proposal from a single company before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks to reallocate portions of this band of spectrum for an exclusive license and remove an FCC rule that has protected Part 15 devices from harmful interference and preserved this ecosystem for decades. The Security Industry Association (SIA) and numerous other public safety organizations are opposing this proposal and are fighting it on Capitol Hill.

Join this webinar presented by SIA to learn about the proposal, get an update on where our advocacy efforts stand and discuss the impacts on the security industry devices that communicate in the spectrum.

Panelists will share:

  • An overview of the petition and where it stands today
  • A look at our technical analysis of how this will impact devices in the band
  • A snapshot of SIA’s advocacy on the issue
  • What you can do to help protect this band for security products and services

Speakers:

Jake Parker, senior director of government relations, SIA

Lauren Bresette, senior manager of government relations, SIA

Date: May 11, 2026, 1:00 PM/ET

REGISTER 

 

Vector Security, Inc. Hires David G. Smith as Chief Financial Officer

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Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.Vector Security, Inc., a leading provider of intelligent security and automation solutions tailored to residential and business customers, has hired David G. Smith as Chief Financial Officer.

In this role, Dave serves as a key member of Vector Security’s executive leadership team, overseeing the company’s financial strategy and operations. His responsibilities include financial planning and analysis, accounting and reporting, budgeting, treasury, capital allocation, risk management, and banking relationships.

With more than two decades of financial leadership experience, Dave most recently served as CFO at Protein Bar Holdings, LLC, where he led comprehensive financial strategy and value creation initiatives.

“Dave’s ability to align financial strategy with enterprise growth makes him a strong addition to our leadership team,†said Pamela J. Petrow, President and CEO of Vector Security. “As we focus on disciplined growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation, his leadership will play a critical role in supporting our strategic priorities, and positioning the company for continued success.â€

Immix and RAD Win SIA New Product Showcase Award for “SARA Alive Operating Inside Immix”

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Immix, a leading provider of software for commercial monitoring centers, and Robotic Assistance Devices, Inc. (RAD), a subsidiary of Artificial Intelligence Technology Solutions, Inc. (AITX), today announced that “SARA Alive Operating Inside Immix†has been named a winner in the Commercial Monitoring Solutions category at the Security Industry Association (SIA) New Product Showcase (NPS) Awards at ISC West 2026.

This recognition builds on the ongoing collaboration between Immix and RAD, which began with the development of a feature-rich, device-level integration designed to deliver greater visibility, control, and real-time context to monitoring center operators. That foundation has since evolved to support more advanced capabilities, including the ability for SARA Alive to operate directly within the Immix platform and execute monitoring tasks in real time.

Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.Monitoring centers today face increasing pressure from fluctuating event volumes, staffing variability, rising operational costs, and an expanding threat landscape. This award highlights a growing need for solutions that improve performance, consistency, and scalability while preserving the flexibility required to support a wide range of operational models.

“It’s meaningful to see this recognized by the industry, especially given how thoughtfully monitoring centers approach change,†said Chris Brown, CEO of Immix. “Our customers are navigating real operational challenges every day, and they need solutions that give them flexibility in how they adapt. This is about enabling them to evolve at their own pace – introducing automation where it makes sense, while maintaining the level of human involvement they expect.â€

SARA Alive Operating Inside Immix represents the next phase of this collaboration. By interacting directly with the Immix user interface, SARA is able to execute monitoring tasks in real time, including alarm review, verification, engagement, and escalation. This allows routine, process-driven events to be handled with speed and consistency, while enabling human operators to remain focused on higher-risk and more complex situations.

“The real challenge isn’t introducing automation – it’s doing it in a way that aligns with how monitoring centers already operate,†said Mark Kenna, CTO of Immix. “By leveraging an API-less integration model, SARA can be deployed into existing environments much like onboarding a new operator, without requiring infrastructure changes. This makes it a practical and controlled way for customers to adopt automation without disruption.â€

The evolution of this solution has been supported by deeper integration of RAD’s devices within the Immix platform, enabling enhanced capabilities such as live video access, audio interaction, and device-level control. These features provide operators – and now SARA – with the context and tools needed to take meaningful action during an event.

“Our industry has spent years talking about automation inside the monitoring center,†said Steve Reinharz, CEO/CTO and founder of AITX and RAD. “SARA Alive operating inside Immix demonstrates what that looks like in practice – handling real monitoring tasks with speed and consistency. This recognition reinforces the role automation can play in helping organizations scale their operations while supporting the people responsible for critical decisions.â€

By combining Immix’s monitoring platform with RAD’s AI-driven capabilities and device ecosystem, the solution delivers measurable operational benefits, including:

  • Improved performance and throughput
  • Consistent, SOP-driven execution of routine events
  • Greater operational resilience in the face of fluctuating activity
  • More effective use of human operators for higher-risk incidents

The SIA New Product Showcase Awards, presented annually at ISC West, honor innovative security products, services, and solutions across multiple categories. The Commercial Monitoring Solutions category recognizes technologies that enhance monitoring operations and response capabilities.

 

TMA Standards Chair Heads ISC West Panel on ANSO/TMA-ATN-01

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Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.TMA Standards Committee Chair Morgan Hertel, Rapid Response Monitoring, facilitated an educational session at ISC West in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 24th on TMA’s newest ANSI standard – Active Threat Detection Standard (TMA-ATN-01). The session highlighted how implementing the standard can increase efficiency, accuracy, and speed for monitoring centers and responding agencies in an active threat event.

The presentation panel also featured Mike Picciola, ADT; Megan Bixler, RPL, CPE, APCO International; and Richard Onofrio, Shooter Detection Systems (pictured here). All contributed to the development of the standard, which was released in 2025.
Learn more TMA-ATN-01 and download the standard at https://tma.us/standards/tma-atn-01/.

DICE Corporation Introduces New Billing Platform for Wholesale Monitoring Companies

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Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.DICE Corporation has developed a billing platform for wholesale monitoring companies and their dealers that integrates with the DICE Alarm & Video monitoring suite of products, including the DICE Matrix and Ceila.ai platforms.

The new system allows wholesale monitoring companies to provide billing and collection services to their dealers and integrators. It includes a portal where dealers can view billing status, including revenue billed and collected. The system also features a collection management component that displays the status of collections, identifies past-due accounts, and shows which accounts have received suspension warnings.

For clients and subscribers, the system offers modern email communications that include PDF invoices and statements with a click-to-pay option, allowing them to pay using their preferred payment method. Subscribers can also log in to the online portal to view past bills and statements, as well as set up automatic payment processing.

The new software is part of DICE Corporation’s platform, which utilizes the Microsoft Dynamics Business Central stack, providing a full financial solution for back-office operations, Sales CRM, and Field Service platforms designed for small to midsize companies and their budgets. Cliff Dice, CEO of DICE Corporation, said, “This service is one of the many products we are bringing to the wholesale dealer monitoring sector of the industry as we begin rolling out one product after another. It’s really an exciting time, as we believe the many products coming out for dealers and integrators will enhance, like never before, the number of options they have to run their businesses.â€

DICE Corporation is one of the industry’s most well-known software companies, providing alarm centers with systems for handling alarm events, video events, and PERS monitoring. The company also develops PBX systems built directly into its automation platform and offers one of the most advanced recurring billing financial systems integrated with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.

Congressional Fire Services Institute Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner

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Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.TMA CEO Whitney Doll attended the Congressional Fire Services Institute Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on March 19th in Washington, DC. The event brings together leaders from across the fire and emergency services community to connect, share insights, and advance critical priorities.

Also in attendance were members of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Fire and Life Safety Section (FLSS) Board of Directors.

“I enjoyed seeing many familiar faces and learning more about the issues shaping the future of fire prevention and life safety.. It was such an inspiring evening and a powerful reminder of the importance of collaboration in advancing safety and security,” she shared.

Thank you to Richard Roberts (pictured here with Whitney) and Honeywell for the invitation to attend.

DICE Corporation AI Software has been Deployed by Clear Response Monitoring

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Clear Response Monitoring has deployed new AI data conversion software released by DICE Corporation for acquiring and converting dealer data within minutes from major
alarm automation software systems to the DICE Matrix and Ceila.ai platforms. Clear Response, one of the larger wholesale monitoring companies in the southern United States using
DICE for alarm and video monitoring, continues to grow and onboard new dealers as it expands its reach. The company needed a system that could efficiently transition dealers within a day or two.

Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.Glen Carter, founder and president of Clear Response Monitoring, said, “When dealers want to move, they don’t want to wait. They also want confidence that their data and the transition experience will be positive for their business. Using this system, we recently moved just over 20,000 accounts spanning roughly 40 dealers. It has been an amazing experience, allowing us to migrate not only alarm account data but also fully monitored video systems.â€

The new software is part of DICE Corporation’s platform stack called Ceila.ai, which incorporates various AI developments from the company’s LabWorks division. These innovations are designed to bring advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to the security industry and help transform how monitoring operations function.

Cliff Dice, founder of DICE Corporation, stated, “We are releasing many different AI products that will make competing with DICE much more difficult for alarm centers that do not have our technology. We are seeing tremendous growth in DICE deployments across event management and our flagship video monitoring products.â€

Dice also added that he believes the industry will eventually consolidate around a smaller number of software platforms. “In the end, there will likely be fewer software choices in the industry, and DICE intends to be the most advanced and dominant platform in this rapidly changing market.†Clear Response Monitoring is one of the largest wholesale alarm monitoring central stations in Louisiana.

The company supports many smaller alarm dealers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas who install fire, burglary, and life safety systems and are increasingly seeking video verification and AI object detection to better protect subscriber sites.

DICE Corporation is one of the industry’s most well-known software companies, providing alarm centers with systems for handling alarm events, video events, and PERS monitoring. The company also produces PBX systems built directly into its automation platform and offers one of the most advanced recurring billing financial systems integrated with Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.

DMP Launches Partnership with System Surveyor

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Digital Monitoring Products (DMP) announced a partnership with System Surveyor, a digital system design platform for security and technology integrators. The collaboration will provide DMP dealers with advanced tools to simplify system planning, automate documentation and accelerate the sales process.

Enter TMA's 2026 Awards with a deadline of April 3, 2026.The partnership grants DMP dealers access to System Surveyor’s mobile, collaborative system design platform. Incorporating DMP system components within the platform, dealers can design intrusion, access control, fire and video systems directly on digital floor plans, while automatically generating a bill of materials and project documentation and requirements.

The companies said their collaboration gives DMP dealers the ability to move with greater efficiency from site survey to system proposal, streamlining planning workflows and maintaining accuracy across the design and installation processes. The integration allows dealers to produce professional proposals in a swift manner, reducing system design time up to 50%.

“At DMP, we are always looking for ways to help our dealers optimize productivity and acquire more business,†said Mark Hillenburg, Vice President of Industry Relations. “In partnering with System Surveyor, our dealers gain an improved way of designing DMP systems and communicating with their teams, customers and project stakeholders.â€

“System Surveyor is focused on helping integrators simplify system design and collaborate more effectively,†said Chris Hugman, co-founder and CEO of System Surveyor. “Working with DMP allows dealers to design intrusion and access control deployments with greater clarity, generate accurate documentation and accelerate the entire proposal process.â€

 Learn more at https://www.dmp.com/design-tools