Three Minnesota ECCs Go Live with ASAP-to-PSAP

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The City of Bloomington MN, Dakota County MN, and Rice-Steele Counties MN respectively became the 105th, 106th, and 107th Emergency Communications Centers in the United States and the 3rd, 4th and 5th agencies in the state of Minnesota to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP-to-PSAP).

The City of Bloomington went live on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, Dakota County went live on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, and Rice-Steele Counties went live on Thursday, May 5, 2022. Each PSAP went live with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Quick Response, Stanley Security, United Central Control, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Protection One, Brinks, Affiliated Monitoring, Vivint, National Monitoring Center, and ADT.

TMA and Security Systems News Announce Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) and Security Systems News have partnered to create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award with the goal of promoting and fostering a more inclusive workforce throughout the security industry.

Today’s business world requires that businesses create, foster, and encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace to be successful. Doing so stimulates innovation; drives better decisions; makes teams more agile; and results in better business outcomes for employees and customers. These improvements result in higher levels of employee engagement and better financial performance.

The idea for the “TMA/SSN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award” emerged from a small working group comprised of TMA CEO Celia T. Besore; TMA President-Elect Steve Butkovich, SSN Editor Paul Ragusa, and staff in 2021. The award will be given to TMA members who demonstrate a commitment to DEI policies and programs across their organization.

“TMA, together with Security Systems News, seeks to be an agent of change and to raise awareness of the significance and the value of DEI initiatives within the security business sector. We’re proud to introduce this new award as a means to bring this critical issue to the forefront, to inform, and to empower companies to embrace and embed these core principles,” stated Celia T. Besore, CEO, TMA.

“With workforce development one of key topics within security today, the focus and conversation has turned to building a strong company culture that attracts quality candidates and inspires them to want to stay and grow in your company,” added Paul Ragusa, editor, Security Systems News. “Creating an environment that is inclusive, open and based on a strong DEI framework is key to successfully retaining top talent, and this new award was created to recognize companies that are leaders in this area.”

The efforts and achievements must have been demonstrated through specific work with other individuals or groups, or through a specific product, initiative, innovative programs, or activities that have a visible, tangible, or measurable impact on the perception of, attitude toward, and respect for a truly inclusive environment, where individuals are valued for their talent and able to reach their full potential.

Each nominee will be asked to deploy the TMA/SSN DEI Employee Assessment Survey to their employees. The web-based assessment tool consists of approximately 40 questions covering eight facets of DEI practice within your organization. (Companies will receive only a summary report without individual responses.)

Each nominee will also be required to submit one to four “Shared Success Examples” of how their organization implements DEI-related activities in the following areas of focus, such as:

  • Workforce Diversity
  • Multicultural Outreach
  • Community Involvement

The TMA/SSN DEI Leadership Award aims to:

  • Raise industry awareness of the importance and value of being a diverse and inclusive industry.
  • Recognize TMA member organizations who have developed innovative initiatives to foster DEI efforts within their organization.
  • Initiatives may include new hiring policies; practices to create and retain diverse candidate pools; best practices for facilitating difficult dialogue; and how to create an effective diversity program within your organization.
  • Inspire business strategies and industry best practices that reach out to diverse populations.
  • Through analysis and sharing of the information obtained from the TMA/SSN DEI Employee Assessment Survey, organizations across the industry can gain valuable insights into the development or improvement of their own DEI policies and programs.

Companies interested in applying for the award, please click here to begin the nomination process.

Preliminary Technical Review Period Opens for TMA-AVS01 Standard

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The Preliminary Technical Review period is now open for the TMA-AVS01 Alarm Validation Standard. The purpose of this optional review process is to allow interested stakeholders to provide feedback prior to the commencement of the official ANSI public comment period.

 

The TMA-AVS-01 committee will review all preliminary comments for possible inclusion in the document published for review during the ANSI public comment period.

 

All comments must be received through the TMA portal no later than 8:00 PM, June 17, 2022. Access the TMA online comment form at http://tma.us/avs01commentform

 

We are planning a webinar on or about May 25th to answer questions. Responders are encouraged to submit comments as early as possible.

 

After the committee has prepared a final draft document, TMA will submit to ANSI, with the desire to initiate the 60-day ANSI Public Comment process.

 

If you were unable to be in attendance for the AVS-01 Webinar on May 2, 2022, you can view a recording at https://vimeo.com/705870823/2d66afe899

 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Bryan Ginn at bginn@tma.us. 

Denver City and Country Bring TMA’s ASAP-to-PSAP to 104 ECCs Nationwide

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The Denver 9-1-1 Communications Center is the 104th emergency communications center in the United States and the 2nd agency in the state of Colorado to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Denver went live on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 through Friday, April 15, 2022 with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Guardian Protection, Security Central, Stanley Security, Securitas, United Central Control, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Protection One, Brinks, Affiliated Monitoring, Vivint, National Monitoring Center, and ADT. Alarm Detection Systems based in Aurora IL will be live with Denver over the upcoming days.

Learn more about TMA’s growing ASAP-to-PSAP Service.

TMA’s 2022 Excellence Awards and Marvel Technology Award Winners Announced

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On Monday, April 25th, TMA had the pleasure of presenting its 2022 Excellence Awards and Marvel Technology Award.

Please join in congratulating our outstanding winners.

2022 Excellence Awards

Monitoring Center of the Year – Enterprise

AvantGuard Monitoring Centers

Monitoring Center of the Year – SMB

EPS Security

Monitoring Center Manager of the Year

Marcos Reyes, Kimberlite-Sonitrol Corporation

Monitoring Center Operator of the Year

Sydney Johnston, EPS Security

Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year

LaMar A. Shroyer, Dynamark Monitoring, Inc.

 

2022 Marvel Technology Award

SentryAI & USA Monitoring Center

TMA to Introduce New Standard in 5/2 Webinar

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Register now to attend TMA Signature Webinar Series: Impact on the Security Industry and Public Safety of AVS-01.

Join committee leaders to hear about the latest updates on the TMA-AVS-01 Alarm Validation Standard, scheduled for comment later this year. TMA-AVS-01 provides a standardized method of creating an alarm scoring or classification metric for unauthorized human activity detected by alarm systems that will assist law enforcement with resource allocation and Call for Service prioritization.

Borrowing from a successful UL practice, TMA will conduct a preliminary comment period for the TMA-AVS-01 standard. This 30-day preliminary comment period is an optional process, not required by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The preliminary comment period will provide an opportunity for TMA members and other interested stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft document, prior to the formal ANSI Public Comment period. Hear about what you’ll need to know to participate in the preliminary comment period. Time will be set aside for Q&A.

Please register for TMA Signature Webinar Series: Impact on the Security Industry and Public Safety of AVS-01 on May 2, 2022 1:00 PM EDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7869550389177568779

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

TMATraining.org Introduces New Online Education Offerings – Adding More Than 75 Hours of CEU courses

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The Monitoring Association (TMA) is excited to share that it has greatly expanded its online library of education and training courses offered on its Learning Management System (LMS) at TMATraining.org. More than 75 hours of course work have been added as a result of a formal collaboration with SecurityCEU.com. Topics vary widely and include customer service; sales; access control; IP video; IP networking; perimeter security detection; troubleshooting; writing effective incident reports; wireless technologies; cyber and cloud security; effective communication; alarm science; project management; and more. Additionally, TMA will now offer the National Training Program (NTP)’s Field Service Technician (FST) program in cooperation with the California Alarm Association (CAA) and Syncomm Management Group, Inc.

TMA members will also receive a 20% discount on the purchase of the course library subscription through April 30th. Use code TMA4591 at checkout. (Note: you must use your company email address to receive the discount.)

Register to attend TMA Signature Webinar Series: How to Navigate the New TMA Learning Center (TMATraining.org) to get all of the details. It’s set for May 5th at 1:30PM ET. Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8942622060564516623

“Education has long been a hallmark of TMA,” stated TMA President Morgan Hertel. “As the trade association for the professional monitoring industry, our members look to TMA for professional development courses that deliver high-quality content that focus on their distinct business needs and licensing requirements. We are successful when our members achieve success. With the addition of these valuable courses, TMA is in a much stronger position to equip its members with the knowledge and abilities to grow and excel in today’s competitive marketplace. It’s an exciting time.”

These new additions join TMA’s existing thirteen (13) online operator training modules on topics ranging from leadership, customer service, and call handling to cybersecurity, false alarm management, and standards that make up the Monitoring Center Operator Online Level 1 and Level 2 courses.

“We are delighted to bring our rich content, approved at the national and state level for license compliance to TMA. CMOOR has worked with TMA for almost 18 years in one capacity or another. This was a natural progression of our already strong relationship, where the members and TMA as an organization will benefit,” remarked Connie Moorhead, president, The CMOOR Group, the owner and operator of SecurityCEU.com.

“We are proud to partner with The Monitoring Association to present foundational training to their members in advancement of their core mission,” said Jerry Lenander of the National Training Program.  “The Field Service Technician curriculum is a comprehensive offering that reflects the changing technology in the industry.”

View TMA’s complete library of educational offerings at TMATraining.org.

Take your seat at the Standards table! New opportunities available.

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Standards are important to how your business operates. Participation in writing those standards allows you to have a voice. Please give serious consideration to participating on the following three important standards initiatives concerning NFPA 72 (National Fire Code) 2025 Cycle.

NFPA 72 2025 Cycle
NFPA has initiated the process to consider changes to the 2025 edition of NFPA 72, The National Fire Code. Suggested changes to the standard are to be submitted in June, 2022. TMA members routinely summit suggested changes as individuals. TMA may also submit suggested changes on behalf of membership. To review possible TMA submissions, TMA’s Standards Committee is establishing a workgroup to determine what submissions should be made. It is important that membership participate in this activity. Please have fire alarm subject matter experts within your firms participate on this very important work-group.

TMA CO Standard
The TMA CO standard (CS-CO-01) has been withdrawn by ANSI. Monitoring of CO alarms is covered by NFPA 72. There are differences between CS-CO-01 and NFPA 72. While it is not the intent of TMA to interpret code for members, CS-CO-01 implied that the premises should be notified first. NFPA 72 can be interpreted as allowing either the premises or first responders (PSAP, call-for service) to get the first notification, allowing for local AHJ requirements. The NFPA 72 work-group will review this issue.

The NFPA 72 work-group being established (above) will also address the CO standards issue.

NFPA 72 SIG-SSS Membership
Jay Hauhn currently represents TMA on this NFPA-72 committee. Tony Mucci from JCI serves as Jay’s alternate. Jay has announced his retirement from the committee and Tony Mucci will move from committee alternate to principal. TMA is seeking a fire alarm expert to serve as the alternate on the committee. If you are interested, please notify Glenn Schroeder (standards@tma.us) or Celia Besore (cbesore@tma.us) by Friday, April 8th.

Two Indiana ECCs Go Live with TMA’s ASAP-to-PSAP Service

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TMA welcomed it’s 101st and 102nd ECC to its ASAP-to-PSAP service last week.

City of Lawrence IN

The City of Lawrence IN is the 101st emergency communications center (ECC) in the United States and the 2nd agency in the state of Indiana to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). The City of Lawrence ECC went live on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Security Central, Affiliated Monitoring, Securitas, Quick Response, Stanley Security, Tyco (Johnson Controls), United Central Control, Guardian Protection, Brinks Home Security, National Monitoring Center, Protection One, Vivint, and ADT. The City of Lawrence operates as a spoke on the Indianapolis CAD hub.

Hendricks County IN

Hendricks County IN is the 102nd emergency communications center (ECC) in the United States and the 3rd agency in the state of Indiana to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Hendricks County went live on Thursday, March 10, 2022, with Vector Security, Rapid Response Monitoring, Stanley Security, Affiliated Monitoring, Tyco (Johnson Controls), ADS Security, United Central Control, Quick Response, Securitas, National Monitoring Center, Security Central, Protection One, Guardian Protection, Brinks Home Security, Vivint, and ADT. Like Lawrence, Hendricks County also operates as a spoke on the Indianapolis CAD hub.