Tag Archive for: TMA

Atlanta Police Department Honored for Excellence in Alarm Management

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Marietta GA PolicePhoto: Marietta (GA) Police Chief Dan Flynn and SIAC Law Enforcement National Liaison Glen Mowrey Present Security Industry Alarm Coalition Directors Award of Distinction for Excellence in Alarm Management to Atlanta (GA) Police Assistant Chief Rodney Bryant.

The Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) Directors Award of Distinction for Excellence in Alarm Management was presented to the Atlanta (GA) Police Department during a December Command Staff Meeting. The Atlanta Police Department using the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP) Model Alarm Ordinance reduced their alarm calls by 56.9 percent over a four-year period, dropping alarm dispatches from 65,000 calls annually to 28,000 a reduction of 37,000 calls, netting 11.74 officers.

The award was presented by Chief Dan Flynn, Marietta (GA) Police Department and Chair of the GACP Alarm Management Committee and SIAC National Law Enforcement Liaison Glen Mowrey.  Chief of Police Erika Shields stated, “The reduction in alarm dispatches is significant for us and allows our officers to engage in additional community and crime prevention initiatives.”  She further stated, “We’ve worked with the alarm industry through the GACP’s Alarm Management Committee in developing our alarm program, and we look forward to our continued partnership with the committee and the industry in achieving greater results in the future”.

GACP Alarm Management Committee Chair, Chief Dan Flynn commented, “The Atlanta Police Department, being the major law enforcement agency in the state, is an excellent example of developing an effective alarm reduction program, and the committee commends Chief Shields and their leadership.”

Amazon Technical Evangelist to Highlight TMA Technology Summit

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CTOs, CIOs, Technical Directors of Monitoring Centers … Don’t Miss “Monitoring Center 2018: How to Modernize Your MTMA Tech Summit Logoonitoring Center for Omnichannel Customer Engagement”

Don’t let outdated technology hold you back!  Elevate your monitoring center, drive better business results and meet customers’ growing expectations by modernizing your facility. Learn about what types of technology (Speech Recognition for QC, text to speech, AI, etc) will help you break down your organizational silos and remove the limitations of legacy infrastructure.  Empower your operators to deliver consistent customer experiences at every touchpoint and across all channels within your organization.  Take back achievable solutions to update your infrastructure and learn about processes that are vital to support a personalized customer experience.

Join Randall Hunt, Senior Technical Evangelist and Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services in Los Angeles, for this session at TMA’s upcoming Technology Summit. Through his experienRandall Hunt Amazonces at SpaceX, MongoDB, AWS, and NASA, Hunt has dealt with a wide range of both business and technical issues across many different verticals and has a deep understanding of deploying large scale technical solutions to the cloud.

TMA Technology Summit Conference details and registration

TMA Excellence Awards Deadline March 23

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The Monitoring Association is now accepting applications for the 2018 Excellence Awards!

Is your company the best of the beTMA-Excellence-Awards-2018st? How about your staff? You can gain recognition throughout the industry for your efforts and success — apply now for the 2018 TMA Excellence Awards.

Sponsored by SDM Magazine, the TMA Excellence Awards recognize outstanding FM Global, Intertek/ETL or UL-listed monitoring centers and their exemplary personnel.

Award categories are Monitoring Center, Monitoring Center Manager, Monitoring Center Operator, and Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year.

Check out coverage of the 2017 winners in TMA Dispatch, SDM, and the TMA Blog. The 2018 winners will earn the same recognition following acknowledgment at ESX 2018.

Entry deadline is March 23. To apply, visit TMA Excellence Awards.

Make Plans Now for NFPA Technical Meeting in Vegas this June

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Are you planning to attend the 2018 NFPA Technical Meeting for the discussion of the update to NFPA 72, the National Fire Code? The meeting will be held June 14 beginning at 8 am local time in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Below is all the information you need to make your plans. Act now to take advantage of the best hotel and airfare rates. (Note that you must have joined NFPA by December 2017 in order to participate at the Technical Meeting.)

Registering for the Technical Meeting

Hotel Reservations

Several Las Vegas hotels (Mandalay Bay, Delano, Luxor and Excalibur) are offering great rates for the nights of June 13 and 14. We do ask that you plan to stay both nights because we are not sure what time the meeting will end on June 14 after the 8 am start. There is a long agenda. To find the hotels, visit https://www.nfpa.org/Training-and-Events/By-type/Conferences/Conference/Hotels . Book by March 15 for best “early bird” rates.

Traveling to Las Vegas

Airfares are low at the moment! We researched nonstop fares from the following major hubs, flying on June 13 and June 15.

  • O’Hare (ORD)                    $240
  • Miami (MIA)                      $282
  • Boston (BOS)                     $306
  • Dallas (DFW)                      $221
  • Newark (EWR)                  $295
  • Los Angeles (LAX)            $93
  • Seattle (SEA)                      $175

Onsite Details

TMA will continue to share details about this event as we get closer to the date. If you have not told us you are attending the NFPA Meeting, please contact TMA Vice President of Membership Celia Besore at cbesore@tma.us or 703-242-4670 x18 so that we can be sure to include you in future messages.

 

“The Marvel” Will Spotlight Monitoring Center Technology at ESX and on the Cover of Security Sales & Integration

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Marvel-LogoThe Monitoring Association and Security Sales & Integration are pleased to announce “The Marvel” — the inaugural TMA/SSI Monitoring Technology “Marvel” Award. In 2018, this new award will honor innovations in monitoring center technology. It will be co-sponsored by TMA and Security Sales & Integration (SSI) and coordinated by the TMA Technology Committee.

The purpose of the Marvel is to provide recognition for monitoring centers creating and/or using cutting-edge technology and to raise awareness of these new technologies. The Marvel will be presented to one overall winner for the “best adoption of new technology to advance your business.” Submissions could include:

  • Best implementation of video verification
  • Best implementation of PERS monitoring
  • Best technology to build efficiency in monitoring
  • Best cybersecurity
  • Best new business model
  • Best migration to the Cloud

The winning monitoring center will be featured on the cover of the August 2018 Monitoring Issue of SSI; runners-up will receive mention inside the magazine as part of a feature article on the awards. The winner and runners-up will be recognized in front of their peers at ESX 2018 at one of the general sessions and featured on the TMA website and in TMA Dispatch.

Submissions will be accepted January 19 through March 30, 2018. The winner will be announced at ESX 2018 in June in Nashville.

To download the application form, visit Marvel Award.

 

TMA Announces Technology Summit in March 2018

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Security Technology Professionals to Discuss Monitoring Center Tech Trends and Issues at the Inaugural TMA Technology Summit in March 2018

The Monitoring Association announced its first “TMA Technology Summit,” to be held March 19-21, 2018 in Salt Lake City, UT. This new event is coordinated by TMA’s Technology Committee, which is co-chaired by Sascha Kylau, Vice President of Sales, Onetel Security and Steve Butkovich, CTO, CPI Security Systems.

“We invite CTOs, CIOs, and IT directors of monitoring companies to participate in the first TMA Tech Summit to learn about and discuss technology issues that directly affect monitoring centers,” said Kylau.

Education is a prime component of TMA’s mission, and the association is well-known for the high-level educational offerings at its Annual Meeting, Electronic Security Expo (ESX), Fall Operations Management Seminar, and online courses. The Technology Summit will address the emerging education needs of security technology professionals. “By attending, these tech pros will learn about the newest technologies — hardware, software and services — to run their central stations securely and efficiently, minimizing downtime and protecting them from internal and external threats,” Kylau continued.

“We also welcome dealers, owners, and interested participants from manufacturing companies,” said Butkovich. “We’ll be talking about all the things that matter when it comes to technology and running and securing an effective business.”

Sessions and topics will include:

  • Intelligent Apps and Analytics
  • MPLS, SD-WAN, Secure VPNs (What are they and what is best for my business)
  • Contact Center 2018 (Speech Recognition for QC, text to speech, AI, and more)
  • Data Storage (New Storage options and best practices for storage and Data Retention)
  • 3G, LTE, FirstNet, 5G and beyond
  • Next Gen Linux Mainframe
  • CyberSecurity (Gap & Risk Assessment — It’s a Business Issue, Not Just an IT issue)
  • Next Gen Firewalls and other Cyber hardware tools
  • Data backup and recovery solutions
  • Data Encryption

The TMA Technology Summit is modeled after the popular annual TMA Fall Operations Management Seminar. Each of the two days will conclude with round-table discussions of the day’s presentations. Speakers, session leaders, sponsors and vendors will be announced in the coming weeks.

The housing block at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek, 75 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 will open in early January. The registration fee is $595 for TMA members, $695 for non-members. For schedule details and to register and find the housing link, visit http://tma.us/tma-tech-summit/ .

 

2017: TMA’s Year In Review

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holiday card 2017What an eventful year … we started out as the Central Station Alarm Association and finished as The Monitoring Association! We welcomed our first members in our expanded categories and our first Canadian president. Read on for our full recap of 2017. TMA thanks our members for their support and participation! To get more involved with TMA in 2018, contact Celia Besore at membership@tma.us.

January: Bucks County is the first ASAP implementation in the state of Pennsylvania, kicking off a year of significant growth for the service.

March: CSAA becomes The Monitoring Association (TMA).

April: TMA welcomes its first Non-Listed Non-Alarm member, Eyewitness Surveillance, and its first Security Technology Services Provider member, Guardian Alarm of Florida, LLC dba Guardian Hawk Security.

May: Doyle Security goes live with ASAP; Rochester/Monroe County is the first ASAP implementation in New York State.

June: TMA co-hosts the 10th annual Electronic Security Expo (ESX) in Nashville, TN.

June: At ESX, TMA announces the 2017 TMA Excellence Awards winners:

  • Monitoring Center of the Year: Vivint SmartHome
  • Monitoring Center Operator of the Year: Craig Pierce, Safe Systems
  • Monitoring Center Manager of the Year: Keith Godsey, Dynamark
  • Monitoring Center Support Person of the Year: Laura Jacobson, Cooperative Response Center

June: Rochester/Monroe County, NY’s John Merklinger receives the 2017 TMA Public Sector Award for his efforts to bring ASAP to New York State.

July: Dane County is the first ASAP implementation in Wisconsin.

August: TMA welcomes its first Non-Listed Alarm member, Western Alarm Services, Inc.

September: Johnson Controls Building Solutions, North America goes live with ASAP.

October: TMA holds its annual meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, highlighted by increased numbers of new members, first time attendees, and “TMA NextGen” professionals joining long-time attendees.

October: Rapid Response’s Morgan Hertel receives the Stanley C. Lott Award, TMA’s highest honor.

October: Onetel’s Sascha Kylau receives the TMA President’s Award.

October: TMA members at the Annual Meeting donate more than $2000 to the Hurricane Harvey relief effort in support of ASAP partner the Houston Emergency Response Center.

October: Sentinel Alarm’s Ivan Spector becomes TMA’s first Canadian president.

November: TMA releases a new training course for monitoring center operators, created to address the challenges of 21st-century monitoring.

November: Hamilton County/Chattanooga is the first ASAP implementation in Tennessee.

November: “Evolutionary Monitoring,” the TMA Fall Operations Management Seminar, features tours of UL headquarters’ testing laboratories and Walgreens’ Security Operations Center.

December: TMA announces the inaugural “TMA Technology Summit” to be held in March 2018 as part of its strategic goal to assist its members with technology challenges.

December: The number of students who have registered for TMA’s online training since the program’s inception reaches nearly 25,000.

December: 129 companies in 145 locations earned TMA Five Diamond® designation in 2017.

 

 

Monroeville, PA to Cut Emergency Response Times with ASAP

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On December 19, Monroeville became the first municipality in the Pittsburgh area to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a service designed to automate communication between alarm monitoring central stations and public safety dispatch/911 centers. Monroeville is the 32nd “PSAP” in the United States and second in Pennsylvania to connect with ASAP.

“Every second counts in emergencies,” said Monroeville Chief of Police Doug Cole. “With ASAP, we’ll be able to reduce call-processing times to provide quicker and more accurate emergency response to Monroeville citizens.”

Electronic data transmission results in the following benefits for residents and first responders:

  • Fewer phone calls to emergency response centers. Alarm center data is passed to public safety dispatch/911 operators electronically within seconds and then provided to first responders upon dispatch to the location.ASAP-Concept1D
  • Quicker processing times. Data doesn’t have to be input manually or communicated verbally, resulting in reduced hold times, less chance of human error and faster responses.
  • Greater accuracy of information transmitted.
  • More prompt action during natural disasters. It’s common for public safety dispatch/911 centers to be overwhelmed with calls during these types of emergencies.

Monroeville receives 2,500 calls at its dispatch center monthly. Historically, its average alarm response time has been between two to four minutes. With ASAP delivering alarm notification information directly from central stations to public safety answering points (PSAPs) and public safety dispatch centers via computer rather than by phone, the municipality expects alarm response times to drop to a minute and half or less. These benefits will extend across Monroeville police, fire and emergency medical services, and Pitcairn police and emergency medical services, according to Monroeville’s statement.

For more information about ASAP, visit tma.us/asap.

Source: PRNewswire

FCC Repeals Net Neutrality

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As anticipated, on December 14, the FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to adopt an Order repealing the 2015 Net Neutrality Order. Among other things, the Order:

  • Reclassifies broadband Internet access service as an information service (removing it from Title II regulation);
  • Reinstates the private mobile service classification of mobile broadband Internet access service;
  • Eliminates the Bright Line Rules (no blocking/throttling/paid prioritization) and the Internet Conduct Standard (a general code of conduct for ISPs);
  • Adopts transparency requirements that ISPs disclose information about their practices to consumers;
  • Looks to the Federal Trade Commission’s to protect consumers online from any unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive practices.

TMA’s Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) filed reply comments in the FCC’s proceeding stating that its members compete directly with certain large broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers in the provision of security monitoring, installation, and other service while at the same time being dependent upon the BIAS carriers’ transmission services. Although AICC urged the Commission to maintain its Bright Line Rules, which prohibit BIAS providers from blocking or throttling traffic and also prohibit paid prioritization for broadband Internet access service, the FCC eliminated them. 

AICC also argued that the FCC should maintain Section 275 of the Act, which was adopted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a compromise between the alarm industry and the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) to protect the alarm industry from discrimination by the former BOCs. Section 275 provided four main protections for the alarm industry:

  1. It prohibited the BOCs from entering the alarm industry market for five years (which provision has since expired)
  2. It requires any incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) that is engaged in the provision of alarm monitoring services to provide non-affiliated entities the same network services it provides to its own alarm monitoring operations on nondiscriminatory terms and conditions
  3. It prohibits an ILEC from subsidizing its alarm monitoring services from telephone exchange service operations
  4. It required the Commission to establish expedited procedures for the receipt and review of complaints regarding Section 275.

The Order did not address Section 275, despite the pleas of AT&T and others to eliminate it, and its protections remain in place.

AICC will continue to follow and report on Net Neutrality developments and how they may affect alarm industry businesses.

Sarasota, FL Is Live with ASAP

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ASAP-Concept1DOn November 28, Sarasota County, FL went live with ASAP — the 31st PSAP to implement ASAP, and the 3rd in the state of Florida.

By connecting directly with our CAD, ASAP-to-PSAP will relieve Sarasota’s emergency call takers of approximately 3400 alarm calls monthly, leaving them available to answer 9-1-1 calls quicker,” said Sally J. Lawrence, 9-1-1 Coordinator, Public Safety Communications  for Sarasota County. “Additionally, the direct messaging between the dispatcher and alarm company makes for clear, direct and documented communication without the need for a phone call, leaving the dispatcher available to listen to the radio.”

2017 has been a momentous year for ASAP. To read about the alarm companies and PSAPs that have connected this year, click here. For more information, visit tma.us/asap/.