Prevent Theft with Security Systems

EL DORADO, Calif.—When you think of “the largest” surveillance systems in the country, you might think of the thousands of cameras deployed in Chicago or New York City, but also consider a new surveillance system deployed by El Dorado County here to help fight forest fires: Some cameras send back signals wirelessly across as much as 26 miles.
Designed and installed by Vicom Wireless, a 10-person integration firm based here and focusing on broadband wireless transport of video surveillance, the current system features three Pelco Esprit HD cameras beaming back information over Exalt microwave radios at 5.8 GHz, with 200 Mbps of aggregate Ethernet throughput. Vicom hopes to eventually expand the system to as many as 25 other locations in El Dorado County.
All of which is easier said than done, said Jim Cinquini, president of Vicom Wireless, but “I thought wireless video surveillance was an absolutely untapped resource … with the cost involved to dispatch aircraft, which is the normal course of things when fires get reported by the public,” wireless cameras can be a real cost saver for the California Department of Forestry.
One of the more difficult pieces of the integration was finding cameras that could offer compass information so the department could triangulate just where, exactly, the fires were. “That took some talking to some folks,” Cinquini said. “There are places you can get PTZ mounts that have compass information, but they can’t display it.” So he integrated the information into the OnSSI video management software, and the information now displays as part of the video image.
Cinquini thinks there will be more uses for long-range wireless systems, and he hopes in the future to incorporate thermal cameras, which could help with not only fire spotting, but search and rescue and the prevention of fires by spotting people as they enter the forest. It will be important, however, to show longstanding reliability of the system.
“The state will not tolerate the signal going down,” he said. “They get very upset when the cameras don’t work. So far, I’ve had one failure due to some condors cutting through the power supply.”

DALLAS—In a move that adds 3,000 monitored accounts and $100,000 in RMR, Texana Security announced March 2 the acquisition of Security Depot, a south Texas security alarm company.
“We think that the Security Depot people are terrific sales and marketers, and everyone likes that part of the business more than the back-office stuff,” said Sean O’Keefe, Texana CEO. “Since we’ll be taking over the back-office operations, this will loosen them up to do what they’re very good at and what they would prefer to be spending their time doing.”
Security Depot’s Carla McCaleb will lead the team’s sales and marketing efforts in South Texas. Daryl and Alan Smith will serve in executive management roles. McCaleb and the Smiths are all part of the Smith family, which started Security Depot more than 15 years ago. In all, the acquisition brings with it 24 employees. O’Keefe said he expects to take advantage of Security Depot’s sales expertise, enlisting their help in training other branches.
The acquisition also gives Texana “a better foothold in the South Texas market,” O’Keefe said. “It’s a market we like, and it’s growing and we think this is a great opportunity to blend our two companies and come out with a better company at the other end.”
Security Depot’s accounts are residential and light commercial. Texana’s accounts are fairly evenly split. Texana does have a presence in South Texas as the result of some of its national and regional accounts. This national account base is key, O’Keefe said, to the fact that Texana experienced growth in its commercial business in 2009.
“We’re fortunate to have been chosen by some large national companies as their primary provider,” he said. “Virtually on a daily basis they bring in new accounts as they build new facilities, or more often, as they move their existing facilities [whose contracts have expired with other providers] over to our monitoring facilities … so our commercial business this year has been good.”
On the residential side, Texana hasn’t seen any drop in business, O’Keefe said. “We were not invested in the new construction market, so [slow down in construction] hasn’t had any impact.”
“We grew 20 percent overall this year, not including any acquisitions … we’re very pleased with that growth.”