There’s a new lingo pervading the vocabulary of dealers.The old words still exist: PIRs, central station monitoring, POTS, RJ-31X and coax. But that lexicon is now infiltrated with DSL, T1, ISDN, wireless broadband, cable modems and the Internet.
Of course, the Internet is the driving force behind this new terminology. As the demand for the Internet grows, there is likewise a corresponding increase in the demand for faster Web access. This telecom revolution will have many and varied effects on the security industry, certainly in the long term and perhaps in the short term.
The penetration of DSL and cable modems into homes and businesses not only means RMR for the ISP, but increased RMR for the security company. The increased broadband permits the creation of new data packet switch networks, which will allow central stations to remotely monitor and supervise access control, CCTV and HVAC with extremely high speed.
According to a study by the Yankee Group, there were 160,000 homes with DSL service in 1999. By 2003, researchers predict there will be 2.7 million homes with DSL and 4.3 million with cable modems.
All of this potential high-speed transmission will lead to the creation of high-speed Internet security monitoring. From the desktop, a central station operator will check the zone status of sensors, arm the system, send an automatic E-mail when the kids arrive home, send an E-mail when the store doesn’t open on time, and fully supervise the phone for line cuts. The system will also deliver the alarm signal faster to the central station.
How does this translate to the bottom line? The technology innovations will reduce the labor burden because fewer operators will handle more calls. The systems will also have immediate redundancy so a signal can switch to another central station as backup.
There are still a few hurdles to this high-speed world. The first obstacle is cost. But as DSL, cable modems and other emerging technologies become more prevalent, the cost of the sophisticated software will drop. The second barrier is the potential for hackers to infiltrate the system. Firewalls will be necessary.
Ask your central station service what it is doing to stay abreast of these high-speed changes. If you don’t, your alarm business could be stalled in slow motion.
