This directory provides a list of video analytics providers to help you see and research what options are available. Video Analytics Warning Many video analytics have serious false alarm issues, time-consuming setup processes, and general lac...
By IPVM Team - over 1 year ago
DMP has a strong presence in commercial intrusion alarms, but not in residential. However, the company's XTLPLus wireless combo panel and Virtual Keypad system aims to address the gap, and is DMP's competition to smart home platforms like Honeywel...
By Brian Rhodes - over 1 year ago
Google's expansion continues, this time into home security with their Nest subsidiary's move into alarm systems. They paid more than a half-billion dollars to get into consumer video surveillance, with Dropcam. Then they damaged it severely, stum...
By Brian Rhodes - over 1 year ago
100,000+ employees and $40,000,000,000 in annual revenue. That's Honeywell. ~200 backers and ~$67,000 in funding in a week. That's Honeywell crowdfunding campaign for its 'smart home security system.' It is a dealer-angering dud. But we see som...
By John Honovich - over 1 year ago
Honeywell did $39 Billion dollars in revenue last year, but they are asking the public for $50,000 (.0001% of revenue) to fund their Indiegogo campaign for a new smart home security system. We examine the proposed features and functionality of Ho...
By John Honovich - over 1 year ago
In the smarthome and intrusion market, Alarm.com and Honeywell are two of the biggest names. Both platforms offer remote management of alarms, home automation devices, surveillance cameras, and video doorbells. Among increasingly networked smarth...
By Brian Rhodes - almost 2 years ago
Honeywell is one of the biggest brands in security, with Total Connect 2.0 being the company's remote security and smarthome platform. We bought and tested the system to see how well it actually works. For this test, we connected a Honeywell alar...
By Brian Rhodes - almost 2 years ago
Bosch is one of the biggest names in intrusion, and the company's G-Series panels are their most advanced commercial and high-security panels. But just how well do they perform? We bought and tested a Bosch B8512G panel and a B942 graphic keypad ...
By Brian Rhodes - almost 2 years ago
Wireless sensors for burglar alarm sensors are an increasingly common option for the historical labor intensive wired alarm systems. However, there are numerous elements and tradeoffs involved in using wireless sensors. In this guide, we explain...
By Ari Erenthal - almost 2 years ago
Alarm.com has become the dominant force in smart home / remote service platform, with ~70% market share, combining their own traditional offering plus their acquisition of rival iControl business units. But how well does the platform actually wor...
By Brian Rhodes - almost 2 years ago
Alarm systems use backup batteries in order to continue working if an intruder attempts to disable the alarm by cutting power to the building. In this guide, we will examine backup batteries, including: Batteries for alarms Sealed lead acid ba...
By Ari Erenthal - almost 2 years ago
Vaults and safes are designed to protect valuables by enclosing them in steel or concrete boxes with thick doors and strong locks. However, any such box can eventually be cut open, given enough time, patience, and tools. Connecting the vault or sa...
By Ari Erenthal - almost 2 years ago
Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors add a life-safety component to burglar alarm systems. As intrusion detection sensors are used to call the police for help, life safety devices are used to call for help from the fire department. While...
By Ari Erenthal - almost 2 years ago
The ESX (Electronic Security Expo) day 3 / Thursday is done and the exhibits are over. IPVM was in Nashville covering it in-depth. Below covers days 1, 2, and 3. Inside this report: "It's riskier to be in the alarm industry today" Very str...
By IPVM Team - about 2 years ago
How do integrators feel about offering RMR / recurring revenue services? For many, their business revolves around RMR, while others see no benefit. 150+ integrators answered our survey on the importance of RMR to their business. We examine the t...
By IPVM Team - about 2 years ago
In the US, many states require integrators to be licensed to install burglar alarms, CCTV, electronic access control, or all three, and requirements vary widely from state to state, making it confusing for those entering the industry to know exact...
By John Honovich - about 2 years ago
Burglar alarms can constantly monitor the health of attached circuits, sensors, and devices to ensure that they remain operational. This is known as supervision. Poor implementation of supervision is a common source of false alarms. However, if pr...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
Aura Home is a startup intrusion detection system, but it claims new, high-tech sensing that monitors the 'invisible ripples' movement creates, showing up as spikes in a line in the main app: We tested the platform to see how well it stack...
By Brian Rhodes - about 2 years ago
Many burglar alarm systems have a single designated level of access for users. A user can arm or disarm the entire alarm by entering a single code. Some alarm applications require alarm installers to design the alarm with multiple sections that ar...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
Alarm circuits are a fundamental element of wired burglar systems. Designing the alarm circuit greatly affects its performance. In particular, more efficient circuit designs introduce less resistance and cause fewer false alarms. In this note, we ...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
Burglar alarms give the user the ability to choose how much of their alarm is active at any time. Activating alarm sensors on windows and doors while deactivating alarm sensors inside allows alarm users to move about their homes without having to ...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
An alarm system can call for help in the event of an attempted break in, but only if it is armed. If an adversary forces an authorized user to disarm the alarm, however, that adversary can gain entry without alerting emergency responders. Therefor...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
The function of an alarm panel is to gather information from sensors and respond to this information by triggering actions. While it is possible to program these responses manually, most alarm panels have a variety of responses preprogrammed and g...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
Xandem's "full coverage motion tracking technology" is unlike any intrusion technology we have seen. We bought their new system and tested it extensively to better understand its strengths and weaknesses. Below is one of the examples from our tes...
By Brian Rhodes - about 2 years ago
Alarm installers commonly connect multiple sensors to a single zone. They do this by splicing the wires together. In this report, we will explain how alarm technicians splice the most common alarm wires, including: What a splice is Common alar...
By Ari Erenthal - about 2 years ago
