With Christmas and New Year’s quickly approaching have you thought about your security system setup?
You will want to make sure company shut down days are designated as holidays in your security system programming, so as to avoid doors unlocking on your access control system or your intrusion alarm system disarming (for those systems programmed to automatically arm and disarm based on a schedule).
Protection Plus Security Services, Inc. customers:
Access Control System: You can program your holiday schedules directly via the access control system software. If you have any questions regarding this please contact our office.
Intrusion Alarm System: For our scheduled alarm system customers please provide our office with an updated holiday list if this has changed from the dates provided earlier this year. We will update the holiday schedule in your alarm panel at no charge as part of our service.
Alarm System Notification: Will your responsible party (call list) personnel be in town to respond to alarm calls or are they travelling for the holidays?
You may want to check with your responsible party personnel as to their holiday plans and if necessary update your Responsible Party list.
You can download the alarm system update forms from our website. Here is the link for the Control Center update form and the Alarm Panel update form: http://www.protectionplussecurity.com/support/PPSS_support.htm
Have a wonderful holiday season!
We at Protection Plus Security Services, Inc. look forward to serving you in 2011!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Community Policing to the Next Level
The City of San Jose has been recognized for years as being one of the safest cities in the nation yet with that stated in 2009 it reported over 3,400 violent crimes and nearly 28,000 property crimes. All would agree that anything we can do to help reduce these numbers will further help our community.
CrimeReports.com an online crime reporting website provides information on police activity, calls for service from both citizens and police officers, as well as the location of registered sex offenders. The San Jose Police Department is one of more than a dozen police departments nationwide that provides Computer Aided Dispatch information directly to CrimeReports.com for mapping and analysis. SJPD has been working with CrimeReports.com since 2007. The CrimeReports.com website allows the citizens of San Jose to view police activity in their neighborhood; everything from traffic violations, assaults, homicides, domestic abuse, to the identification and location of the nearest registered sexual offender.
This year CrimeReports.com released its Neighborhood Central application. Neighborhood Central incorporates social networking into its website with tight integration with Facebook and Twitter. Allowing Facebook users the ability to share, link, and discuss criminal activities in their neighborhood. Neighborhood Central helps creates a virtual neighborhood watch group.
One of the interesting features available with CrimeReports.com Neighborhood Central software is the ability for individuals to identify any public facing video surveillance cameras they may have deployed at their homes or businesses. This information could be of real value to SJPD when investigating crimes or suspicious activities.
Video surveillance systems are an integral part of most business security measures and have become more and more common place for residential applications. Since these system are not public systems they are typically not known to the police department; providing this information could make for a powerful tool.
For more information check out the following websites:
http://www.crimereports.com/
http://www.sjpd.org/
CrimeReports.com an online crime reporting website provides information on police activity, calls for service from both citizens and police officers, as well as the location of registered sex offenders. The San Jose Police Department is one of more than a dozen police departments nationwide that provides Computer Aided Dispatch information directly to CrimeReports.com for mapping and analysis. SJPD has been working with CrimeReports.com since 2007. The CrimeReports.com website allows the citizens of San Jose to view police activity in their neighborhood; everything from traffic violations, assaults, homicides, domestic abuse, to the identification and location of the nearest registered sexual offender.
This year CrimeReports.com released its Neighborhood Central application. Neighborhood Central incorporates social networking into its website with tight integration with Facebook and Twitter. Allowing Facebook users the ability to share, link, and discuss criminal activities in their neighborhood. Neighborhood Central helps creates a virtual neighborhood watch group.
One of the interesting features available with CrimeReports.com Neighborhood Central software is the ability for individuals to identify any public facing video surveillance cameras they may have deployed at their homes or businesses. This information could be of real value to SJPD when investigating crimes or suspicious activities.
Video surveillance systems are an integral part of most business security measures and have become more and more common place for residential applications. Since these system are not public systems they are typically not known to the police department; providing this information could make for a powerful tool.
For more information check out the following websites:
http://www.crimereports.com/
http://www.sjpd.org/
Monday, September 13, 2010
Buyer’s Guide for Commercial Intrusion (Burglar) Alarm Systems: Part 2 Detection Devices
This is the second blog in a series of blogs to provide a comprehensive guide to designing and selecting the intrusion alarm system that is right for your organization. I have tried to keep this as brand generic as possible. This blog will cover the most common type of detectors that are typically used for an intrusion alarm system.
There are many different types of detectors that can be used with an intrusion alarm system. This blog we will concentrate the discussion on the most common type of detectors used with most systems today; door and window contacts, motion detectors, and glassbreaks detectors.
Door and Window Contacts
Glassbreak Detectors
When using glassbreak sensors to protect an occupied building it is very important you select a glassbreak detector proven for this application. Not all detectors are equal. The wrong detector will provide ongoing alarm issues.
We have successfully deployed thousands of these units for the Integrated Perimeter Alarm System as I defined it in Part 1 of this discussion.
The glassbreak detectors are typically programmed as a perimeter point; anytime these units sense glass breaking they go into alarm.
Choose your motion detector carefully; quality and reliability do matter. A cheap inexpensive passive infrared detector has a greater likelihood of creating false alarms than does a more expensive dual technology detector.
There are two major classes of motion detectors; the passive infrared detector and the dual technology detector.
The passive infrared looks for a change in heat (infrared) within the field of the detector. The dual technology detector looks for motion (microwave) and heat (infrared) both must be present in order to trigger an alarm condition.
These detectors are designed for a specific coverage pattern. Make sure the coverage pattern is adequate for the area you are trying to cover. Installing a 35’ x 30’ unit in a warehouse is not going to provide much coverage. Installing a 90’x70’ will provide much better coverage. Keep in mind that the coverage pattern is clear line of site. These units cannot provide the coverage if they are blocked.
These units are typically programmed at interior followers or perimeter points. An interior follow will allow for a delay if an entry exit delay is first present otherwise it goes straight into alarm. The perimeter detector goes straight into alarm.
Next blog we will discuss outdoor and environmental detectors.
There are many different types of detectors that can be used with an intrusion alarm system. This blog we will concentrate the discussion on the most common type of detectors used with most systems today; door and window contacts, motion detectors, and glassbreaks detectors.
Door and Window Contacts
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| Recessed Door Contact |
These devices are the first line of defense. When protecting your building all the accessible openings should be contacted. There are a number of different manufacturer’s producing contacts. These units are a magnetic contact and when the door or window is opened an alarm is triggered. They produce contacts that are recessed mounted or surface mounted. They make contacts that are designed for monitoring man doors, rollup doors, windows, roof hatches, safe doors, just about any opening you can think of can be contacted. For high security applications they make biased contact switches that are very difficult to defeat.
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| Rollup Door Contact |
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| Surface Mount Contact |
These devices are typically programmed as either a perimeter point or an entry exit point. When programmed as a perimeter point anytime the door or window is opened with the alarm system active an alarm will be generated immediately. When programmed as an entry exit point a delay is provided to allow for entry in or exit out of the door for disarming or arming purposes.
Glassbreak Detectors
When using glassbreak sensors to protect an occupied building it is very important you select a glassbreak detector proven for this application. Not all detectors are equal. The wrong detector will provide ongoing alarm issues.
Glassbreak detectors are used to provide perimeter protection of a building. They detect an intruder the moment glass is broken. These units are designed to sense the breaking of glass and to trigger an alarm condition. For the majority of applications an acoustic glassbreak sensor is what is mostly used today. These sensors listen for the high frequency of breaking glass and trigger an alarm.
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| ShatterPro II 5812AW |
There are two types of units we typically recommend. For quiet spaces we will use an acoustic sensor such as the GE Security / Sentrol 5812AW (ShatterPro II). This unit can be wall or ceiling mounted and provides up to a 25’ radius of detection. This unit can detect through blinds and light drapes.
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| ShatterPro Plus |
For louder areas (break rooms, entry doors, etc.) we will use the GE Security / Sentrol 5885 (ShatterPro Plus) unit. This dual technology unit is equipped with the acoustical glassbreak sensor as well as an infrared detector. It is designed and rated for occupied space. This unit works as an acoustical glassbreak detector except when it senses the interior presence (infrared detector) of a person then it shunts the glassbreak sensor thus avoiding any interior generated alarms.
The glassbreak detectors are typically programmed as a perimeter point; anytime these units sense glass breaking they go into alarm.
Motion Detectors
There are two major classes of motion detectors; the passive infrared detector and the dual technology detector.
The passive infrared looks for a change in heat (infrared) within the field of the detector. The dual technology detector looks for motion (microwave) and heat (infrared) both must be present in order to trigger an alarm condition.
 |
| Dual Technology Motion Detector |
These units are typically programmed at interior followers or perimeter points. An interior follow will allow for a delay if an entry exit delay is first present otherwise it goes straight into alarm. The perimeter detector goes straight into alarm.
Next blog we will discuss outdoor and environmental detectors.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Buyer’s Guide for Commercial Intrusion (Burglar) Alarm Systems: Part 1
This is the first of a series of blogs in an effort to provide a comprehensive guide to designing and selecting the intrusion alarm system that is right for your organization. I have tired to keep this as brand generic as possible. This blog will cover the conceptual part of designing your security system.
Intrusion alarm systems are the first line of defense for protecting your business and its assets, followed by an access control system and video surveillance system. The intrusion alarm system is typically the least expensive of these three systems.
The intrusion alarm system is designed to detect an intruder and alert the authorities.
How do you want the alarm system to function?
The answer to this question will vary depending on the size of your organization, the size of the facility you are trying to protect, the organization’s culture, operations, and areas of control.
The larger your organization the more likely you are to want this system to be as automated as possible with only a few individuals being responsible for the system.
For small organizations it is easy to assign an alarm code to every individual (or use a common alarm code for all) and train the employees on how to arm and disarm the intrusion alarm system. “First one in disarms the alarm system last one out arms the system.” The larger the organization the less likely the alarm system will be managed in this fashion.
If you have a large facility or if the layout to that facility is segmented this will impact how you want the system to function. The larger the facility or the more complex the layout the less likely an employee getting ready to leave at the end of the day is going to arm the intrusion alarm system. If an employee has to walk a 100,000 square foot facility to make sure no one is in it prior to activating the alarm system it is doubtful your average employee is going to do this; unless they are specifically tasked and responsible for doing this. They may activate the alarm without walking the facility, not realizing someone is still working in their office or they may just not worry about it at all leaving the business unprotected. Likewise if the layout of the building is very complex requiring them to scour the entire building prior to activating the alarm the less likely the alarm is going to be activated.
An organization’s culture plays a role in whether the system will be activated or not. Those organizations that recognize and understand the importance of the security system and making sure it is activated will get this done consistently. If there is accountability for not activating the system then it will get done. If it is viewed as just a good idea and no one enforces a policy of making sure it gets activated then it may or may not get done. I can tell you from personal experience I have seen companies spend thousands of dollars on an intrusion alarm system to not activate it once. This is not an isolated incident; I have seen this occur at several organizations. For these organizations the system is counter to their culture.
How does your organization operate? Do you have a very strict schedule or do employees come and go as dictated by their work load or projects they may be working on? Do you always have someone in the building? With most or our customer’s being located in the Silicon Valley we have seen it all and we have developed and adapted our security systems to provide the best coverage possible based on the different operational needs of our customers. This is some of the knowledge I wish to share with you in this series.
Are there areas of the facility you want to operate independent of each other? Most intrusion alarm systems control the entire building as one area or partition. However, there are applications in which you may want to control specific areas independent of the main building. Some examples are a high value area, cash room, network room, office area, shop, pharmacy, etc. It is possible to control multiple areas independently as separate systems.
Big Picture – Types of Systems
Standard Intrusion Alarm System – This system typically consists of keypads at the main entry points of the building for activating and deactivating the system. The alarm system is manually armed and disarmed by entering a code into the keypad. Disarm the system upon first entry; arm the system at the end of the day last one out. The system will consist typically of door contacts, motion detectors, glassbreak sensors, interior sirens and an outside bell.
Integrated Alarm System - This type of system integrates the intrusion alarm system with the access control system. This integration can take place several ways depending on the capabilities of the access control system.
This concludes the first part of this series. Next blog we will review and discuss the types of detectors that are available for these systems.
Intrusion alarm systems are the first line of defense for protecting your business and its assets, followed by an access control system and video surveillance system. The intrusion alarm system is typically the least expensive of these three systems.
The intrusion alarm system is designed to detect an intruder and alert the authorities.
How do you want the alarm system to function?
The larger your organization the more likely you are to want this system to be as automated as possible with only a few individuals being responsible for the system.
For small organizations it is easy to assign an alarm code to every individual (or use a common alarm code for all) and train the employees on how to arm and disarm the intrusion alarm system. “First one in disarms the alarm system last one out arms the system.” The larger the organization the less likely the alarm system will be managed in this fashion.
If you have a large facility or if the layout to that facility is segmented this will impact how you want the system to function. The larger the facility or the more complex the layout the less likely an employee getting ready to leave at the end of the day is going to arm the intrusion alarm system. If an employee has to walk a 100,000 square foot facility to make sure no one is in it prior to activating the alarm system it is doubtful your average employee is going to do this; unless they are specifically tasked and responsible for doing this. They may activate the alarm without walking the facility, not realizing someone is still working in their office or they may just not worry about it at all leaving the business unprotected. Likewise if the layout of the building is very complex requiring them to scour the entire building prior to activating the alarm the less likely the alarm is going to be activated.
An organization’s culture plays a role in whether the system will be activated or not. Those organizations that recognize and understand the importance of the security system and making sure it is activated will get this done consistently. If there is accountability for not activating the system then it will get done. If it is viewed as just a good idea and no one enforces a policy of making sure it gets activated then it may or may not get done. I can tell you from personal experience I have seen companies spend thousands of dollars on an intrusion alarm system to not activate it once. This is not an isolated incident; I have seen this occur at several organizations. For these organizations the system is counter to their culture.
How does your organization operate? Do you have a very strict schedule or do employees come and go as dictated by their work load or projects they may be working on? Do you always have someone in the building? With most or our customer’s being located in the Silicon Valley we have seen it all and we have developed and adapted our security systems to provide the best coverage possible based on the different operational needs of our customers. This is some of the knowledge I wish to share with you in this series.
Are there areas of the facility you want to operate independent of each other? Most intrusion alarm systems control the entire building as one area or partition. However, there are applications in which you may want to control specific areas independent of the main building. Some examples are a high value area, cash room, network room, office area, shop, pharmacy, etc. It is possible to control multiple areas independently as separate systems.
Standard Intrusion Alarm System – This system typically consists of keypads at the main entry points of the building for activating and deactivating the system. The alarm system is manually armed and disarmed by entering a code into the keypad. Disarm the system upon first entry; arm the system at the end of the day last one out. The system will consist typically of door contacts, motion detectors, glassbreak sensors, interior sirens and an outside bell.
- Integrated Perimeter Alarm System – This type of integration can apply to any access control system. It consists of protecting the perimeter of the building utilizing door contacts and glassbreak detectors. Installing local door alarms at the perimeter access controlled doors; allowing card holders to enter and exit through these doors after hours without having to arm and disarm the alarm system. Programming the alarm panel to automatically arm and disarm based on a schedule and supervising these armings and disarming via the monitoring station.
- S2 Security - Alarm System Integration – This type of integration applies to the S2 Security access control system when integrated with the intrusion alarm system. With this integration the S2 Security system controls the arming and disarming of the alarm system. The system is armed based on a schedule and based on there being no faults on the alarm system. If the alarm system is faulted then the S2 Security system delays the arming for a programmed period of time and will activate the alarm system once the system is normal and ready to arm state. Disarm takes place when the first authorized person presents their access control to gain entry into the building – if the alarm system is armed it will disarm prior to letting the person into the building.
This concludes the first part of this series. Next blog we will review and discuss the types of detectors that are available for these systems.
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