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Hosted Access Control by Best Defense offers many benefits Posted May 19th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
Access Control Card Reader Systems are becoming increasingly popular. With new HIPAA regulations and employee privacy laws we are constantly protecting vital employee and patient confidential records and providing required entry logging using our RS2 Access It Universal Software. As more and more corporate customers lean toward depending on electronic records we are also protecting more and more data / server rooms with electronic access control, video, environmental monitoring such as temperature and humidity, and burglar alarms for break ins. With the increase in the dependency on electronic data, corporations are also tightening their security surrounding their computer networks. With this increase in data security comes restrictions and corporate IT policies that often times restrict access to these networks to such an extent that remote access to electronic security systems is not possible on the corporate network.
In recent years we have developed several different solutions to this problem, allowing our customers convenient access to their security system remotely without circumventing corporate IT security policies. One of the more recent, and more convenient options is the hosted access control system by Best Defense. With our hosted solution, our customers do not need to purchase the access control software, server or maintain / backup a database. All the data for the network is stored on secured servers at Best Defense. Using a convenient web browser client application, our end users can access their data over the internet from any computer with internet access. With proper authority, using a user name and password, our clients can log onto the system to add cards, delete cards, unlock doors, or run reports—24/7 from anywhere. We maintain the database and run scheduled backups on the customers’ data. We even provide 24/7 emergency support. If a customer has a question or a problem we are available 24/7. Included in some of the hosted packages is a data entry option, we can even maintain your cards for you! Simply email us if you want a card added or deleted during regular business hours and we can make it happen. Most packages also include one or two emergency events per month where we can log in to unlock a door or delete a card if somebody is locked out or if a card needs to be deleted in a hurry. For more information, check out our electronic access control card reader section here: access control or call us today at 800-237-8389. We’ve provided electronic access control solutions throughout Wisconsin for 16 years in cities including Madison, Milwaukee, Beloit, Tomah, Stevens Point, Green Bay, and Waukesha among many others. We have offices in Waunakee and Brookfield to serve your statewide needs.
Be careful not to purchase a proprietary fire alarm Posted May 17th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
Many property owners unknowingly purchase a fire alarm that is fully proprietary. Would you purchase a car from a dealership if you knew that the car was so specialized that you ALWAYS had to go back to the same car dealer for service, parts, or even gas? Of course not! Consumers, when purchasing a car would not allow this to happen, infact, most consumers test drive several models, talk to friends with similar cars, and research several models before making a purchasing decision. This typically isn’t the case for fire alarm systems in new buildings. For most new buildings being constructed today, the owner of the building signs a single purchase contract with a general contractor who then signs contracts for the individual components of the building. In the case of the fire alarm, the general contractor and architect include the fire alarm as part of the electrical contract. Typically the general and architect choose the electrician with the lowest bid who in turn chooses the fire alarm contractor with the lowest bid. All goes well as the installation proceeds, etc—until the next year. What many building owners do not realize is that by allowing their general contractor and his electrician to choose the fire alarm contractor they may very well be receiving a proprietary fire alarm. What does this mean? Well, in the case of Simplex and Siemens it means if your building has one of their systems installed you will have no choice but to purchase parts, and service from them throughout the life expectancy of the system. Simplex, for example, manufactures their own systems and installs them exclusively. Anybody wanting to purchase parts for a Simplex system HAS to purchase them through Simplex. Unfortunately for the end user this straps them into this one company for future service for the balance of the life of the system. The problems with this multiply if your building is a multitenant building that will require future buildouts. It is not uncommon to see alarm companies with a proprietary lock on their equipment come in for the initial part of a fire alarm installation at a very low margin and then make up for it with much higher margins when it comes to add ons because they are the only supplier of the parts. Other companies such as EST and Notifier are not proprietary alarm companies, however, they severely restrict the number of dealers in a given market and their territories which allows these alarm companies to employ these tactics.
Best Defense offers non-proprietary alarm equipment from Silent Knight. This equipment is high quality addressable fire alarm technology manufactured by Honeywell. Silent Knight offers all the benefits of the other more expensive brands, but is available to ALL alarm dealers through distribution. For your next project, consider choosing Best Defense and Silent Knight to insure that your options for future service will be wide open. More information on our fire alarm systems can be found here… FIRE ALARMS
SnapAStat prevents your home from freezing during a furnace failure Posted May 13th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
Have you ever thought about what could happen to your home if your furnace failed during the middle of winter while you were away? Over the years we have seen dozens of homes that have had furnaces fail for a variety of reasons and in each case the damage has been extreme. Furnaces can fail for a variety of reasons such as power failure, mechanical failure of the furnace, thermostat failure or other reasons. Sometimes the furnaces have failed due to too much snow blown up against the exhaust of the furnace, other times the customers have simply run out of LP or had an extended power failure. Each monitored home security system includes a SnapAStat low room temperature sensor free of charge. Not only is the sensor included and installed free of charge with our basic home security system, we also do not charge additional for monitoring low temperature events in your home, temperature monitoring is included in your basic security monitoring. The SnapAStat trips a temperature supervisory alarm on your security system if the temperature in the room drops below 40 degrees—signifying a furnace failure. The alarm panel then sends the temperature alarm to our monitoring station where we contact you, your friends, neighbors or relatives to address the furnace problem before freezing pipes and water damage can occur. Of our thousand or so monitored accounts throughout Wisconsin we typically see a couple dozen customers with low room temperature alarms trip each year. The most common call is from an alarm in a vacation home early in Winter where the customer simply forgot to switch their thermostat from cool to heat. Best Defense can provide you with a temperature monitoring solution even if you don’t have a phone line by using our cellular or radio alarm communication methods. Whether you have a cabin in Adams County or a large home in Milwaukee or Madison, Best Defense can provide you with an alarm system that includes a low room temperature furnace failure detector.
Wisconsin CBRF Assisted Living Facilities commonly miss code requirements for fire alarms Posted May 13th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
Wisconsin Assisted Living Facilities are licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services as Community Based Residential Facilities and commonly referred to as CBRF’s. CBRF’s are governed by several codes pertaining to fire alarm systems. These codes include national fire alarm codes such as NFPA72, NFPA101, and the Wisconsin Building Code—the International Building Code, IBC. What is commonly missed in CBRF’s and what sets them apart from many other building classifications in Wisconsin are the code requirements of HFS83 and Chapter 50 of Wisconsin Statutes. 50.035 of Chapter 50 requires CBRF’s to install a low-voltage interconnected smoke detection system. 110 volt interconnected residential style smoke alarms are not low-voltage interconnected smoke detection systems, this is a common mistake we see in CBRF’s. HFS83 has specific requirements for detector placement including smoke detectors in virtually all rooms of a CBRF including bedrooms. Heat detectors are required in attics and mechanical rooms. NFPA72 requires a minimum of 70db of sound pressure throughout the facility to meet this we typically install a mini horn in each bedroom of the assisted living facility. ADA also requires flashing fire alarm strobes in all common areas of the facilities and in resident rooms and bathrooms of hearing impaired residents. Many of these systems are required to be monitoring by a central monitoring station. These fire alarms are required to be tested monthly by the staff of the facility and annually by a trained service company. If you are unsure if you facility meets code requirements, if you need an annual fire alarm inspection, or if you are designing a new CBRF and would like a quote on a fire alarm. Please contact Best Defense. We have installed CBRF fire alarm systems throughout Wisconsin in cities such as Madison, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Rapids, Colby, South Milwaukee, Elkhorn, Muskego, West Allis, Waukesha and dozens more. We also offer additional services for CBRF’s such as door alarms, patient wandering systems, and emergency call buttons.
IP Megapixel Cameras cost less per pixel Posted May 13th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
There has been much hype about the amazing quality of IP security cameras. Traditional security cameras, even those touted as “high resolution” record at D1 resolution which is 720x480 lines of resolution. Basically, this is the same resolution you’d receive from an old generation DVD. In terms of megapixels 720x480 relates to .35 megapixel! Today’s IP cameras are typically at least 2 megapixel, or 1600x1200 resolution meaning they offer nearly 6 times the resolution of traditional high resolution security cameras. To put this in perspective, broadcast television in HD is only 1280x720 or 0.9 megapixel. Even higher quality 1080P blueray offers 2megapixel. Earlier today we priced out a camera system for a jewelry store in Madison that had recently been held up by armed and masked robbers. The owner is looking for the highest quality available—within reason. Pricing out the 2 megapixel IP cameras with a Exacqvision NVR the price for the IP system was nearly twice that of the analog system. It seemed a lot at first, but in perspective, the 8 cameras proposed using the traditional cameras provides them a total of 2.8 megpixesl of video over 8 cameras while the HD cameras using the NVR and the 2mp IP cameras from Vivotek, Axis, or Arecont will allow a total of 16 megapixels. The IP system may cost more, but it delivers 5.7 times the resolution for only twice the price! If you require the highest quality video system for bank lobbies, jewelry stores, or anywhere life safety is a concern, the additional expense is well worth the price. Just think, if your bank is held up and you provide Best Defense HD IP video footage to the authorities, the news stations will actually have to DOWNGRADE your video in order to play it in high-def on the local news! Don’t mess around, the time has come for high resolution IP cameras in life safety applications. Call Best Defense today for a free estimate and demo or click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to see our 2 megapixel camera demo. Best Defense can assist you with an installation for your school, bank, or retail application throughout Wisconsin. We service cities such as Monona, Madison, and Wisconsin Dells from our Waunakee office and the entire Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha areas from our Brookfield office.
Best Defense offers Free Loaner Wireless Alarm Systems to Local Police Departments Posted May 13th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
Best Defense currently has several wireless silent alarms systems deployed with local Wisconsin law enforcement agencies. In many cases Best Defense offers free wireless alarm system loaners to aid in the apprehension of burglary suspects. In their currently configuration our portable alarm kits are entirely wireless and allow the local sheriff’s department to install several motion sensors and door contacts in any building they feel may become a target of a burglary. With our AES Intellinet radio monitoring, these alarm systems are able to transmit a signal back to our monitoring station in less than two seconds. Upon receiving the alarm signal the local police or sheriff’s department is dispatched with the location of the alarm. Best Defense hopes to assist local authorities by catching burglaries in progress, thereby preventing additional future burglaries. For more information on loaner alarms for police agencies, contact Best Defense at 608-850-5500 in Waunakee, 608-253-6442 in Adams / Juneau counties or 1-800-237-8389 Wisconsin wide.
New Technology from DMP keeps you in touch with your alarm Posted May 12th, 2010 by Carter Rierson
In Touch technology from DMP and Best Defense allows you to receive immediate notification directly from your alarm panel using text messaging. With In Touch you’ll know instantly about any alarms, troubles, temperature failures or other important security system events on your home alarm. Best Defense offers these features for our customers throughout Wisconsin. Using In Touch you will also be able to remotely arm and disarm your alarm or even control your lighting simply by sending a text message. Check out the video below for more information.
May 11th, 2010 Lighting Control System Making a Difference in our Utility Bill With the construction of our new Waunakee office last Summer we moved from a facility of about 4,000 square feet to a brand new one nearly 4 times larger. With the move we were very conscientious in the design to keep energy costs down. One of the unique features installed in our new office was a very basic connection between our alarm system and our warehouse lights. One challenge at our old office was that warehouse lights were continually left on, wasting energy. In our new office, the security system consists of perimeter door contacts and a large number of motion sensors installed throughout the building. These security sensors serve dual purpose in the new building. With the new DMP XR-500 alarm system we have also installed relay outputs on the alarm system which interface with the motions and door contacts. Each time a security sensor is tripped it trips a relay output which in turn trips another relay to turn on a light for a 5 minute period. If a sensor is tripped again during the 5 minute period the timer resets itself. The sensors are broken up into several groups or zones of sensors to control parts of the building’s light separately from other parts. This installation was VERY inexpensive, less than a few hundred dollars more than a traditional security system would have been. In all reality the installation of the lighting automation system for the facility saved money on installation as we did not have to install light switches or additional motion switches. This installation has already saved us hundreds on our utility bills, simply by using the DMP XR-500 and a little bit of creativity to create a very effective lighting control system.
May 10th, 2010 Best Defense utilizes Wireless Network for Construction Site Theft Prevention Best Defense has developed an integrated wireless system for jobsite security utilizing our wireless AES network. Through the use of modified burglar alarm panels, silent alarm systems have been installed in several jobsites throughout Dane County. These alarm panels are installed with door contacts and motion sensors installed throughout the construction projects with specialized custom sensors installed to protect job site assets from theft. Some of these customer sensors have been created to detect attempted theft of extension cords, tools, and job site implements. In the event of an alarm the system sends a nearly instantaneous message to our monitoring station where we notify the contractors of the alarm while also dispatching the Madison police department, a contracted guard service, or other local authority. With copper prices on the rise theft from job sites will continue to grow as a problem. Wireless alarm technologies are available from Best Defense as rental or as permanent installations.
May 8th, 2010 Freezer failure costs us hundreds! For years I’ve sold supervision devices for our alarm systems. We’ve installed literally thousands of SnapAStat low room temperature sensors over the years that notify our customers if their furnace fails. Just last fall we installed a freezer monitor for a customer who was going to be leaving her LaValle home for the winter to spend time in Arizona. Of course I made myself a “mental note” to install a temperature sensor on my own freezer. What a great idea! For a couple hundred dollars installed we can notify the customer if the temperature in her freezer goes above 15 degrees. In my case, my freezer was fully loaded with bulk purchases from both Sam’s Club and Costco. Our family has realized a large savings by purchasing in bulk and always having food available rather than running out for a “quick bite to eat” at local restaurant. Several times over the last year the GFI outlet our freezer was connected to tripped, but we always noticed the status light on the freezer was no longer lit. I again added it to my “mental note” list. Oops. Last week our GFI tripped again and this time we did not notice it. The contents of the freezer were a total loss for several hundreds of dollars in value. The freezer is now restocked (partially), and the freezer monitor is installed and protecting our investment.
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Best Defense Blog |
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Statewide: 800-237-8389
Local Phone Numbers Madison Area: 608-850-5500 Stevens Point Area: 715-952-4872 Wisconsin Dells Area: 608-253-6442 Milwaukee Area: 414-255-3942 Janesville: 608-352-0900 Beloit: 608-313-4900 Adams: 608-403-5900 Wausau: 715-301-0900 Appleton: 920-358-0900 Oshkosh: 920-385-9900 La Crosse: 608-498-4991 Fond Du Lac: 920-933-1508 Lake Geneva: 262-581-4281 |