WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES. As I sit in my home office in Maryland (unlike many of you I already worked from home, so that hasn’t changed), the first daffodils are appearing and the beautiful flowering trees are starting to bud. The vaccine news here and around the country seems to be getting more and more positive by the day, and there is a general feeling of real optimism that things might get back to closer to “normal” soon.

FOR MOST OF US HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, March marks one year since our lives — both personally and professionally — turned upside down as the result of a disease scientists called COVID-19.

UNIFIED SECURITY SYSTEMS have been around for several years now. More than just integration, these systems incorporate two or more systems into a single pane of glass — usually from a single manufacturer, giving security integrators and their customers the proverbial “one throat to choke.” While their advantages are often seen at the enterprise level, today’s unified systems can be deployed at almost any size facility; are less complex and less expensive than in the past; incorporate more integrations and technologies than ever before; and are increasingly attractive to customers.

You may notice that this issue of SDM looks a little different. Beginning with this February 2021 issue, we will be employing a new digital platform that is much more reader- and technology-friendly.

To say 2020 was a bit of a roller coaster ride is perhaps an understatement. At this time last year, most security integrators anticipated a strong 2020, only to be thrown into turmoil late in the first quarter by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’m no geology expert, so I looked it up. According to the National Geographic, “Igneous rocks form when magma (molten rock) cools and crystallizes, either at volcanoes on the surface of the earth or while the melted rock is still inside the crust.” Why am I talking about rocks?

What do termites, diamonds and security have in common? All three are components of the history of this year’s SDM Dealer of the Year. Sonitrol began when Al Cronk, a police officer, was interested in verifying alarms using audio; Bob Baxter invented microphones to detect termites in trees.

The Monitoring Association continued its virtual OPS-TECH meeting on Nov. 17-18, focusing on technology and its applications in the monitoring industry.

Everyone has heard the old adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In an industry and a year marked by seemingly constant upheaval and change, it can feel like nothing is the same. But is that true?

Securing New Ground 2020, like virtually every other industry event this year took place, well, virtually — for three hours each day on October 21 and 22. But within that format it managed to cover a lot of ground, as it always does.