We will soon provide more details about the on-line offering of the Alarm Academy but in the mean time please check out the links for the regular FASA/BASA classes in a location near you.

For those that can’t wait to get their training on-line from the Alarm Academy, please make sure to verify that the provider has been duly approved by the ECLB  (Electrical Contractor Licensing Board) of the Department of Business and Professional Regulations of the State of Florida.

You can check if your vendor of choice is duly approved in the following link:
http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/servop/testing/documents/ce_list.pdf

For more information please call AAF office about live training and the Alarm Academy and  on-line training alternatives.

Stay tune, we will launch soon!!

Hernando Barreto

Digital Public Relations Committee

FBI and Video Surveillance

Beyond the benefits and importance of the video surveillance, it is important to emphasize the aspect of best design and installation practices. Are all CCTV and Video surveillance vendors up to the task as Security Professional for proper deployment of video surveillance systems?

As the FBI officer character said in the video “Is it so hard to get theses things setup and useful?”

Are we doing enough to educate the consumers about the importance of professional deployment of video surveillance and security systems?

What do you think? Leave us your comments!

For many years the insurance industry has relied upon certain standards produced by nationally recognized independent testing laboratories in writing insurance coverage. They realized that certain liabilities had to be matched to certain alarm standards for equity to be achieved in a practical manner. For example high value targets such as jewelry stores, fine metals, critical governmental agencies and so forth required a higher standard for electronic alarm systems installation and signaling.

Law enforcement in their pivotal role of responders to alarm signals for the general public has set in motion a system in cooperation with their dispatch centers that establishes by policy their ability to respond to any call for service, depending upon circumstances. For example during times of extreme weather conditions their ability to respond may be limited or because of the size of the emergency the resources may be strained. In those cases the authorities make a judgment call as to the priority of the calls for service and allocate the responders as best they can under the circumstances. This judgment is left to the management skills of the police executives on duty. Whether right or wrong in their decisions, that is what they are trained to do with the resources they have.

During this history there has never been a ‘dispatch standard’ rating the critical need for response. The standard has only been rated in relation to the installation and insurance requirements and categorized as fire, security, medical or holdup. For the alarm and insurance industries to try to set a standard by which the public sector ‘must respond’ and ‘at what speed’ is without merit and certainly outside their realm of expertise or ability to judge the adequacy and circumstances of the responding agency resources.

The discussion for law enforcement response to alarm dispatch is now focusing on an argument that there should be priority dispatch in some circumstances. Some alarm systems contain the ability to confirm the alarm signal by means of audio and/or video electronics. Some in the alarm industry are stating the insurance companies are using this as a preference in writing coverage. They also argue that with the advent of the new ASAP to PSAP dispatch technologies being tested and implemented, they should as a matter of policy give preference to these signals when dispatching. While those arguments are ongoing, there remains the issue of who would set such a standard as it relates to the availability of resources of the responding agencies. While the electronic verification of alarm signals may be a significant factor in reducing unnecessary dispatch, it does not necessarily change the equation when allocation of public safety resources is in play.

Currently even an eye witness to a crime does not necessarily change the order or speed of public safety response. While it may be a valuable asset it cannot preempt the priority decisions of police management then in motion. If in fact sometime in the future recognition of private signal standards or insurance coverage were to be entered into the dispatch equation to try to establish priority, a significant amount of research into this arena would have to be done to confirm the viability and even the effectiveness of such a rating. It is premature at this time to try to make this a reality until much further study is completed.

Bob Neely – Executive Director, AAF

January’s meeting was hosted by ADI at their Tampa Office. Many thanks to Sharon Gildernew for her hospitality and planning. Starting at 3:30, we had 11 attendees. Our Guest Speaker was Patrick Kelly of Southeast Security. Patrick discussed his Digital WatchDog line of CCTVapplications with emphasis on License Plate Cameras and IPCameras.

We discussed progress on AAF’s on-line training courses and watching out for 1st Quarter field training classes as they are announced. The Annual Convention will be held March 15-17 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Alarm Contractor License Renewal Course schedules will be announced. Convention registration information will also be coming soon.
ADI & Graybar gave us updates on new products, promotions and training available from our Associate Partners. Next month will be election of officers for the Region, prior to the Convention in March. There will be no meeting in March, due to the Convention schedule; and, pending approval of new Regional Director, the next meeting will be Thursday, April 19 at 3:30PM at ADI – with a guest speaker to be announced.

Several legislative issues were discussed, including the anticipation of re-introduction of the Condo Bill again.

The meetirig adjourned at 4:45

Dave Gerald Regional Director

Telecommunication services across the globe are moving at hell-bent speed away from analogue copper based communication services to fiber based data transmission.

The alarm industry’s traditional mainstream product (the digital alarm communicator) is directly in the line of fire for extinction.

Digital dialers have already become problematic, due to the evolution of these newer telecommunication technologies. In just a few years if that, digital alarm communicators will likely no longer function at all, on the available communication lines provided by most communication services.

Alarm system manufacturers have acknowledged this transition by boldly introducing IP based communication devices that either attempt to work with new telecommunication services, or alternative radio communication transmitters that sidestep them altogether and offer independent methods to send alarm signals from subscriber premises to central stations.

Most of us in the industry have already begun to face the music and have been offering long range radio based communication (mesh-net or GSM) as an alternative for quite some time.

Ok, we got the message, pardon the pun AT&T, Comcast etc…You don’t want us around anymore. We got it!

In the meantime, as we persuade our customers to upgrade to a more efficient and less vulnerable method of delivering alarm signals from their digital communicator systems to radio based systems, we would appreciate it if your technicians would get some basic training on alarm system function and the proper method to install new telecommunication services i.e. DSL, U-verse and others without carelessly disabling our customers alarm systems.

My own company has been literally hammered with service calls to address communication failures from customers alarm systems due to a new service conversion by a telecommunications provider.

Almost every single time one of my customers has ordered a new internet/telephone service, the end result is that I have to respond to restore alarm service because the phone/cable guy has left the alarm system out of the network. Simply clipped the wiring of the alarm system out of the phone network altogether.

I try to advise customers via newsletter etc. to make sure to test the alarm after a new service conversion, but they don’t and neither does the phone/cable guy.

Most of the careless actions of the telecommunications technicians can and must be avoided! They are totally inexcusable!

The technology conflicts with older alarm panels that may not function over fiber and IP networks are a different issue and must be dealt with by upgrading equipment, understood. But the reckless clipping out of alarm system communication circuits is nothing more than negligence due in part, to lack of proper training of the phone/internet provider’s technicians!

If nothing more, these TC providers should be required to at least test the alarm system with the customer prior to leaving the property. They rarely do.

The proliferation of subcontractors who are doing this work on behalf of the carriers or service providers reminds me that they are subject to the same regulations for licensing as the rest of us, and should therefore be licensed and adequately trained to do this work.

Perhaps it’s time to begin an aggressive dialogue with the carriers / service providers to
Coordinate a relief plan, on a region by region basis throughout the state of Florida.

I have begun to collect my own service data specifically defined as “Internet/phone upgrade caused.”

This has become a very real and expensive problem for my company. Is it an issue for the rest of you?

Let your regional director know if you would like to organize one of your local meetings to invite reps from the service providers in your area. Explore the question of whether the subcontractors are licensed and qualified to be doing this work.

We can begin a dialogue cooperatively, or we can suffer through the growing pains of working hard to maintain our customers while the aging digital alarm communicator rapidly outlives its purpose.

Meanwhile, your best bet is to move into the future by migrating your old digital dialer accounts into radio as fast as you can.

Respectfully,

Greg Gracer

Allow me to “Cut to the Sweet” here…

I wish to republish a letter I recently sent to the AAF Board/ Regional directors. The purpose of republishing this letter is to remind the AAF membership of their own opportunity and responsibility to hold their own Regional Directors responsible for the task of delivering regional messages to the board.

Delivered to the AAF Board of Directors Jan 26, 2012:

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board:

The regional minutes of this association have always been the “bones” of this organization.

I say that because whether you know it, believe it or not, it is the small camps of this organization 
region by region that makes it live.

What some may consider to be insignificant ramblings, rants or concerns 
of one local member or another during the course of a local regional meeting, 
often turn out to be the foundation of constructive thinking on the part of the collective membership.

Our technical and political challenges are not isolated to any one region of Florida. Often the trends of technology and political challenges that affect business in one region are soon to be adopted in another. 

Your responsibility as regional directors to deliver the message from your region is no small matter. 

By bringing your timely regional minutes to the entire association, the message takes on a greater importance in the theatre of our industry in Florida. We have a dedicated legislative team to address serious issues affecting our business built into this AAF Board. 

Please don’t neglect this essential sworn duty. You should be seeking the input of local members, so you may bring that message to the board meetings. That is your job here.

By submitting or lack of submitting these essential minutes, you move and change the pulse and direction of this organization.

It takes a long time to develop planning to respond to the issues of false alarm ordinances, Fire code changes, licensing regulations, and telecommunications related issues. 

Your contribution of minutes is not just a report on a party or a picnic. Your regional minutes report should occur on a timely basis. As soon as possible, immediately after your regional meeting.

The next Online Handshake will be published on Jan 30, 2012. By submitting your minutes ASAP to the AAF Office you are helping to douse the grassfires that affect business for all of us in the low voltage industry. 

By neglecting this critical duty, you are an accomplice to the fires that ensue. Please report any unsubmitted minutes tonight for publication into the Online Handshake for Jan 30 publication!

Thank you very much.

This organization has always been and will always be the collective voice of it’s members.

Please be the voice!
Let your Regional Directors know what is important to you. Ask them to deliver your concerns to the Board.
Contribute articles or letters to the AAF Handshake. For now, send them to AAF office via bneely@FLA-ALARMS.ORG

Great work is being done in all of the existing regions of the AAF this year! Broward, Palm Beach, Naples, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Dade have all had tremendous meetings with robust and lively communication and interaction with local Police and Fire Representatives, fully supported by our associate members with hosted meeting venues and dinner meetings. And the results have been stellar! This is what having a voice in the industry is about.

Please be involved. I have met and spoken to so many talented people in this association that have taught me and given me insights to running my own business. I have made so many friends by working together on projects that affect us all.

Engaging in the work we love, alongside friends in the industry is a rich experience, with a serious responsibility to share and own, in a professional manner.

Best Regards,

Greg Gracer
President, AAF 2012

The meeting was called to order at 6:40 P.M. by Region Director Barbara Barden with 21 people in attendance. After the pledge, invocation and introductions, thanks were extended to our guest speaker for attending on such short notice. Doug Bassett from ADT took the floor and spoke concerning a new permit program being proposed and endorsed by the AAF Board that will allow contractors to purchase permits in advance at a discounted price. Additionally they are set up not to expire.
Eric Nilson from S.E. Security introduced Loren Maldoon from Proficient Audio who spoke about his product lines. Loren also raffled off a door prize dual speaker which was won by Dean DaDonte.

Bob Neely addressed the members about the new on line training program, the continuation of classroom style forums and the new website being developed. The new website could be up and running next week.

The tentative dates for the AAF convention and show are March 15, 16 & 17, 2011. The AAF has signed a one year contract to see how it goes until the economy improves. License holder classes will be available at the show as per usual. Speakers and topics we would prefer for future meetings were discussed. Funds were raised for the Florida AlarmPac. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 P.M.

Submitted by Region Secretary, Simon Plummer

Education Committee Chairman

FASA BASA! FASA BASA!  Tired of hearing about the need for the same old FASA BASA renewal???  And tired of sitting through the same old course material since 1996?  Well not any more.

The AAF through its Alarm Academy® has launched a new training program to meet the busy schedules of our members.  Our courses are now all new, and  — On-Line!!! Some of the best industry experts have collaborated on these modules, creating a first class on line program unmatched by any other vendors.  You can learn at your own pace, taking as many or as few modules at a given time as you please. The investment is nominal and the returns will be phenomenal.  All course pricing is very competitive and our convenient on line system makes course registration and payment easy.

Plus you are able to select the topics that evoke an interest from you as the student.  The course is now modular and meets the needs of the Alarm Qualifier, BASA and FASA renewal requirements and general education training. (We are working on obtaining approval for BASA and FASA initial certification).

For example, FASA/BASA renewal requires 6 hours of continuing education; alarm qualifiers, 14 hours.  The module choices include:

• Business Practices and Basic Accounting
• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
• Fundamentals of Security Systems
• IP for the Alarm Professional
• False Alarm Prevention (two, 1 hour modules)
• Laws and Rules
• NEC for the Low Voltage Contractor (four, 1 hour modules)
• Sprinkler Supervision (five, 1 hour modules)
• Elevator Recall
• Safety & OSHA
• Surge Suppression
• Commercial UL Burglar Alarm Systems
• Worker’s Compensation
• CCTV
• Access Control
• Blueprint Reading and Preparation
• And more…..

To obtain either the renewal credits for an alarm qualifier (14 hours) or FASA/BASA renewal (6 hours) the course is completely customizable.  The difference between a classroom course and the on line version is that the licensing board requires a satisfactory score on a final examination at the end of the course.  Classroom training has no such requirement for a final exam.  Upon completion the system will provide you Alarm Academy® certification through the AAF.  For Alarm Qualifiers, the state will automatically be notified of your completion and your credit hours will be posted to your license record.

Log in at www.fla-alarms.org

This month, members of the Alarm Association of Florida have many reasons to be proud of 
their membership in this organization. Representation and communication in this industry as professionals has never been better!
Our November 5, 2011 Board Of Directors Meeting was serious business from the drop of the gavel.
Advanced Easy Permitting Project: Doug Basset from ADT asked for an audience to the AAF board to support a program that will facilitate alarm installation permitting for all alarm dealers across the state. ADT is managing this with their resources and mean to approach as many building departments as they can to persuade them to adopt a simpler permitting process that models the Palm Beach Building Department. This model allows for Decal based permitting where each alarm company can purchase a block of blank permits, to be used as needed and submitted to the governing agency i.e. county, city as the installation is done. The model calls for smaller permit fees and random inspections arranged by, and the sole responsibility of the governing agency. The permits would remain eternally available. That is, use them whenever you need to, anytime after the purchase, and they would not expire.
The board listened to Doug’s presentation and approved support in spirit, provided that Doug would be sure to include the AAF membership in any opportunity to participate in the development of this program on a by-event basis. Doug was also invited to provide an ongoing report to the AAF by writing a recurring monthly column in our new Online Handshake Magazine. We look forward to have more details to come on that effort, from Doug very soon.

Alarm Academy Online Training Project:
Our new Alarm Academy online training program is on fire!  Education Committee Chairman Roy Pollack has successfully written enough modules for the new “Alarm Academy” online training programs 6 hour FASA/BASA Renewal, so it should actually be available for purchase by January 01 of 2012.
The 2 Hr False Alarm Modules have already been completed and an online demo was visited by the Board during our November meeting. Clean slide presentation, with audio narrative, pop quiz reviews, and nice graphics! Stunning!
Roy continues to write modules for additional courses, including 14 Hour FASA/BASA intro, 14 Hour License Holders, and a really dynamic library of additional elective courses that are fresh and new material! We will eventually have 32 plus modules to offer as an initial product and then more to come over time. These modules will include the entire core required for Fl. C.E. as well as various elective modules that you can pick as you please to meet your required certifications.
Every one of these new modules are contemporary, relevant and essential to today’s technology! This is not old fluff that has been re boxed, but newly researched and at current code and standards!
Additional courses are available from our course development contractor at discounted rates to AAF members, and many are NTS level courses.Without sounding like a used car lot commercial here, let me close on this point by saying that the prices, discounts and options available for Alarm Academy training costs will be better than anything we have seen online from other training services! Non AAF members are welcome, and members get even more substantial discounts!

Live classroom training will continue as well, and the training schedule through the remaining year of 2011 is intact. Future 2012 live classroom training will be announced soon.
AAF Online Training is here, now! We thank you Roy, for your hard work, volunteering to produce this product for the AAF!  Your efforts will be remembered for a long time! Now get back to work Roy, and keep writing!
New AAF Website!

Next, If you members are reading this, then you are already seeing the new Handshake and AAF website.
As Al Pacino once said, “Hooowaa!” What a refreshing upgrade to the 21st century!
Digital Public Relations Chairman and Director at Large Hernando Barreto has worked with this Web site project from the ground up and has brought us a new “look” as well as a whole new presence on the internet! I’m guessing that Hernando and his committee partner, AAF Vice President/President Elect John Toscano will eventually include a column here to enlighten all of us on the features of the new web site.
This is the icing on the cake this year, because it addresses so many issues about our communication tools to the membership. There is a clear and precise navigation structure to permit members only to see all of the scheduled events, i.e. training, convention, major shows and industry related assemblies, as well as regional meeting announcements and minutes.

There is even a Forum that will allow each of you as members to communicate with each other in a structured platform to discuss technical issues, local fire and building department issues, and more business related to the advancement of the business of the industry. More on this to come!
Non-members will be allowed to view several non-restricted areas of our website too. For example, consumers will be able to select member alarm companies from their own regional area from an index of licensed contractors in their area, find info on license verification via links to the DBPR/ECLB website, and more.

For our associate members, a new dynamic advertising structure has been added to the website for varying levels of advertising, from home page banners to by column ad acquisitions.
Most ads will auto link you to the advertisers home page at the click of a button, and allow you to explore their products as you continue to browse the AAF website.

The Alarm Academy Training Project will eventually be included ( by Jan 2012 ) in the Education tab of our new website, as well as the continuing live classroom training schedule that you as members are accustomed to. You will now have the option to purchase traditional classroom training from a web based calendar schedule, or opt for Alarm Academy Online Training on demand (as needed) right from the AAF website.

The downside to all of this if there could even be one is, now that we have these incredible tools to communicate with…who will help write articles and provide the substance of material to make this a real powerful benefit to the readers? Well, there is now an ample opportunity for every member of this organization to share articles of a technical, or business related nature with the membership.
I personally invite you all to the party! Basically, anything that you wish to contribute to the ongoing success of the Alarm Association of Florida and the low voltage industry is welcomed!
If you would like to contribute articles, or even offer a regular contributed column ongoing, please contact me directly or the AAF staff and we will relay it to the production team of the new Handshake and web.
We proudly present your new AAF website and your new Alarm Academy Online Training Facility!

I have three requests from you who read this, as an expression of your appreciation to the hard work that has been done this year to produce these tools!
Use them! Read and contribute to the new AAF website!
If you are a member, sign in for training on the new Alarm Academy Online Training Courses with the membership discounts!
If you are not a member, join us in the most powerful industry state association in the country and use our new membership advantages for training discounts and more!

There is so much more good work going on in this association, but I am on page four here, and feeling the need to yield the floor to others to share the reports of that good work.
To those of you who continue to support the work of your board, thank you for your trust and continued faith that we will honorably serve and grow this organization. To those of you who are new and not members, or former members, please explore our efforts here and consider the advantages of membership with regard to training, state level legislative support, regional industry support, and information networking with the AAF.

Very Best Regards,

Greg Gracer, 
President AAF 2011-12