Question:

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Hi Ken,

Whom do you recommend for off site video storage and monitoring, including live look-ins?

John

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Answer:

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    I invited central stations to respond to the inquiry.  Here are the responses I received:

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Ken,

    First my position, then the answer to your question.

    Video has gotten so much buzz for the last couple of years, that in my opinion many companies have been financially damaged trying to live up to the hype of video. Dollar for dollar video has been the worse security investment ever to date because there are high expectations created by TV shows, manufacturers and the public at large because everyone expects HDTV quality and that the on-site recorders are always working. These expectations could not be farther from the truth especially when coupled with the inability to create recurring revenue streams for service. Yesterday’s alarm company would have been better served if they followed the advice of industry pundits who said flood the neighborhood with door hangers while you were installing a system for the neighbor, concentrate on your business, stay focused on what you do best and communicate with your customers by making them lead generators.

    But I do believe that there is hope for video in the near future.

    Here is my recipe for successful video sales into the traditional, service oriented alarm company.

    Smaller camera systems generate sales leads not just for the camera but an alarm system as well and vice versa.

    Health monitoring (system health, i.e. that its still alive) is essential! Otherwise your next call from your customer is going to be that the equipment failed when the customer needed it. This is just a no win situation because you failed to meet the customers expectations. This must also include the all of the system components, starting from the camera itself, all the way back including any recorder. Any loss of function has to leave the premise otherwise it is still useless.

    Tie the video into a monitoring protocol for enhanced alarm verification. This way it seems like you need both to “get it all”.

    Guard tours does not just cut guard fees, it slashes them! Even if they don’t have guards, sell them look in service once or twice a night for the parking lot.

Small systems also don’t need highly engineered connectivity protocols for off site video storage. Large data transfer connectivity causes sticker shock.

    USA has affordable dealer video programs that does this and more. Call Tom Camarda at 1-877-872-1275

Bart A. Didden, President

U.S.A. Central Station Alarm Corp.

www.usacentralstation.com

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Hi Ken,

    If you are interested from a manufacturer perspective, I am happy to offer incite on what OzVision offers regarding off site Video Storage, as well as the many RMR services the central stations can provide to their clients

Such as:

- Continuous 24/7 recording on all cameras to be stored up to 1 year via the customized GUI for an OEM (and can be downloaded to your local PC)

- Video Motion Detection events stored and accessible via the customized GUI for an OEM (and can be downloaded to your local PC)

- Alarm Video Verification that the video will go to the off site server first, then instantly to the monitoring station, then onto the operator workstation which integrates will their particular automation software platform

- Many others…

All the best,

Steve Tapper

OzVision

www.ozvision.com

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more on charging credit card convenience fees

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Question

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Ken

    I was wondering if you could explain a little more on is subject. Is it any third party handling money to an account charging a convenience fee as stated in the receipt. 

G. Lawrence

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Response:

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Ken –

    As I stated in a previous article, as per Card Brand Association rules, it is illegal for a third party of any kind to charge a convenience fee for processing transactions.  Just because it is illegal, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.  To report a merchant who is violation, please visit https://usa.visa.com/checkoutfees/contact.jsp or http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/contactus/merchantviolations.html.  The fine’s are significant – fines for Visa start at $5,000 and MasterCard at $2,000.  The merchant has 15 days from notification to become compliant otherwise their credit card processing account can be place on hold and/or terminated and the fine assessments increase on a monthly basis to a maximum of $500k.  Here is the cold hard truth for all you security company owners – DO NOT CHARGE A CONVENIENCE FEE of any kind.  Give me a call if you have more direct questions. 

Best Regards,

Tom Aronica

www.pciprofessionals.com