Market data reveals approximately one-fourth of U.S. households have some form of
security system. While sales peaked with the housing boom of 2005 and 2006, there
was a slight downturn in 2007 and deeper declines in 2008 and 2009. Yet, the residential
burglar alarm market is on pace to grow 9% in 2010 and 27% throughout the next three
years, according to Parks Associates,
www.parksassociates.com, Dallas, Texas, with hardware purchases expected
to account for $1.8 billion in sales by the end of this year.
While traditional home security systems have been dependent on phone lines, wireless
signaling is rapidly becoming a standard feature in the market. Phone lines are
disappearing fast. According to a filing to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
in December 2009, approximately 25% of households have abandoned their POTS (plain
old telephone service) lines altogether.
"There is a growing need for wireless security systems because they are more dedicated,
reliable, and secure than traditional analog security solutions that are connected
by landlines," says Alison Slavin, vice president of product management, Alarm.com,
www.alarm.com, McLean, Va.
Wireless Security Control
The founders of 2GIG Technologies, www.2gig.com,
Melville, N.Y., also saw the trend toward wireless security systems emerge in 2007
and formed the company to offer consumers systems built around a cellular communications
platform. The company's key product, the Go!Control panel, is a self-contained security
and home automation system.
In June 2009, 2GIG entered into a direct partnership with the M2M division of T-Mobile
USA, www.t-mobile.com Bellevue,
Wash., to provide a wireless infrastructure for its security suite. T-Mobile uses
the GSM (global system for mobile communication) worldwide wireless standard. With
a "snap-in" GSM radio, the 2GIG security console delivers an open, continuous, and
secure platform.
Unlike voice channels of cellphone networks that can get bogged down by the data
passing over them, GSM networks create a much more streamlined process for data
transport.
"T-Mobile is very aggressive in the M2M space," says Todd Santiago, CEO, 2GIG Technologies.
"Plus, they have flexible pricing packages. There are times when we might send out
a system upgrade over-the-air (OTA) to all of our end users. This requires a data
plan that is quite intensive. T-Mobile allows us to switch back and forth between
data plans to keep our costs to a minimum and still enables the information to get
to the customer."
When an event is triggered on a landline-based system, communication via the telephone
between the consumer and the system representative is required to determine if help
should be dispatched. Go!Control features a two-way voice system using GSM. When
an event is triggered, a system representative can communicate to the consumer through
the panel's speaker, and can even hear what is happening in the home to determine
if help is required.
The 2GIG system architecture also includes a built-in Z-Wave radio to give consumers
the ability to manage their security and home automation functions from their security
panel, the Internet, or mobile phone. The Z-Wave Alliance is an open consortium
of manufacturers building products based on Z-Wave, a technology for deploying wireless
home control.
The backend software for Go!Control is from Alarm.com. It is the software that connects
the alarm equipment, and the consumer, to the central station. But Alarm.com has
its own wireless security system as well, which includes sensors located around
the home. With Alarm.com consumers can control their security system from their
smartphone or the Internet. No landline or broadband connection is required; the
signal from Alarm.com travels wirelessly using a dedicated, encrypted, and secure
connection. When trouble strikes, it interacts with the central station faster than
a traditional alarm to send out a response.
Sensors installed throughout the home or business can communicate all activity that
takes place, even when the system is disarmed. All this information travels wirelessly,
via the T-Mobile digital GSM network, in a secure, encrypted signal to the Alarm.com
Operations Center.
Slavin says, "We offer a level of customization with our system in that we work
with the consumer to determine certain benchmarks for their home." For instance,
if a consumer's front door opens at a time when no one should be home, Alarm.com
captures that event and sends a message to the consumer's mobile phone.
"Only wireless can offer this increased level of awareness," says Slavin. "This
allows the consumer to know everything about their location and ensure protection
around the clock."
The Connected Home
Just as consumers have a desire to control the security of their homes, they also
have a demand for "smart homes" and this is being satiated by GSM-based home security
systems. Largely undeterred by current negative economic conditions, vendors of
home automation and security systems are expecting to ship nearly 2.8 million of
them in 2011 and 4.14 million in 2014, according to a new study, "Home Automation
and Security," from ABI Research,
www.abiresearch.com Oyster Bay, N.Y. Home automation uses range from controlling
televisions to thermostats. In addition, a home automation system can monitor different
activities around the home, such as when doors open.
The report states: "Home automation is a great way to control a lot of different
functions in home security from one place. Controlling all of these things in one
unified system significantly increases the ease of use ... "
Unified systems like Go!Control offer complete home automation from one control
panel. Santiago explains the security system can be programmed according to the
Dept. of Energy's recommendations for how high or low a thermostat should be set
when people are in and out of the home. "When a consumer leaves their home and activates
the security panel, the thermostat automatically adjusts to that recommended temperature
and when the person returns home, and deactivates the security system, the thermostat
automatically readjusts itself," he says.
2GIG is also in testing to link the Go!Control panel to a GPS, whereby a tracking
device would be placed in a trunk, a child's backpack, or an elderly person's purse.
A "geofence" would determine the boundaries for where this person is allowed to
venture. The device would communicate with the panel to let it know if the person
with the device is out of their designated space. "Theoretically, the communication
between the tracking device and the control panel would help locate the person,"
says Santiago.
Another home automation security trend is video monitoring. According to Parks Associates,
19% of all home security systems include monitoring and 75% of all system revenue
comes from monitoring systems. "Video monitoring is a growing trend because consumers
want to see in realtime what is happening in their homes," says Slavin. "Prices
for this equipment have dropped and M2M is helping make the technology more ubiquitous."
Alarm.com records what is being monitored and sends the footage to the consumer's
device. "Folks expect that this application should exist, and we have made sure
it does."
"Home automation is huge and wireless security systems are facilitating its adoption
and installation," says Santiago. "Once the consumer installs a cellular-based security
system and realizes the potential for home automation, we expect to see these systems
in hundreds of thousands of homes."