Page 50 - Security Today, April 2018

PRODUCT SOLUTIONS
“Video intercoms have become a relatively inexpensive, yet vital, part of an overall security system,” Beardsley said. “Customers are well educated about the technology and are asking for it more often.”
The integrator also installs video intercoms embedded in emer- gency towers for use on college and hospital campuses and in large municipal parking facilities. Beardsley said the stations offer people an immediate connection to campus security or police. Dispatchers can identify the exact location of the station and the tower’s camera provides views of the area, useful in determining a proper response. He said his staff installed emergency towers on five campuses in 2017 and already has three on the books for this year.
Multi-family apartment buildings and co-ops are the focus for Dan Arnold, vice president of Hicksville, N.Y.-based Academy Mail- box. His family-owned business has been installing intercoms in hundreds of residential buildings in the metropolitan New York City area since 1948.
When Academy began business 70 years ago, its employees were installing what were known as bell-buzzer intercoms. They were little more than a doorbell that would ring in a selected apartment. Resi- dents would push buttons in their apartments to buzz in visitors. There was no voice or video communication between the visitor and tenant.
“The first audio-only intercoms designed for apartment buildings came along in the 1960s,” he said. “Black-and-white video intercoms reached the market 20 years later and color units in the late 1990s. With the added video, we were able to do a much better job of keep-
ing people safe in their apartments.”
While many New York buildings have part- or full-time doormen
to screen visitors, many building managers are questioning if it makes sense to continue the practice. Arnold said the trend is toward pro- viding residents with a video intercom to let them make their own decisions about who gets in.
“Depending on the size of the building and the cost of the door- man, a system could pay for itself in less than a year, especially if there is useable wiring already in place,” said Arnold. “Much of the building wiring installed for the first wave of video intercoms in the 1980s and 1990s is still good and can save tens of thousands of dollars in installation costs.”
He said Academy also installs door stations on secondary entries, including those used by delivery services and maintenance people.
Another trend in multi-family building security is the use of entry vestibules. Arnold said one intercom mounted outside is used to call residents. Once inside the first door, they need to call again to gain entry into the lobby. This gives residents a chance to see the visitor isn’t letting an unapproved person enter at the same time.
These integrators agreed video intercoms add a vital layer of pro- tection to any security plan and the importance of intercoms has grown as they’ve progressed from basic doorbells to today’s network- based security platforms.
Bruce Czerwinski serves as U.S. general sales manager for Aiphone Corp.
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