Blog

• Convergence in fire alarm technology

  • May 18th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: ARK Systems, Convergence, Convergence in fire alarm technology, Cost of POTS, Emergency, emergency response, Fire Alarm, Fire Alarm technology, Greater coordination required, Internet Protocol, IP, IP communicators, IP fire alarm communicators, IT infrastructure, Maryland, mass notification emergency communication, National Fire Protection Association's National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72, plain old telephone system, Potential savings, POTS, Power backup for IT components, primary means of communicating, primary means of communication, receiving station, Reduce operating costs, Remote diagnostics, Save money, Savings, secondary means of communication, secure facilities, security, security personnel, security systems, Service Calls, Technology, Understand IT standards and practices

  As the security industry quickly adopted the use of IT infrastructure and systems into its physical security, the fire alarm industry was much slower to grab on to the new concept of “convergence.” Code changes to the 2007 National Fire… Read More

• FBI Launches Its Next Generation Identification (NGI) System

  • May 13th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: ARK Systems, Color Code System, Color Coded System, Core processing, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fingerprint identification, fingerprint scans, Lockheed Martin, Maryland, MBSS, Morpho Biometric Search Services, MorphoTrak, Next Generation Identification, NGI, Replaces Color Coded System, security, Security advancements, security field, Security Maryland, Secutiry Measures, Technology, Terrorism, Terrorism security measures, Terrorist, Video security, Video surveillance, What's new in Security

  The future is now according to this article from the Homeland Security Newswire. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently launched its innovative Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, which will gradually phase out the old Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System… Read More

• New Terror Alert System

  • May 5th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: alert directly to law enforcement, Alerts, ARK Systems, credible, credible terrorism threat against the United States, Department of Homeland Security, elevated threat, Homeland Security, imminent threat, impending terrorist threat, intelligence community, major change, Maryland, National Security, National Terrorism Advisory System, National Terrorism Alert System, New Terror Alert System, NTAS, potential terrorist threats, specific, Terror alert, Terror Color, terror warnings, utilize social media sites

  Recently, on April 26, a new terrorist alert system – the National Terrorism Alert System (NTAS) – went into effect. The NTAS replaced the old color-coded alert system that had been in place since 2002. The NTAS will include “imminent… Read More

• IP Video and Wireless Technologies

  • April 29th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: analog video equipment, Architecture, ARK Systems, Bandwidth, Bandwidth Management, Benefits, compressed and streamed, Compression, digital video, Dual Streaming, effectiveness, Expansion and migration, Heritage protection, Internet Protocol, IP Video and Wireless Technologies, Less disruptio, Lower transmission costs, Maryland, Mobile applications, Mobile Wireless Broadband, Motion Detection Analytics, Multicasting, No cable, Remote monitoring, Satellite, surveillance system’s performance, Video surveillance, WiMAX, Wireless Broadband Networks

  There are several inherent aspects of Internet Protocol (IP) Video surveillance systems that traditional analog video equipment simply cannot compete with. The greatest of these advantages is probably the fact that digital video can be compressed and streamed across a… Read More

• OLED and The Future of Video Monitors

  • April 22nd, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: camera clarity, camera quality, consume very little energy, consumer television, electrical charge, flat-screen video monitors, future of video monitoring, HDTV, HDTV-quality cameras, High Definition Television Standard, high-end security camera, inferior monitor, LCD, LED, monitor clarity, monitor quality, OLED, organic compounds, Organic Emitting Diode, Plasma, security field, traditional security operations

  As camera quality and clarity improves, so must monitor quality and clarity – a fact often overlooked by most. What good is a high-end security camera if your picture quality is skewed by an inferior monitor? If the quality of… Read More

• High Definition (HD) Cameras are Revolutionizing the Internet Protocol Camera Scene

  • April 14th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: Analog, ARK Systems, Bandwidth, Bandwith, camera, Cheap, Expensive, HD, high definition, High-end, Internet Protocol, IP, Issue, Issues, Light, Lighting, Low-light, Maryland, Megapixel, Performance, Perfrom, Practical, Price, Solution, Solutions, Surveillance, Technology Maryland, Versatile, Versatility, Zoom

  When Internet Protocol (IP) cameras first hit the scene, they were too expensive and required way too much bandwidth to be extremely practical. Not to mention that there were not too many IP cameras readily available at the time. Because… Read More

• Overcoming Network Distance Limitations to PoE Cameras

  • April 7th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: 100, 100-meter limit, Advantages, ARK Systems, Benefits, Cable, Cabling, Cannot Exceed, Converter, Copper, Current, DC, DC current, DC Electrical Current, DC Power, Distance, DSL, Electrical, Electrical Current, Ethernet, Exceed, Extenders, Fiber, Fiber Optics, IP, IP Surveillance, LAN, LAN Extenders, Limit, Limitations, Locations, Maryland, Media, Media Converter, Meters, Miles, Network Solutions, Network Solutions Maryland, Optics, Overcoming Network Distance Limitations to PoE Cameras, PoE, Power, Power over Ethernet, Problem, Remote, Remote Locations, security, Solutions, Surveillance, Technology, UTP, UTP Cable, UTP Cabling

  Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology powers IP surveillance cameras by transferring DC electrical currents and data over standard UTP cabling. This article explains everything you need to know about the advantages and limitations of PoE technology. One of the biggest… Read More

• DHS Outlines Its New Emergency Communications Plan

  • April 1st, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: 9/11, ARK Systems, Chris Essid, city, Communication, cooperative efforts, county, Date communication Maryland, department, DHS Outlines Its New Emergency Communications Plan, Emergency, emergency communication, emergency cummincation, Emergency protocol, EMS, EMT, fire department, first responders, IWCE, IWCE 2011, Las Vegas, Maryland, mass notification emergency communication, National emergency, national emergency communication, National Emergency Communications Plan, Office of Emergency Communications, operate, Plan, police, police department, process, proposal, protocol, state, terrorist attack, tradeshow

  At the IWCE 2011 tradeshow in Las Vegas, DHS Director of the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) Chris Essid estimated that 3 million people in the U.S. could be considered first responders. But what good is such an elaborate emergency… Read More

• Network Appliance Solutions

  • March 24th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: Advantages, Alternative, Architecture, ARK Systems, Database, Easy, end-users, facility security end-users, Internet, Network Appliance Architecture, Network Appliance Solutions, Open Source, Open Source Technology, Operating System, Seamless Expansion, security end-users, Simple, Technology, The Coud, User-friendly

  For those facility security end-users who desire the productivity and savings you get from a cloud computing environment, a new, yet proven, architecture – Network Appliance Solutions – offers an effective alternative. This article outlines the benefits of Network Appliance… Read More

• CMAS: The End of SMS Text Alerting as We Know It?

  • March 18th, 2011
  • Posted in Uncategorized
  • Tags: ARK Systems, Broadcast technology, Campuses SMS, CMAS, Emergency, End of SMS texting, Inc., prioritized database, SMS Text Alerting, Texting Maryland

  The Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) will be available in 2012, but it will come with some limitations. According to this article, campuses and other institutions use SMS messaging to get alerts out now, yet this could change. Campuses have… Read More