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Erick's Insights --
Sometimes doing it right,
means not getting it all done right now...
 There are times when doing the right thing means not achieving a completed project today but instead setting up a much bigger win tomorrow. We often talk about starting with the end in mind. Where do we want to be at the end of the project, at the end of our next 5 projects, or in 5 years or 20 years? When developing a master security plan it is important to acknowledge early on what are the known issues we want to address while building capacity for the unknown. A good plan should address not only improving the physical security of the site but provide improved facility operations and efficiency and business analytics. The sooner we identify systems that won’t meet our long term needs the sooner we can stop investing in them and transition to systems that will meet our long term goals and objectives.
A practical example of what we are talking about is a client site where it would have been less expensive to simply expand the existing video surveillance system and access control system.
The challenges were:
- The existing video surveillance system:
- Was entirely centralized (meaning all surveillance would be lost if an adverse event happened in a single room)
- Was incapable of communicating with the access control system (meaning alarm events in the access control system could not automatically trigger events in the video surveillance system and would require human response to alarms)
- The system was incapable of recording high enough quality images to meet the ultimate surveillance goals.
- The access control system:
- Was at the end of its life cycle and would not be supported within a few years.
- The existing software was antiquated and incapable of integration with other systems.
- The existing infrastructure
- Was capable of supporting a distributed head end model but was not deployed in that fashion.
Upon evaluation of the site and the long term needs both Absco and the client determined that expanding the existing systems were not in the organizations long term interests and while it meant delaying implementation of some access points and some cameras re-positioning the site for long-term success was of greater value.
Make it a great day!
--Erick
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Customer Testimonial--
Century Link Field
"I just wanted to tell you how appreciative I am of Tony and his guys today. They ran into some challenges getting the NE Access Pedestrian Aiphone up and going today and they still adapted and overcame it to make it happen. It's a huge help to us to have that up and going especially with the operations we have coming up."
Thank you,
Andy Holmes
Senior Security Operations Manager
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7 Tips To Keep Your Home Safe While On Vacation
Vacation time should be a relaxing time. The last thing you want is to come home from that relaxing getaway to find that you have been burglarized. There are a few easy things you can do to help protect your home. Things like how you light your house or doing a simple lock check before you leave can help keep burglars away. Below are seven tips to follow before leaving on vacation:
 
- Keep your vacation plans a secret – Don’t post anything to your Facebook, Twitter or any other social media outlet about your vacation plans. It is hard to keep track of who is reading those Tweets and you don’t want to give the bad guys the green light that no one is home for a week. Do not tell a lot of people in person either. There is no way to tell who is listening.
- Ask a friend to help out – have a reliable friend keep an eye on your house. They can take care of a few weekly things like taking the trash out, watering the flowers and cutting the grass. You can even invite that trusted friend to stay at your place.
- Stop mail delivery – If you can’t find a reliable person to stay at your house or pick up your mail you should put a “stop” on your mail. If you get the newspaper delivered put a stop on that as well. Nothing is more obvious that no one is home when the driveway has a pile of old newspapers on it.
- Put lights on timers – Going on vacation and leaving lights on the whole time does not make much sense and will make for a costly light bill. Besides, no one is going to keep lights on all day and night long. The best thing to get is a light switch timer. These timers turn your lights on and off automatically according to a program schedule. Motion detector lights are also a way to deter burglars. Another cool item to consider is a TV simulator light – this special light makes it look like you have the TV on at night!
- Keep curtains the same – Some people say to keep curtains closed while away so no one can peer into the house. Some people say to leave them open so neighbors can see if someone has broken into the house. The best advice is to keep your curtains the way you normally would have them on any other given day. It’s important to keep expensive items like jewelry and cash out of sight so you are not giving burglars a reason to break into your house.
- Disable your automatic garage door – If you have a garage it is a good idea to disable the garage door opener. Some burglars have tools to easily decode your garage or use universal garage door openers to get in. Having it disabled will make it harder for thieves to get in.
- Do a last minute lock check/ remove spare keys – Before leaving give all the doors and windows a lock check before you go. It seems very obvious but many forget to lock windows which give thieves an easy way in. And while you’re at it, remove that spare key. That little fake rock right next to the front door is not a good hiding spot for your spare key. If you have a spare key around your house remove it before you leave. It is just another good step to take to keep your house safe
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Trends & Technology --
Vicon Vantage
Vicon Vantage will transform the way you think about motion capture. With advanced technology, intelligent controls and intuitive design, it puts the power to capture in your hands.
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You can do more with Vantage. The most powerful processing algorithms and electronics, combined with industry leading tracking and data fidelity, means motion capture cameras just took another major step forward. Advances in Vicon’s technology IP allow Vantage to hit resolution and speed sweet spots that make it truly unique.
The power to capture is in your hands. Onboard sensors, LEDs and a digital display are intelligently combined to provide you with up-to-the minute system status and feedback on the fly, so you can capture your data with the peace of mind that everything is as it should be.
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Free yourself from the capture PC. Vicon’s Control app saves you time during camera set-up and capture with its easy to use, intuitive interface. Change camera settings, calibrate the system, and start or stop capture all from the palm of your hand.
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The Do's and Don'ts --
The Words That Work (And Don't Work)
Posted by Jessica Alter - July 29, 2015
Many underestimate how hard it is to write that first message to someone you don’t know – whether it’s to talk to a potential cofounder, advisor or just networking. There’s the dreaded blinking cursor on that blank, white background just staring at you. Recently, we were revamping messaging on the site and in an effort to see what was and wasn’t working we analyzed thousands of messages that have been sent. There were a lot of surprises, but one of the more interesting analyses came from a visualization of the words used in the most responded to and then in the not responded to messages. Here’s the top 3 things that guarantee failure or success when it comes to getting a response.
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The Don’ts - What NOT to include in your first message:
1. Hard sell – you can see words like ‘mobile’, ‘developer’ and ‘app’ indicative of the sender talking about their idea and what they need. No one joins you in any role after a hard sell in the initial email, it just doesn’t happen.
2. Give your email (if via a private network) – might not be intuitive, but we noticed that first messages that include the sender’s email, rather than just assuming they will reply directly to the message if they’re interested, had much lower response rates. It’s aggressive, salesy and unnecessary.
3. Forget to give context – you’re so busy hard selling you don’t tell them why you’re messaging them. Oops…
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The Dos - What TO include in your first message:
1. Keep it light – ‘Hi’, ‘chat’, and ‘coffee’ are all words that keep things light and don’t make anything seem like a hard sell (see #1 in don’ts).
2. Make it about them – use words that make it clear you know a little something about them and have a reason for reaching out (‘saw’ or ‘interesting’).
3. Show appreciation – you’ll notice ‘thanks’ is literally one of the biggest words – no coincidence. A simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way.
We know, this doesn’t make reaching out easy, but hopefully easier. Honestly, the most important detail is that no matter what the response is, at least you put yourself out there. You can’t make progress if you don’t take a few risks and writing a message is small in the scheme of things.
http://founderdating.com/messaging-dos-donts/
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What's New --
Panoramic Security Cameras From Bosch
Blind spots can seriously undermine the reliability of your video surveillance solution. With FLEXIDOME IP panoramic cameras from Bosch, you will never have to deal with blind spots again. Our panoramic cameras offer a full 180-degree or 360-degree overview in one single image. Thanks to the choice of 5 or 12 megapixel resolution at high frame rates combined with a fish eye lens, you see a complete overview without blind spots. Moving objects are captured easily and the quality of every video surveillance operation is significantly improved. With build-in intelligence video data is minimized and easier to manage. You see only relevant images, at the relevant time, and the relevant place with the lowest network strain. So you can oversee everything in superb clarity and get all the information you need at a glance. |
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Team Spotlight --
Ed Gann
Field Operations Manager
Ed has been with Absco Solutions for four and a half years and he is our Field Operations Manager for our Spokane Office. Ed is consistently willing to put in any extra effort for Absco and for his fellow team members to make sure the job is complete and correct. Always volunteering for long days, weekends and out of town work with a positive attitude.
The way that Ed makes himself stand out is his willingness to step up and take responsibility on jobs. Receiving positive feedback and compliments from multiple customers, he is always looking to do his very best on every job he completes.
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We've heard from several of our customers, and the people their businesses affect, about how their systems have saved lives, saved money, impacted efficiencies or been creative solutions to unique challenges. We'd love to hear your story too....so if you've got one, and would like to have it published in an upcoming Absco Speak, send it to info@abscosolutions.com.
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Service Suite --
What Services Can Absco Solutions Help You With Today?
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"Like" Us
The Absco Solutions Team has been having fun with an "Absco - Knows No Limits" #KNL campaign for a some time. Check out some of the crazy places you'll find our team... we'd like to get you on our page too!!!
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