Commercial software products are built to solve specific problems. Long ago, almost all of them were highly proprietary and would connect or work only with products from the same vendor. When IT departments looked at solutions, they would standardize around a single vendor in a given area to avoid an assortment of solutions that didn't play well together, if at all. 

Access control solutions tended to be this way; they would only work with other security software from the same vendor. Open Options Access Technology, based just up the road from Waco in Addison, Texas, set out to change that with a philosophy of developing an open access control system platform that integrates easily with other solutions such as video surveillance and many more.

Read on to learn more about DNA Fusion and their open approach to security management systems.

Did you know that 65% of the typical office building’s utility bill comes from lighting and HVAC usage? Getting a handle on these areas can go a long way toward curbing energy consumption in your Corpus Christi TX buildings and commercial properties.

Lighting control is an automation technology that makes it painless to make your properties energy efficient. But it’s smarter than just turning lights off on a schedule. The best lighting control systems use a sustainable concept called daylight harvesting. As you might guess from the name, it's a method to maximize natural light in smart ways for both comfort and efficiency. Read on to learn more.

As the dangerous coronavirus continues to permeate our society in the second half of 2020, many of us in Sugar Land, TX, have come to accept that we’ll be spending more time at home than initially anticipated. If you haven’t already, now may be the right time to make some home entertainment upgrades to keep everyone in your family occupied.

Home automation systems can make the job even easier. Keep reading to learn three areas where automation improves comfort, convenience and fun.

Schools, businesses and offices are reopening in Houston, TX, even as the coronavirus continues to spread across the country. This creates a dilemma for business owners and managers: how can they open their doors for business as usual, but keep everyone on the premises safe?

Unfortunately, dispatching employees to the ground floor to monitor customers and enforce mask-wearing and social distancing is not the right answer. For one, it increases the risk that employees in close contact with customers will catch the virus. For another, it’s just not effective. If multiple people are moving around your location, employees can’t possibly monitor everyone.

That’s where video analytics comes in. Cloud-based video analytics is a low-contact solution that enables businesses to monitor and detect customers who are violating safety measures. Keep reading to learn more.

It takes a village to raise a child and the school system is an integral part of that village. Good communication between parents, students, teachers, and staff members is a difficult but necessary task to ensure that our country’s kids are learning, thriving and safe at school.

During the average school year in Bellaire, TX, there may be multiple occasions where school administrators need to send messages to different groups of people within the school community. Emergencies like severe weather, illness outbreak, or a school shooting require quick and effective communications delivered to hundreds of people to protect the safety of students.

Emergency notification systems that send real-time notifications to large groups of people are efficient tools that school administrators can wield to improve communications. Keep reading to learn more.    

Thanks to advances in processing power and software, video surveillance and security camera systems have both come down in price and significantly increased their capabilities in the past decade. Increasingly, businesses and organizations small and large are finding it cost-effective to implement video monitoring solutions.

Camera features such as night-vision were once the exclusive province of expensive solutions, yet that technology has become widely available now even in consumer DIY security cameras. Most of these cameras take in low light and amplify it significantly, which results in a fuzzy, "noisy" image. To get a better image, the cameras use a near-infrared light beam to reflect more light off the object for the camera to "see."

Thermal security cameras see in a very different way and are often found in high-security applications. Keep reading to learn how they can enhance security around your property and premises in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.