Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/37034
10 NEWS www.securitysystemsnews.com AUGUST 2011 NRTLs deliver Web tools for improved certificating By Daniel Gelinas CHARLOTTE, N.C. and CHICAGO— The security industry’s two main NRTLs (nationally recognized testing laboratories), Underwrit- ers Laboratories and Intertek ETL have each announced online tools designed to make the certificate process quicker and more accurate. Integrators, central stations and AHJs all need access to relevant certificates in order to prove NRTL requirements for equipment and installations have been met. The process of applying for and acquiring said certificates has tra- ditionally been time consuming. UL has enhanced its online cer- tificate services to provide more user-friendly and timely access to UL’s Alarm Certificate Service, UL’s section manager for alarm certificate services Pete Tallman told Security Systems News at the recent ESX show. “We’re trying to get the word out to everyone here,” Tallman said. “We’re trying to do every- SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS thing we can to make this process easier and faster.” Called ULwebCerts, the service allows alarm service providers to manage their UL alarm certifi- cates and certificate applications on-line via UL’s secure website, MyHome@UL.com. With ULweb- Certs, UL Alarm Certificate Ser- vice customers can now request alarm certificates and receive imme- diate delivery of their certificate serial number and a “proof of cer- tificate request,” Pete Tallman quickly satisfying AHJ requests. Intertek ETL, which last year was approved by CSAA as a NRTL for the alarm industry, in June announced the launch of ETL AlarmDirect, a Web-based sys- tem providing around-the-clock access to intrusion and fire alarm certificate information for cen- tral stations, installers, dealers/ integrators and AHJs. ETL says AlarmDirect will make the alarm certificate process quicker and more accurate. “This is something we’re extremely proud of. We’ve been developing this for the last few years. We’ve been in beta test mode for the last two months,” said Tom Connaughton, who is ETL director life safety and secu- rity services, global and building products, North America. “This was based on talking with cur- rent and prospective customers as well as listening to what the AHJ community needs. What were their drivers? Trans- parency through- out the process. It’s something we heard constantly Connaughton and something this tool does. It’s very important that we have com- plete transparency when we’re talking to the AHJ and insurance carrier world.” AlarmDirect provides for the It’s the all-in-one megapixel solution… for all. Our new MegaView™ Series Megapixel Cameras bring mainstream video surveillance applications clearly into view. Arecont Vision’s all-in-one design combines the outstanding resolution of megapixel imaging with the efficiency of H.264 compression, IR LED Array Illumination with Day/Night operation for use in complete darkness, and weatherproof IP66 rated, vandal resistant bullet-style housings. Plus all the performance features you demand like programmable motion detection, privacy masking, cropping and so much more. Available 1080p AV2825, unrestricted image in four sensor types, the MegaView™ Series cameras are made in the USA and include the 1.3-megapixel AV1325, 3-megapixel AV3125 and 5-megapixel AV5125. They’re the all-in-one megapixel solutions for all. +1 (877) CAMERA8 • arecontvision.com creation and delivery of alarm system description certificates around the clock, allowing for real-time status review and an overall process that takes a frac- tion of the time. “What we’ve done is we’ve gone from a manual certificate genera- tion process to an online and fully automated certificate generation process … Essentially it increases the reliability because there’s no more human interface related to data entry,” Connaughton said. “We developed this specifically to meet the needs of the alarm installers and the AHJ commu- nity. They’ve been asking for an automated, online system for some years now with no answer from our competitors … Tradi- tionally customers would wait NRTL see page 11