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Residents need to own their alarms

Lee-Ann Andreka of RDC said that the management of access control is the biggest risk factor in residential estates. “The biggest challenge estates face is the deployment of suitably skilled management to manage the security infrastructure. In addition, I believe that both estate management and the residents need to be more in control of their own security needs and systems. In essence they need to be master of their own destinies.

“By suggesting that estates take ownership of their alarm system, it will ensure that should they part ways with their armed reaction service provider in the future they will not have to spend more money investing in an alarm system at that stage.”

Promoting RDC at the Hi-Tech Security Solutions Residential Estate Breakfast.

RDC supplies both to installers and, where requested, directly to secure estates. “The technology within the alarm communications arena does change so RDC has designed its technology to be easily upgradeable at minimal cost. It is important that we can provide customers with products that will not become obsolete in the future. This creates a sense of reassurance that their investment is worthwhile,” Andreka pointed out.

“Ultimately, the system should match the needs of the customer at any one point in time. By developing new products that can be upgraded to incorporate changing customer requirements as well as industry-standard evolutions, alarm systems become sustainable.

“As a local manufacturer, we are able to consider the local environment and what works best for customers. In addition to the popular VHF versions of our product line, we are able to supplement existing VHF installations with GPRS versions. It is not uncommon at a residential security estate to see a hybridised combination of the two technologies successfully operating side by side. Ultimately, it is our aim to provide home­owners with a cost effective, simple and reliable means of communicating duress or intrusion from their alarm system to an onsite control room and to an externally monitored control room.”

“The ideal scenario for residential estates is a combination of both guarding and technology. I believe that management of security should always be vested in the estate with the manpower being contracted out to external service providers. The guarding and the monitoring and armed response should always be through separate compan­ies, to mitigate against the risk of collusion,” said Andreka.

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