Security Solutions and Systems Company

A security solutions company, or systems integrator, turns a risk into a working system: it assesses the site, designs the system, installs it, and supports it after go-live. The difference from a product vendor is that an integrator should be able to explain why a given reader, camera, or panel fits your building. IP Systems doesn't manufacture products. We resell and integrate hardware and software from manufacturers we partner with.

We design, install, and support video surveillance, card access, intrusion alarms, and fire systems, plus hosted options. Our technology alliances include HID, Bosch, LenelS2, Axis, Motorola Solutions, and ZeroEyes. We choose products based on the site. That can mean keeping existing readers and wiring when they still meet your needs, and replacing only the controllers or software that are holding you back.

One platform is easier to train on, patch, and support, and events from doors and cameras line up in one place. Best-of-breed can serve an unusual requirement better but adds integration points that have to be maintained through every upgrade. Most multi-building organizations do better standardizing the core platform. Then watch for creep: a site buying big-box cameras or another integrator outside the standard.

Most of our clients keep IPS for support after commissioning: help desk, software version updates, device-health monitoring, preventive inspections, and onsite service. Support programs add two preventative maintenance visits per contract year and a documented history of your system. Service is scheduled during normal business hours, and after-hours work is available at an added charge. Recommended repairs are sent to you for approval before we do the work.

Our assessment is obligation-free, so the bar is low. It is especially worth it when you have systems from several past contractors, nobody can say who manages the credential database, or a renovation is about to open up walls and ceilings. You get a clear picture of what can be reused, what is a risk, and what to fix first, before you commit budget.

Not alarm or live-video monitoring. IPS does not monitor alarm signals or dispatch police or fire; you contract that with a monitoring provider, and our monitoring partners handle intrusion monitoring. What we monitor is the health of your security devices through our NOC, and hosted systems are designed for 24/7/365 availability. Knowing that split up front avoids the most common gap we see: everyone assumes someone else is watching.

Ask who will own the system database after go-live and how credentials get removed. Ask what documentation you receive at closeout: as-builts, device lists, and passwords. Ask how firmware and patches will be handled, and how retention is decided. Ask whether existing cabling will be tested for reuse, and whether they offer a five-to-seven-year lifecycle agreement with refreshes built in. Any integrator, including us, should answer these plainly.

We troubleshoot the issues that tend to linger: a camera feed that keeps dropping, a reader that only works some of the time, a display too blurry to use. Support customers can start a remote session through our support portal with a Control Code from their technician. Onsite repair is time-and-material at our prevailing rates, during 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday unless you schedule after-hours work.